Here is the review of the Netgem Soundbox HD is looking to help minimise the fuss around your TV space by being an Alexa-powered soundbar, set-top box and streaming device all in one at the time of writing this review it is in a sale on Amazon for £179 normal £249 until 31st October 2018, also the Netbox is at a special price of £59 from £129.99 until 31st October 2018.
Settings Up
Setting up is very easy to do, just plug in the power lead, tv antenna cable and HDMI to the tv and connect to the internet and just follow the onscreen guide.
Design
The Netgem Soundbox HD is positively small, that – you could hold it in one hand without any hassle, which is doubly impressive considering it’s serving multiple purposes.
The Soundbox HD is a soundbar, with basically a Netbox HD built into it. It’s obviously larger, but coming in at 450mm in length, it’s a very compact soundbar. It’s black in finish, sits on rubber feet and has mesh covering most of it. To the rear of the unit, is an aerial in, HDMI out, aux out, power in and USB 2.0.
The contents inside the box
The performance of the set top box is very good, Freeview Play is excellent and really opens your TV to current and past tv shows & movies.
Navigation is easy, there is a Netgem option, which allows access to the internet services such as Amazon Prime Video. Picture quality is good, offering up to full HD 1080p clarity. On the remote control, there are dedicated Freeview Play & Amazon Prime buttons, which is very handy.
The remote control is the Alexa interface, so hold the button down and speak into the top of the mic to use Alexa.
With the Amazon Alexa integration, allowing you to say what you want, ‘Alexa, watch the Grand Tour’, or pause live tv, control soundbar bar etc. Freeview channels as standard, plus Internet-based services such as Amazon Prime Video, Hayu, Hopster, BBC iPlayer, ITV hub, All 4, My 5 and UKTV Play. No Netflix, no YouTube.
With Music playback via Deezer, Trace, Box Plus & Radioline, via the Soundbox HD. No Spotify.
The second part is the audio performance from the Soundbox. Not only will this offer sound from the set-top box, but it’s also Bluetooth enabled, so you can connect your phone to it. Overall sound quality very good you clicking the music note on the control and flicking left and right through the different sound options such as Clear Voice (helps for elderly people to hear dialogue clearer with bass reduce), bass boost etc, works well with TV. It can also get quite loud, and quality is maintained at the higher volumes.
Verdict
Positives
Size
Sound Quality
Easy to Use
Value of money
Negatives
Needs more apps support
