​Fetch TV Mini review: Make your TV a smart TV

In ye olde days, the Fetch TV came as a chunky box which would only work with some routers under certain conditions over an ADSL connection. Picture quality was poor and so was the channel choice. Not anymore.

The Fetch TV Mini is a small box with an HDMI port, Ethernet port, antennae connection and an optical audio out port. WiFi is built in too. As such you can use it for accessing Fetch TV’s channels over the internet AND/OR use the antennae to access Freeview channels too.

Getting up and running takes just a few minutes and that includes a channel scan. Again, back in ye olde days, this on its own would be a chore as you’d pick up multiple variations of the same channels with different reception qualities but the Fetch box's modern intelligence lines them all up in so there are no duplicates (well almost – we had two channel tens for some reason).

These channels are then displayed in a list alongside Fetch’s internet TV channels in a seamless Electronic Program Guide (EPG) which is responsive, well laid out and easy to navigate.

Anyone who’s suffered with a Foxtel iQ3 will find it an absolute dream. The User Experience (UX) is excellent and the layout has been very well thought out. Add to this easy access to apps from Netflix, Stan and the moribund Presto plus easy access to catch-up apps from Seven, Ten, ABC, SBS and (soon) Nine (which has only just been announced) and you’ve got an enormous amount of content available just a couple of clicks away.

We need to mention the remote which is another triumph of industrial design. It’s small enough to reach everything easily, everything is well-labelled and on the occasions where you need to enter numbers you press the 123 button and a keypad lights up across the buttons. It also walks you through making it compatible with your TV so that you can control key features with the same remote.

If you get a Mini from Optus then you can also access the Optus Sport app and watch the excellent English Premier League coverage if you’ve subscribed to it.

The main $15-per-month channel list is now very impressive and contains many channels that Foxtel spreads across numerous premium packages. Note CNN got added yesterday.

Add to this all the Freeview channels and there’s a huge amount to watch.

In addition to all of this there are plenty of add-on speciality packs for niche interest and foreign language channels.

On top of this there are the usual Premium movie rental and purchases. Renting is $5.95 and purchasing is $19 for Standard Definition.

Next: The weaknesses and conclusion