Phonandroid Freebox Pop test: a round box, but not quite square

Replacing the Freebox One and big sister to the Mini 4K, the Freebox Pop is the new Android TV box from the French web troublemaker. Offered with a subscription at 40 euros per month, it modernizes the operator's offer, but does not want to walk on the toes of the Freebox Delta. A balancing act that is not always easy to achieve without making a few concessions.

The Freebox Pop was presented on July 7, 2020 during a press conference with the public at the premises of Free. Presented as very accessible equipment, while being equipped with a complete technical sheet, it commercially replaces the Freebox One which disappears from the catalog, only two years after its commissioning.

At first glance, the Freebox Pop ticks all the boxes. It is also very attractive thanks to its rounded design. Its server offers many advanced functions. Its decoder runs on a recent version of Android TV. And a repeater is even offered at no additional cost. So, is the Freebox Pop the ideal, small, nervous and inexpensive Freebox? This is what we will see in this complete test.

Price and availability

The Freebox Pop is already available, both for new customers and subscribers. The migration is free for all Mini 4K subscribers, otherwise it is chargeable. The cost of the migration is around 50 euros. The subscription to the Freebox Pop is 30 euros per month the first year and 40 euros per month from the 13th month. Installation is free and termination fees, if you start from a competing operator, are free.

The subscription includes Internet (vDSL or Fiber at 5 Gb/s for download), television (220 channels included) and telephony (France and 110 countries abroad, with mobile for some destinations), as well as " the best moments of Ligue 1 Uber Eats”, an application that offers you to discover the goals scored in the matches of the teams you follow and summaries. You can record up to 100 hours of programs. If you exceed this limit, you must pay 1 euro cent per additional MB per month. Otherwise, you can also delete your old recordings.

The hardware includes a Freebox Pop Server, a Freebox Pop Player and a WiFi Pop Repeater. You can order additional repeaters. The shipping costs are 10 euros per unit. The Freebox Pop is Multi-TV compatible: you can order an additional Player for 5 euros per month. Note that Freebox Delta subscribers can also order a Freebox Pop Player and/or a Freebox Pop Repeater to complete their installation.

The Freebox Pop also entitles you to a discount at Free Mobile. The subscription at 2 euros / month is free. And the subscription at 19.99 euros costs 9.99 euros. A reduction twice as high as with all the other Freeboxes, the Delta included. The offer obviously cannot be combined with several packages: a Freebox entitles you to a single package at a reduced price.

Data Sheet

Design: circles, circles…

The design of the Freebox Pop is an evolution of the Freebox Delta. The Freebox Revolution and the Freebox Mini 4K are parallelepipeds. The angles are 90°. And the edges are almost all straight. The Freebox Revolution gives itself a few fantasies, thanks to the good care of Philippe Starck. But it also includes the codes of audiovisual equipment.

The Freebox One deviated slightly from this model with a square case and rounded corners. Then, the Freebox Delta kept these rounded corners and lost one side to become a design rectangle. The Freebox Pop takes another step, moving further away from parallelepipeds to be a succession of circular boxes with variable thickness.

The largest of these three boxes, the most recognizable, is the server. It is he who has this pretty black line which contrasts so much with the all-white shell. And this detail invites observation. Because in this thick line hides a small LCD screen which is usually off. Here is another difference with the other Freeboxes: the case does not serve as a clock (even if it is the case here to show you how it is lit), since we have smartphones and smartwatches to give us the time.

When the screen lights up, it is to provide information. Login steps. Downloading an update. An authorization for a system modification from Freebox OS or Freebox Connect (we will come back to this). Or the display of a QR Code to facilitate connection to the WiFi network. This QR Code, you can also display it from the mobile application. But it's so much more fun from this screen! At the front of the server, you will also find a notification LED to know at a glance if the Freebox is on, connected or... if it is resting.

