iCan EasyHD 2851T

The iCan EasyHD box is made by ADB, a name most of us have never encountered.

In fact, the company already makes set-top boxes for some big household names in Europe, but this is its first Freeview box under its own name.

And it's a very clever Freeview box too. It’s capable of tuning into the new Freeview HD broadcasts that are being widely shown for the first time this year. These channels (BBC HD, ITV HD and Channel 4 HD) cannot be seen on ordinary set-top boxes or Freeview TVs so if you want to watch them you will need a new box, such as this one (the technical term is DVB-T2-compatible).

If you already have Freesat HD, Sky HD or Virgin Media HD, you don’t need this kind of box as you already have access to the same channels, but for the rest of us it’s ideal.

As with most modern boxes, setting it up and tuning was a simple matter of pressing a couple of buttons on the remote control. The starting screens were a little unfriendly but those were swiftly replaced with clean, clear and simple menus.

The programme guide is likewise well-designed. It automatically picked up both standard and HD channels but scrolling through the guide was slow. It was also very slow to start up, often requiring several presses of the remote control’s power button.

As well as over-the-air TV, the iCan box can pick up BBC iPlayer programmes. To do so you will need to plug it into your home network (no wireless connection is available). This was simple to set up – we plugged it in and it worked – and easy to use, but as with broadcast TV the menus were quite slow.

Access to iPlayer programmes, both TV and radio, was good, with the same programmes available as when using a computer. And using the iCan box was simpler and quicker than starting a laptop and plugging it into the TV.

Quality will depend on your internet connection but we found both standard and HD programmes looked good. It can’t work with other ‘catch-up’ services such as ITV Player or Sky Player, though more services are promised, with updates provided automatically over the air.

The box is small and compact, with a separate power supply ‘brick’ plugging into the mains. As well as the aerial, network and power sockets, there are Scart and HDMI sockets for screen connection, and an optical sound output for surround sound (you will only see HD-quality pictures through the HDMI socket, not the Scart).

This is not a cheap Freeview box, but it’s a good choice if you want to watch HD programmes without a satellite dish or a subscription.