Netgem PLEIO Anmeldelser 

This is a review of the Netgem PLEIO after over six months of daily use. I have two PLEIOs. The first was purchased in mid-December 2025. This was an evaluation exercise, as I wanted to check out Freely without having to fork out for a new TV.

After the initial success of this device, I decided to purchase a second PLEIO. I was able to snap one up in the Valentine’s Day offer on Amazon.

I use the PLEIOs for watching live TV using Freely, and for streaming on-demand content. I am not a gamer, and therefore the gaming facilities are of no interest to me.

LIVE TV PERFORMANCE: The live TV experience via Freely is excellent. The picture and sound quality are very good indeed.

After the initial success, the second PLEIO was connected to the main TV in the living room in February 2026, and it too is in daily use. As with the first device, the improvement in picture quality was immediately noticeable, especially with the bigger HD screen.

Since the introduction of the PLEIOs, we have never had to switch back to terrestrial TV once. Furthermore, we have never experienced any issues with buffering or interruptions with live TV.

ON DEMAND PERFORMANCE: As with live TV, performance with the on-demand apps is generally excellent. BBC iPlayer is the best by far, and on the PLEIO it is flawless.

The Channel 5 and U apps also work perfectly. I have had one instance with buffering when watching a movie on Film 4 in early July, but otherwise it is fine.

Then we get to ITVX, which is my view is the worst performing of them all. If we watch anything on demand with ITVX, we often see some buffering. This may happen once or twice during a one-hour long program. The buffering symbol appears for only a fraction of a second, and the program is not interrupted. But it is noticeable.

However, I do not blame this behaviour on the PLEIO, as during 2025 I was streaming using a couple of Amazon Fire TV Sticks, and I noticed the exact same behaviour on those devices too. So, I attribute this problem to ITVX app, and not to the device.

SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT: There some areas where I think the PLEIO could be improved.

1) NETWORK SPEED TEST: It would be useful if the PLEIO had a built-in speed test, as does the Amazon Fire TV Stick.

2) WI-FI SIGNAL QUALITY: On the PLEIO there is a very basic indicator of Wi-Fi quality. It wall say “Excellent” or “Good” or something like that, but it is not very detailed. By contrast, the Fire TV stick gives the reading for RSSI in dBm, and also an indicator for noise. This may be useful when troubleshooting.

3) SCREEN CALIBRATION: The PLEIO allows the zoom setting to be adjusted to that the picture fits the screen. However, there is no visual feedback when doing this, so it is a hit and miss affair.

DEVICE POSITION: I have found that the PLEIO is quite sensitive to where it is positioned. At first my plan was to hide the device behind the TV. However, this gave poor results with the Internet Speed Test App. Moving the device forward by just a small amount made a huge difference. So now the devices sit below and just in front of the TV. They like this position and it not obtrusive.

ISSUES: I have encountered two issues with the PLEIO. Neither is a showstopper, but they do need addressing.

1) BLACK SCREEN/GREY SCREEN: Sometimes when the PLEIO is switched on, after about two minutes the live TV goes off and the screen alternates between black and grey. This is easily fixed with a device restart, and it never returns for the remainder of the viewing session. I have reported this matter to Netgem, and they acknowledge that this is a problem with the device software, and a fix will be delivered with a forthcoming update.

2) OPENING THE FREELY EPG PAUSES LIVE TV: This behaviour started in the spring of 2026. It was fine before that. It is intermittent, but it happens more often than not. I initially reported this to Freely support, and they told me that it was a Netgem issue, and that a fix was in the works. I have queried Netgem support on three occasions, and as yet I have not received a reply to this specific query. This is an annoyance rather than a showstopper.

So that’s it. I have no regrets about purchasing the Netgem PLEIO, and I will probably get a third device for the TV in the spare room. I also have no hesitation in recommending the device to others. However, do make sure your Internet connection and Wi-Fi signal quality are up to the task at the location where the PLEIO will be used. The PLEIO will not be happy otherwise. Also, if you have a capped Internet plan, think carefully about a device like this. It can eat your Internet quota in no time.