The smaller box (above), the most different from the other two, is the decoder. He is black. It has no screen, but benefits from a notification LED that lights up when it is active. Instead of the server screen is the operator claw. The artists sign their works. So why by ISPs? At the back, you find the huge coaxial socket for the DTT tuner. It's ugly, so be clear. Fortunately, this does not show too much once the decoder is placed on a piece of furniture.

Last box (below): the repeater. Of intermediate size, it is all white. It is also marked with the signature of its designer. And it is also equipped with an LED. But it is the most useful of those that equip the three boxes. Because not only does it indicate whether the repeater is plugged in and connected, but it can also indicate the signal strength with the server. If the repeater is too far away, you have a loss of throughput. So a loss of performance. If it's too close, don't put it on. This indicator is therefore used to place the repeater appropriately. It is extremely convenient!

We wouldn't be complete if we didn't cover the remote. The Freebox Pop remote control is a simplified version of the Freebox Delta and Freebox One remote controls. It is Bluetooth compatible (you will need to pair it the first time you start it) and it works with two LR3 batteries. Too bad, it would have been more ecological and economical if it operated on a rechargeable battery.

From top to bottom, you find the power button, a notification LED and the microphone for voice commands; the dedicated Netflix, Prime Video and Free keys (leading to the Oqee interface); the Google Assistant key and the “Home” key of Android TV; a circular directional cross underlined by the "Return" key. Volume and TV channel controls surrounding the 'silence' button. And finally the 10-digit numeric keypad.

Installation: very simple and fast

Let's talk about installing the Box. When you receive your Freebox Pop, it is stored in three different boxes (seen above). On one side the server. On the other, the decoder. And in the third, the mesh repeater. Our test was carried out with a fiber optic line. But the principle remains the same with a vDSL subscription. Let's unpack each carton. In the first, you discover everything you need to connect the server: cable for the vDSL and fiber optic connection and wall socket for the power supply. No Ethernet cable provided here. The message is clear: we must favor WiFi.

Connect the box to your telephone wall socket (or fiber optic box), then plug in the USB Type-C power plug. The Freebox Pop Server turns on and performs the various connection steps (including updates). Once ready, it displays the time on its screen. You can then go to Freebox OS or Freebox Connect to customize the behavior of the server. Go to the section dedicated to these two applications to find out more.

If you open the Player box, you find the black Pop decoder, the remote control, a power cable and an HDMI cable. No Ethernet cable here either… Start by plugging in the HDMI cable, possibly an Ethernet cable and an optical audio cable. Then turn on the Freebox Pop Player by plugging in the power cable. On its first launch, you must pair the remote control with the box. Make sure you have the batteries in there. If you have not changed the SSID of the WiFi network, the connection of the Player should be automatic.

When you start it for the first time, the Player box will also perform a few updates (at least one), then suggest that you carry out the entire registration procedure with your Android smartphone (if you have one). We advise you to do so: once the double authentication has been completed, everything is automatic and the Freebox Pop will appear in your Google account (including the Play Store). Otherwise, you will have to enter your account with the remote control and the virtual keyboard. It's slower.

Once the initialization procedure has been completed, Android TV will offer to install compatible applications that you have previously purchased or installed (if they were free). Then you are taken directly to Oqee. Again, you will create an “adult” account which will serve as a reference for paid programs prohibited for minors.

Finally, let's open the repeater box. There aren't many things in this box: the repeater, a wall outlet for power, and... an Ethernet cable? We did not find the configuration useful to take advantage of this cable. Can the repeater also act as a router for a device connected by Ethernet? Or, can we connect the router to a PLC if the room to be served in WiFi is very far from the server? We will update this test when we have an answer.

The connection of the mesh router with the Freebox Pop Server is automatic, even if you have changed the SSID and the password for the connection. The maximum indicative distance is two rooms, but this may vary depending on the accommodation: thick walls, large rooms, corridors, doors, furniture, etc. The indicator on the front tells you if you are at a good distance (three bars of WiFi signal), rather far (two bars), very far (one bar) or too far (red light). Adjust your distance accordingly.

