What Hi-Fi? Verdict
Who’d have thought Technika would be at the cutting-edge of set-top boxes? With greater refinement, this could be a winner
Pros
- +
Exceptional suite of features (including on-demand content) at a great price
- +
very decent pictures and sound
Cons
- -
Still not bug-free
- -
a bit flimsy in the flesh
Why you can trust What Hi-Fi? Our expert team reviews products in dedicated test rooms, to help you make the best choice for your budget. Find out more about how we test.
There are some products that really set the whathifi.com forums alight. That's exactly what the Technika Smartbox 8320HD did, firstly by offering astonishing features at a great price, and then by being so horribly riddled with bugs that it was withdrawn from sale.
It's back now, and the good news is that Technika has killed lots of the bugs, but kept all of those features.
Those features: built-in wired and 803.11n wi-fi network connections that give you access to BBC iPlayer, Sky Player, and a raft of on-demand HD movies. Just connect the box, register with Fetch TV and you're good to go.
We went straight to the movie store and clicked to rent Alice in Wonderland in HD.
Punchy, sharp images
After a 10-minute wait while the box downloaded the first part of the movie, we were ready to go, and although the image falls short of full 1080p for detail, it's undeniably punchy and sharp.
The lack of surround sound, though, is a bigger disappointment. The Technika's perfectly decent as a ‘basic' PVR too, producing pictures from the three HD channels and standard-def images that, a touch of shimmer aside, are close to the best on test.
So, it's good, but it's still not 100 per cent bug-free, and we had to reset it a couple of times during our testing. Were it not for that, the mix of features, price and performance may well have been enough for five stars.
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