EE TV is EE's new service combining live TV channels and streamer subscriptions in an all-in-one entertainment package.
It’s available through an app downloaded on an Apple TV 4K box, or using one of EE’s new set-top boxes.
These are the EE TV Box Mini and EE TV Box Pro. Any of these solutions will let you watch live TV channels over your home internet, as well as access catch-up content on services such as BBC iPlayer and ITVX.
However, the EE boxes also allow for pausing and rewinding of live TV. The EE TV Box Mini can pause for up to two hours, for example.
This means it’s effectively maintaining a live buffer of all that video as you watch.
The EE TV Box Pro can record “up to 600 hours” of content, and record across four channels simultaneously. It must have a high-capacity storage drive inside, although as yet we don’t know its actual size.
Both EE TV boxes come with a Bluetooth remote. There’s even a special EE remote for the Apple TV 4K version.
These aren’t like the Amazon Fire Stick dongles you can buy quite cheaply and use solo, though. The idea is you’ll sign up for an EE TV package that includes a bunch of content. Here’s a rundown of what’s available at launch:
The Entertainment package at £20 a month offers NOW Entertainment, Netflix “Basic” and Discovery+ Basic. These would cost £20.97 separately by our calculations, although Netflix Basic is no longer available online.
This was the 720p resolution version of Netflix, removed in July 2023. If we get the “Standard” Full HD Netflix plan, worth £10.99, all the better.
For £30, you can upgrade to the Big Entertainment plan, which adds NOW Cinema, usually £9.99 on its own.
For football fans, the £18 a month Sport subscription offers Discovery+ Premium, usually £29.99 a month, which includes the TNT Sports channels.
Big Sport at £43 a month adds Now Sports, usually £34.99 a month on its own.
And the big daddy is Full Works, which includes all NOW Cinema, Entertainment and Sports, Netflix Standard and Discovery+ Premium for £76 a month. And you get NOW’s Boost add-on for better streaming quality, worth £6 a month. Totting this all up, we calculate it would cost £101.95 separately.
The bad news: these come as 24-month contracts, so you can’t ditch the service as you might a Netflix subscription. There's also a £30 activation fee. But EE does say you have the “freedom to flex” your package up and down these tiers month to month.
You can also add other services to the mix separately, including Amazon’s Prime Video and Apple TV+. And, as is the norm with these services, they’d be rolling monthly deals as standard.
Is EE TV a good deal? You don’t seem to save a huge amount of cash if you’re mostly interested in movies and TV shows, but there’s money to be saved for sports fans.
You also get the bonus of TV recording and rewinding with EE’s set-top boxes. And regardless of which medium you choose, EE is offering a bonus EE TV Box Mini for use with a second TV. It calls this free “multi-room".