Connection and network: a strange choice

Let's now talk about embedded technologies. And let's start once again with the server. This is equipped for a vDSL and fiber connection. This offers a speed of 7 Gb / s downhill and 700 Mb / s uphill. You will also find a telephone socket (for those who still have the use of a fixed line) and a USB type-C port which is used exclusively for powering the box.

There are also three Ethernet ports. They are all different: a gigabit port, a powered gigabit port (to serve data and energy to a connected device, such as a webcam for example) and a 2.5 gigabit port. The server is also equipped with a USB 3 type-A port (on the right in the photo). You can plug in an external hard drive, USB flash drive, etc. Finally, the box is compatible WiFi ac dual band MU-MiMo (and not WiFi 6…), WPA3, and Bluetooth 5.0. The server is DLNA and UPnP compatible.

Three remarks. First, the number of Ethernet ports is down compared to the Mini 4K for example. If you want to connect the Freebox Pop Player, your connected television, a game console, a NAS, a multimedia hard drive (the Shield TV or an Apple TV, for example) and a modern soundbar, you will have to make choices. .

Then, the WiFi ac connection is sufficient in most cases. However, it must overcome two problems. First, the reduction in the number of Ethernet ports. And therefore by extension an increase in wireless connections. Second, the absence of Freeplugs (CPL boxes that also serve as power supplies). This forces the user to choose between an Ethernet cable or a WiFi connection to connect the server and the decoder. The latter being 4K HDR compatible, it goes without saying that the WiFi connection is very busy. And we sometimes feel like a WiFi 6 modem would have been welcome.

Finally, the interest of Bluetooth in the server is quite limited. We don't feel like we've needed that connection so far. Maybe it is necessary to associate the server with the mesh repeater (photo above)? This is quite possible, because the mesh router is also Bluetooth 5.0 compatible. It is also compatible with Ethernet (whose curious presence we have already mentioned) in addition to the dual-band WiFi ac MU-MiMo connection.

Let's move on to the Player. On the connection side, it is equipped with a huge coaxial antenna socket connected to an integrated HD TNT decoder that a minority of users will be delighted to find here. A very small minority (not growing). Next to it, you will find the optical audio port, the HDMI port (version 2.1 to pass 4K HDR) and an Ethernet port, if you still have room to connect the decoder to the server. This one is just for that anyway.

Power is not provided here by a USB type-C port, but an ordinary circular port. On the sides, you will find two other ports: a microSD port and, on the opposite side, a USB 3 type-A port. The first is clearly incidental. This is all the more true on the Freebox Pop, since it is compatible with Android TV and Chromecast. If you want to display content like photos or vacation movies (see a YouTube video, even if the platform is pre-installed), just use Chromecast and you're done. Also, the bandwidth of microSD is low enough to play a movie on it.

The second is essential. We would even have liked to have a second one (even if it means removing the microSD port). Indeed, few applications installed on the decoder are able to fetch content connected to the server. VLC is one of them. The others will simply access the peripherals connected to the Player (like a smartphone). Note that you can plug in a hard drive and dedicate it to video recording.

Box management: the king's choice

To manage your Freebox and your home network, you have access to three tools: Freebox OS, Freebox Connect and the Freebox application. The first is the most important: it is a virtual desktop accessible from a web browser. From here, you can do everything on your Box. First use, often useful for troubleshooting: check the status of the connection and the Box.

Then, from Settings, you can manage the built-in ad blocker, configure a VPN client, manage ports (forwarding for example) and, for professionals, DNS and domain names. You can also manage WiFi and guest WiFi, DHCP server IP range, enable or disable network sharing (Mac and PC), FTP server, UPnP and AirMedia protocol, etc. It's very comprehensive.

You will also find a file explorer, to consult, download and upload documents on network drives or connected via USB (on the server, but not on the decoder), a download manager (accessible only if you have a hard disk that you need to format), the profile manager (those of Oqee, not those of Android TV) with the possibility of deactivating the connection of an associated device on the fly, the guide of interactive programs and the manager recordings, as well as an explorer of network devices. It's all super convenient. And you can even access it outside your home.

