Anyone who doesn't want to pay for TV now has a new way of tuning into live shows, sports and movies. Having been announced late last year, Freely has just started broadcasting content across the UK with homes now able to access endless hours of live and on-demand programmes without paying a penny to watch.
Just like Sky's latest devices - such as its Glass television - Freely uses broadband to beam things into living rooms which means there's no need for aerial to be stuck onto your chimney.
The service also offers a full 7-day guide, MiniGuide for quick access to what's on now and what's coming next along with the ability to pause live TV.
There are also daily recommendations of things to watch and, just like Sky Glass, everything comes built into the TV so there's no need for a separate set-top box or streaming dongles.
It all sounds impressive but, before you take the plunge and buy a new Freely-powered TV, there are definitely some things that Sky's more premium service offers that this free option can't match.
Here's where Sky still remains the top dog for streaming live telly.
Not enough Freely channels at launch
At launch, things are pretty limited. Freely says that around 30 channels such as BBC 1, ITV1, Channel 4, Channel 5, Film4, 5US, CBBC and CBeebies are now available to stream with more being added at a later date.
It's hoped that UKTV will launch its services soon which will add popular channels like Dave, W, Gold and Yesterday to the Freely planner. Sadly, it can't match the might Sky with the firm streaming over one hundred services including entertainment, sports and movies.
Freely doesn't have playlists or personalisation
Sky Glass doesn't have an inbuilt recording function but you can save things to watch later via its Playlists feature which uses the cloud to store content. Sky users also get useful personalisations for each member of the family which means parents will have different recommendations to that of their children. You won't find either of these functions on Freely with these TVs currently only able to show generic recommendations of things that trending.
Beware of the lag
Freely is a streaming service which means there is a delay when receiving the live broadcasts. Freely has confirmed to Mirror Online that this lag can be up to 30 seconds longer than watching via a standard aerial. It’s not a problem when viewing regular television shows or a movie but it can be annoying during live sporting events as you may find friends texting you about a goal scored long before you’ve actually seen the ball hit the back of the net.
Sky also suffers from this problem but the firm is working on a fix which will reduce the lag down to around 8 seconds in the future. This update is coming to Sky Sports Main Event first with more Sports channels expected to be improved in the future.
No integration with other services
One of the best features of Sky Glass is seeing content from across numerous platforms appear on the Home Screen. It means you'll be shown favourites from Netflix sitting alongside Sky shows and content from terrestrial channels. It makes it super simple to view a raft of programmes and that's not something Freely offers.
From the Home Screen, you'll see content from BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 but if you want to catch up on a Netflix series you'll have to close the Freely app and then launch the dedicated Netflix player to see what's on.
Freely has search but not with your voice
Freely does offer a search option which will help you track down things to watch a little more quickly. Sadly, unlike Sky, there's no option to shout orders into the remote to save you from having to type things in on the screen. Sky's voice option works really well and takes a lot of the hassle out of finding things to watch.
Freely: Watch this space...
Sky has been streaming TV to homes for over two years with products such as Sky Glass ever evolving. The team behind Freely say it hopes to improve the platform over time with regular upgrades expected to be pushed out via the web. It's likely that's lots of new features will arrive during the months ahead so watch this space.