Excellent streaming device – highly recommended!
I recently bought the Netgem Pleio, and I'm genuinely impressed with it. It was incredibly easy to set up, and the device itself is so small and compact that it's easy to take anywhere. All you need is a Wi-Fi connection and a TV or monitor with an HDMI port.
The picture quality is excellent, and there are plenty of free channels available. The biggest advantage for me is that it includes Freely over broadband, so I can watch live TV without needing an aerial. My TV didn't have Freely built in, so this has made a huge difference.
We also have two young boys, and they love the selection of games. It's great having family-friendly entertainment all in one place.
The Android Play Store gives access to all the streaming apps we use, including Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video, HBO Max, and many others.
I also like the fact that Netgem is a British company. It's reassuring to know it's a genuine product with customer support that's easy to contact if needed.
Overall, I'm extremely happy with my purchase. Great value for money, easy to use, and packed with features. I would definitely recommend it.

Purchased their streaming device recently. Easy set up and perfect for me as someone in a small flat. Games look good too.

Product arrived on time to watch the World Cup.
My aerial is not good enough so I needed TV over wifi
This is exceeding my expectations.
No need of my old aerial and long cables.
I have also tried the free games section: I have only played with NBA bounce so far (fun!) .
This is a seriously great experience.

**UPDATE 25th June 2026**
The issue with NOW TV is a technical glitch and the service isn't being discontinued. If you're looking at ditching Sky, this little device should be at the top of your shortlist.
Based upon that, I'm revising my review to 5 stars from 3.

I purchased the Netgem PLEIO 4K puck after ditching Sky. I was paying £120 per month for content I never watched. All I watched was Sky F1 & Sky Sports.
My first impressions of this puck were great. It had everything I needed (Freely, Prime, Netflix & NOW TV).
It actually works really well. It's responsive and the picture quality is excellent when connected to a decent fibre broadband connection.

Unfortunately, the praise stops there.
The NOW TV app (that I have purchased a Sky sports package from) says it will no longer be supported on this device from 28th July 2026. When opening NOW TV is warns you that it will be discontinued on this device. The only reason I bought this was that it supported all my apps in one place.
I'm afraid I need to mark it down as it was advertised as supporting NOW TV when it will actually be removed from the device in July.
It's such a pity as this little puck could be a game changer for anyone looking to ditch Sky.

I have written a recent review of the Netgem Pleio which I am still really happy with. This review is based on Netgem customer support which of late seems to be non existent. I contacted their support as asked by them following my recent five star review but to date I’ve had no response. This is very disappointing as I do have a few small issues with the Pleio which I would like resolved. Please get in contact Netgem as being ignored like this takes the shine of my enjoyment of the Pleio.

I did purchase the Pleio back in January and initially I was very pleased with it,but after a couple of weeks it became frustrating with the niggles and I eventually returned it to Amazon. I then purchased the Manhattan Aero and found it to be rock solid and reliable. However being the inquisitive person I am I wondered if the Pleio had improved over time and I had it delivered again a week ago and have found it has improved leaps and bounds to the point the Aero has been relegated to the bedroom tv. The picture and sound quality is superior to the Aero and being able to alter the volume on my Bose soundbar with the Pleio remote control is a bonus which the Aero was unable to do. Two questions I’d like answered by Netgem is how owners of the Pleio are informed of software updates and what the updates consist of and when the box is turned on each time why the mini guide stays in place until I press the back button. Every other time the mini guide goes of after a few seconds. All in all I’m really satisfied with my second purchase of the Pleio and I thoroughly recommend it

Very good device with all Freely channels with all the Apps but having a gamepad with few hundred of free games was a great bonus

I bought the Pleio specifically for the Live TV functionality, but it has been a massive disappointment.
1. The Sound Issue
The device has completely stopped outputting audio. I contacted technical support, and not only was their response incredibly slow, but their "fix" is ridiculous: they told me to turn off surround sound because there is a known issue with the hardware. Their supplier is apparently still investigating the root cause and "believes" a firmware update might eventually fix it. Essentially, I’ve paid for a device that is broken from the start.
2. Constant Software Glitches
The Freely app is a nightmare. It constantly tells me I have no internet connection when I clearly do—I know this because the live channel continues to play perfectly in the background while the error message sits there. I haven't even bothered with the games control (what is the point).