Freebox Connect offers some of the services of Freebox OS. View connection status. List of connected devices (Freebox or other). Recovery of the QR Code for connection sharing (if you have not configured the guest network). Consultation of profiles with possible deactivation of devices linked to each account. The Freebox Connect application is also used to restrict access to the network (WiFi or Ethernet): for example, you can only authorize certain devices, or block others. It's faster and more convenient than with Freebox OS. Unlike Freebox OS, it does not allow you to consult the files present on the network storage spaces. And, curious thing, the application does not always detect the Player when it is connected to the server by Ethernet.

Let's finish with the Freebox application. It was developed for the Freebox Delta, but it works quite well with the Freebox Pop (as with all the others) to manage the server. However, the TV part is specific to the Delta decoder. So that some services (such as remote viewing of TV channels) do not work. The entire server part is operational: connection status, list of connected devices, recovery of the WiFi network QR Code, etc. The Parameters part takes over the tree structure of Freebox OS. The “Profile” part is also accessible under the old name “Parental Control”. Finally, if you have connected a hard drive to this box, you can navigate in the tree structure and even launch a file remotely if you have a compatible application. Excellent !

Interface Free by Oqee

When you turn on the decoder part of the Freebox Pop, you arrive directly on the Oqee interface, the famous interface developed for the Freebox Pop. This interface offers recommendations and thumbnails, with program previews. Note that in the screenshot, some spaces in this interface are blocked. You won't see them below.

The interface consists of seven tabs: "For you", with recommendations, Channels, to access live channels classified by their identifier (and even start a program from the beginning, even if you are late ), Replay, which groups together the deferred program broadcasting services, TV Guide, to access the summary table of current and upcoming programs and schedule a recording, Recording, to watch the recordings stored on your hard disk (disk which must be formatted by the Freebox and dedicated to this task), VOD, to pay for a movie session on the couch (with Canal VOD), and App.

App is simply a shortcut to the Android applications preinstalled on the Freebox Pop: Netflix, Prime Video, Free Ligue 1 Uber Eats, Canal Play, VLC and YouTube. Interesting choice here of Free than pre-installing VLC, a video file player notorious for being used by those who download movies illegally.

Recommendations work with a profile system that is different from Google profiles. An Oqee profile also has another use: parental control. The first profile registered must be that of an adult who will have access to the control parameters for purchases, subscriptions and adult content. Refreshing TV rights, for Canal+ for example, goes through this interface.

In use, if you watch live television and often record programs that do not play back, Oqee is an interesting interface, but it is not revolutionary in itself, advanced services often coming duplicate of Android TV and pre-installed apps. If you are a fan of replay, the dedicated tab is a good place that brings together all the services. But if you do not consume linear television, Oqee will most certainly be incidental.

Android TV: the real Freebox Pop interface

The Freebox Pop decoder runs on Android TV. But which version, you ask us? And you would be right to ask. Because there are obviously different versions of Android TV and not all digital set-top boxes are as up to date as Nvidia's Shield TV. The Freebox Pop runs on Android TV 9. This version is the most recent. It allows you to install the most recent games and applications. This is one of the advantages over the Freebox Mini 4K which was no longer updated by Free, making the Box incompatible with certain VOD services, such as Amazon Prime Video.

The Android TV interface is relatively simple. There is a single screen that is divided into a "chain", thematic and (more or less) practical shortcuts. We talked about this interface extensively during our test of the Shield TV. Note that we have not received the new interface with Google's "staff picks", this promotional space supposed to be in the process of being deployed.

The first chain from the top is used to host applications, pre-installed or not. You must manually add them for them to appear there (by simply pressing the “+” sign on the far right of the line). Otherwise, to open the applications drawer, you must press and hold the "Home" button until it appears. The applications are presented first and then the games. Simplified access to the Play Store is also available there.

