Are there any benefits to the new box vs a third party option? (Apple TV)?

[BradCL]

Signed up with Telus a few days ago and just got my Optik tv boxes in the mail.

We already have an Apple TV, so I downloaded the Telus TV+ app while I waited for the Telus boxes, only to be disappointed that the TV boxes offered at best, a similar quality as the app, while still having the massive downside of being ~a full minute behind the live play. It’s very hard to see the benefit of using the Telus equipment, especially when the 4k options are so incredibly limited anyway.

I was thinking maybe I could just swap to the Shaw box and get rid of the Apple TV, but the Telus box doesn’t seem to play very well with switching between apps with HDR options and the TV+ app itself, where as my Apple TV box can match the resolution changes based on what’s playing.

So the options I’m considering are:

- Keep just the Telus box and deal with manually changing settings on my TV to match what I’m watching when I switch to Netflix, Plex, Disney, Apple TV+ etc.

- Keep just the Apple TV and give up the few 4K streams that are offered.

- use both and add another remote to the rotation. This options is especially frustrating because for some reason Telus has unnecessarily tied their 4K offerings to an android box despite the technology and hardware being no different than a non Telus branded android box, and most likely well below what my current Apple TV box offers.

Is there some benefit I’m missing with the Telus supplied hardware besides the paid cloud PVR option?

I can’t help but feel like if they had given the app the 4k and even cloud PVR options, and offered the box as an option for those without an alternative, they could have saved a lot of customer frustration, and needless overhead on their end, not to mention saving on waste when these boxes are obsolete in a few years.

[telus1203]

i apologize in advance that this reply doesn't answer your original problem but...

1. may i ask  what channels do you lose in   appletv-telustv+app  that you get in  Telustv-21T (android) tv box.  can you list the tv channels?

2. also  you said  "i manually changing settings on my TV to match what I’m watching" . what setting are you changing exactly on your tv and do you have to do that everytime you turn on  Telustv-21T box?

[BradCL]

Absolutely,

1. The only channels I don’t get on my Apple TV 4K is the 4K sportsnet channels, SNOne4K and SN4K on channels 920 and 921. I’ve been searching these forums and others all day to see if it’s a planned feature, but all I’ve been able to find is people confirming 4K channels are currently tied to just the Telus TV box.

2. The colours are very inconsistent between HDR content that I’ve been streaming via Netflix, and anything that isn’t HDR. Rather than the box adjusting to the program/app, I’ve was manually tweaking my colour settings on my TV to try and fix the picture the few times it happened.

The Apple TV I have, has an option to colour, resolution, and frame match whatever content is being streamed, while the Telus box doesn’t appear to have any option like that, making swapping between HDR and standard HD, or even other 4K programs feel like I need to have a new preset for each one in order for the quality not to suffer.

I haven’t noticed issues when I turn it on or off yet, it’s mainly the lack of adaptive features to the different stream types.

[telus1203]

thanks for the quick response.

just to note.  is it safe to say   appletv+telustv+app  also do not support  TSN-4k (905) channel? or do you not have tsn package to check?

[BradCL]

Unfortunately I don’t have the channel to check, but my understanding is that all 4K channels are limited to the Telus provided hardware for some strange reason.

[buckycat]

Apple TV doesn’t have TSN 4K on the app.

[Optik-Kate]

Just chiming in here that all 4K channels are only available on the STB. While we do have a limited number of sports 4K channel right now, the move to the new android box allows us to add features much faster than the system that we were on previously, so in the near future we most definitely would expand the number of 4K channels. Other benefits that are exclusive to the STB would be the gamezone and sportszone experience that are coming soon. 

[BradCL]

Thank you for chiming in!

Would you happen to know why the 4k channels are restricted to the box? Or if there’s plans to bring it to the app itself in the future?

I can’t imagine it being related to only the box having the necessary hardware to decode the 4k streams given it’s essentially a rebranded android TV box. It kind of feels like a software lock to persuade people to use the Telus top box instead of their own.

[Optik-Kate]

Hi @BradCL, the plan to add more 4K channels on more devices is on the roadmap, there is just a lot of device limitations/ development prioritization to work through. I believe 4K on TVOS is on the roadmap, but I cannot provide any timelines. 

[Ringmaster316]

I also used the Apple TV 4K box for Telus before my boxes came and I must say on Apple Tv the app was very clunky and slow. While my Telus Digital box is smooth and faster.

I also don't need my Amazon Firecube anymore because the Telus Digital box is android so I have all my apps in one place. Plus how cool is it I can watch Dishnetwork Anywhere and Telus Tv on the same box!!!

One thing I noticed Telus Android Box is missing Love & Nature 4K channel. I used to get it on wireless boxes.

[viperdiablo1]

Just out of curiosity have you been able to connect Bluetooth headphones successfully to the new telus digital tv box?
I have tried with my apple AirPod headphones and while the box can find the headphones it never connects to them . The appletv has no issues connecting that’s why I continue working I use that box.

[BradCL]

Hey, I just tested with my box to see, and I can get them to connect (AirPods Gen 2) and the volume comes through, but there’s no way to change the volume output.

[viperdiablo1]

Hmm. I believe mine are first gen. So that could possible be the issue . They do However work with all the other android tv boxes I have used over the last little bit. Also odd that volume control using the telus tv remote doesn’t work for you. That as well has always worked with other android tv boxes for me. Hopefully telus can upgrade the boxes to android 11 or 12. I think telus is running on android 10. I could be wrong I haven’t checked in awhile. But that may fix some issues with the always on hdr, volume control of Bluetooth headphones etc.

[BradCL]

It does appear to be running on Android 10, with the current build being dated June of 2022. Odd that given the date, that they still used 10.

[BradCL]

Interesting, I’m experiencing the opposite. The Telus box has a noticeable stutter when changing programs through the guide, the explorer interface, or browsing other apps.

It seems to be using a lot of resources to constantly be playing the Telus program you were watching, and operating the Telus UI. where as the Apple TV I could turn off background app refreshing and close unused apps.

If i force close the Telus TV app, it becomes significantly more responsive, likely due to the reduced resource usage.