Also for those you don't know, you "don't own the hardware" the price is for the "extra channels" (which are free via other apps) and for the games.

Support needs to do better I first contacted them 11 April, it's now 18th May, no fix in sight.

Summary
This product is not fit for purpose. It’s riddled with hardware defects and software bugs that make it frustrating to use. If you’re looking for a reliable way to watch Live TV, steer clear of this until they actually figure out how to make their hardware work. Not a good product at all.

They tell me to email them and they'll refund me, I have (19th May 2026), still no reply.

The device itself is quite small. It is responsive, the Freely app works fine. The home screen is OK. The version of Android TV is locked down, no Developer mode, no sideloading of apps. There are hundreds of additional channels mostly American so being added to a UK based device is a bit poin tless. Not interested in the games so having to buy with the bundled controller is a bit annoying. Sell it without for £10 less. All those contollers not being used, its an environmental tradegy.

I wanted to buy the Netgem PLEIO mainly to get freely TV on a small TV in my spare room as I can't get Freeview where I live. The Netgem PLEIO works well I can get all the Freely channels.

Freely worked fine.

The freely tv is great and works well in my summer house. Only slight downside is the game side of it doesn’t really work. The controller works but the actual games don’t seem to work. The tv side of the package is perfect.

Not a good set up for live TV. Slow in starting and changing channels. Many other different issues with it which I cannot remember right now. Would definitely not recommend it I'm afraid.

Inconsistent service.
Wouldn’t connect properly for the first week. Watching a film, The Martian, the other night, half way through the screen went blank. When it works it’s good, but it’s very inconsistent which is frustrating. Just glad we don’t need to use it for our main TV.

Great box , not perfect however I can run stemio, netflix and all live tv channels in am easy to navigate ui.

While most of it is great, channel 5 won't link to the freely guide so I'm having to go in through the app. But it has easily updated an older TV in the bedroom

I’ve been using the Pleio since February, device was bought on Amazon.

Overall it is a fantastic device but the software is quite buggy. It has excellent picture quality with many of the channels in HD and it is very responsive as regards menu usage etc.

If you have kids then the gaming side is genuinely very good though it would be better if they sold one without the gaming controller which would keep the costs down. As regards costs then the Pleio is now £99 whereas the main competitor the Manhattan Aero is now £89 which makes the Pleio fantastic value.

The Pleio also runs Android TV with access to the vast range of apps on the Google Play store which is far better than the Aero which is missing some key apps.

However, it has not been all plain sailing. For a while I thought I had maybe got a bad device but it turns out that the problems have been experienced UK wide.

First of all about 2 weeks ago the Pleio lost all ITV channels plus Channel 4. They where in the guide ok but when selecting the channel it simply showed a black screen.

After some research online I came across a fix on a Facebook group setup by users of BRSK/Youfibre broadband customers. Apparently they are offered the Pleio as part of their broadband package and many users also experienced the same ITV black screen issue. The fix was to clear the cache/data on the Pleio app in Android settings. This worked but I had to re-sign back into all the apps again which was a pain.

However, this fix is ok for technical minded people. I imagine there are some non technical users still sitting with no ITV channels and wondering how to fix it. Users should not have to clear data/cache on app settings to get it to work.

The next issue concerned the ITVX app and it still affects many over the last week or so. The device has ITVX preinstalled as part of the Freely system but now when opening it a screen appears with a message re cookies and 2 buttons, 1 for more info and the other for continue. I’m afraid that clicking on each does nothing, ITVX does not open. Again this is affecting numerous users, there is also a dedicated Freely user group on Facebook and many users have reported the same issue. More worryingly some users have said that a factory reset does not resolve the issue so hopefully Netgem will roll out a fix soon if they are even aware of the issue.

Users should not have to clear data/cache or do a factory reset a few weeks after buying the device. I used BT Youview boxes for almost 10 years before moving to the Pleio and never once did I have to do a reset of any sorts.

Bugs aside, overall the Pleio is a great choice for a Freely device.

It's very good

Excellent and prompt help to fix the problem