The following channels are thematic recommendations based on your Google profile (which is therefore not the same as the Oqee profile, and that's a bit of a shame). You will find a jumble of YouTube, Play Store, Netflix, Prime Video, MyCanal and the other VOD or replay platforms that you could have added. Of course, it is possible to add, delete and move the channels according to your preferences.

The Freebox Pop Player is an Android TV box: this means that you have access to the Play Store (to download applications and update them if this is not done automatically), to Google Assistant (accessible directly from the remote control) and much more. It is also here that you will be able to connect the box with Bluetooth accessories, such as a controller for games (the remote control is not as provided as a Wiimote). The Freebox comes with a few preinstalled apps: Free by Oqee, Netflix, Prime Video and MyCanal, of course, but also VLC and Facebook Watch.

Performance of the Freebox Pop Player

The Play Store is good. But what can you really use with the Freebox Pop while maintaining a certain fluidity? To answer this question, we move on to the eternal benchmarks. The Pop Player is equipped with a quad-core Armlogic S905X2 chipset clocked at 1.8 GHz, 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of storage. A configuration sufficient to display films in 4K HDR. But what about video games? Well yes, that's what matters to us, right?

We have therefore downloaded a few tools to verify the real power of the platform so much praised by Xavier Niel during the conference in July. And, as much to say that the Freebox Pop is sufficiently equipped to be able to install some fun applications and enjoy them in good conditions. Find below the screenshots of the tests carried out with GFXBench and 3DMark.

With this configuration, we launched a few games and several emulators. As you can see in the following screenshots, we tested Madfinger's Dead Trigger 2, of course, but also Oceanhorn, an excellent "Zelda-like" developed by Cornfox & Bros. Both games run very well, although some slowdowns are felt. On the emulator side, we've played with Nintendo 64 and PlayStation 1 games. Expect little more from the platform.

Unlike smartphones, equipped with a touch screen, a controller is clearly mandatory if you want to play with the Freebox Pop. All standard Bluetooth gamepads are natively supported. But you will, in most cases, need to configure the controller depending on the game. Dead Trigger 2 is the perfect example of the game that has been optimized for touch screens where you have to manually configure the buttons. For Oceanhorn, it's the opposite: no need to go through this tedious phase.

Let's talk about connectivity, especially between the Player and the Server. We sometimes encountered some slowdowns on the Full HD television side. We know this is not a fiber optic issue. We think this is a WiFi issue, as the slowdowns are (much) rarer when the two boxes are connected to each other by Ethernet. There is clearly a congestion at the WiFi level which could have been avoided if Free had opted for WiFi 6. Still the same debate…

Conclusion

The Freebox Pop is a good box. And the offer that backs it up is a good offer. Internet 5 Gbps. Display in 4K HDR. Return to zero of the TV programs that have started. Android TV 9 on board. WiFi repeater included. A reduction of 10 euros on the unlimited plan of Free Mobile. These are the strongest assets of this Box. Vis-à-vis the competition, this offer is clearly above. And compared to the Freebox Revolution and the Freebox Delta, it could satisfy subscribers even more thanks to Android TV and its value for money.

A few points can cause grief. First, the absence of WiFi 6, while the connectivity of the Freebox Pop tends to rely heavily on the wireless network: repeater to increase WiFi range, absence of Freeplugs, reduction in the number of Ethernet ports. It is for all these reasons that we do not understand the absence of WiFi 6.

Two other details are incomprehensible. First, the presence of a microSD card reader. What use can it be when a Chromecast is integrated into the box? Maybe to watch a movie? So, simply connect a hard drive or a USB key? Then, the absence of a real hard disk in the Player for recordings managed by Oqee. This is an unusual choice for Free, which has always integrated a storage volume inside its decoders.

The price difference with the Mini 4K (not to mention the Free Mobile discount) is not always justified, even for football fans. The latter will never be content to watch only the goals scored by their favorite team: they will want to watch the whole match! On the other hand, Prime Video subscribers, weaned by the incompatibility of the Mini 4K with their favorite streaming service, would have every interest in jumping on this new box.