Customer Ratings & Reviews

I've had this for 5 months now and if you buy one, you're basically a beta tester for Tablo. When it works it works but when it doesn't it doesn't. This is my 5th type of dvr . From Dish Network, to Tivo to Amazon Recast to 2 Channel Masters. So I've seen them all. It misses recordings but there is no recoding history, so you have no idea why it was missed. It shows recording conflicts in red but the only way to find the conflict is to look at EVERY series recording to find the conflict. (I have 30 series recordings) There is no way to see a daily schedule to easily find the conflict. I tell it to extend a recording like a game but it won't do it. It is forever showing you the whirling wheel when you try and change what you are doing. It is SLOW since it uses Wi-Fi to transmit the recordings and commands from the Table to your TV. This was the same issue the Amazon Recast had. This needs an HDMI Cable connection to your TV. BTW, I have 1 gig fiber WIFI. So its not me. Most of the time, watching live TV and recording the audio and video don't sync. Tablo support told me to shorten the length of the cable from the antenna to the TV?? So, you need to remodel your house for this to work. It worked fine for 5 years with my CM DVR? I also tried to take this with me when I was gone for a month. Unlike Roku, the Tablo app cannot connect to a Wi-Fi network unless you have to enter a password. I was in a resort that asked for a room number and last name. The other did not have a password. So could not use it for a month. All in all they have a good idea but they should pay us to work out the problems. Tech support is worthless. Funny thing is that many of my complaints have a fix in the prior generations of Tablos according to members for the Tablo Facebook group. Buyer beware!

This is what I've been looking for in order to get rid of cable TV! Love the menu's interface and the ability to record programs and watch later. It does have a few annoying bugs that I'm hoping will be fixed with updates but nothing that's making me regret buying it. I guess at this price point its not going to be perfect but I'm saving a lot of money and I'm fine with that!

If you have a "smart TV", this product may work. I did not, so I needed a Roku device to give me the HDMI signals for my TV. Unfortunately, Tablo's website (see picture) falsely showed that I could buy a Roku Express to fit the bill. It didn't work, and Tablo's & Roku's tech supports were both worthless. I had to find the answer as to WHY it didn't work from Reddit, of all places. I urged Tablo to remove the Roku Express from their website, and they did. Too bad the website was wrong (see picture), because I relied on that false information, and the resulting experience has been excruciating. So I ordered a Roku Express 4K+. But before it's even been delivered, this product quit working completely. So I'm now returning it to BestBuy for a full refund. I will also have to ship back the Roku Express and the Roku Express 4K+ at my expense and then wait for the refunds. I've already wasted 10 days fighting with this defective product before finally giving up completely. I hope no one else has to go through my horrible experience. Good luck!

I bought the tablo 4th generation 2 tuner because I dropped youtube tv. And needed local channels. I had the ota antenna. On the setup i miss the part to download app on my fire stick on the tv after that it was all good I get 71 channels. I get abc but no nbc or fox os for that it's ok. I like the other channels. You need internet also.Thank you

Item is great Looks nice. Pick up a lots of channels

Sign-in and network errors galore! It was so bad setting it up, I didnt even get the chance to do any channel scanning as I am afraid it my take 2 business days for it to complete. I only got far to updating the tablo firmware and the app froze and then Im lucky if I even get to login the app again. Its absolutely horrible because I didnt even get a chance to test the harware itself. The software was so bad that it rendered the hardware a dud. Dont be fooled by the quick setup as it wasn’t user friendly. I wished it worked the first and second time. Worst part is Tablo live agents dont work on the weekends so dont bother setting it up if you have any issues on the weekend! I love the concept of streaming OTA on multiple TVs and the DVR option is plus, if only the APP WORKED. #SAD.

Easy setup Great tuner Records well Wish they had a 4 tuner version Good customer service

I was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to set up and use. The app guided me through the process of connecting the device to my antenna and my Wi-Fi. I was able to scan for local channels and access 91 in minutes.

Unfortunately as of 1/12/24 Tablo has a bug when paired with Roku. After about 10 minutes the device turns off and returns to the Roku’s Home Screen. However, it works magic when paired with Amazon Fire Stick I can watch live TV while recording another OTA TV program. I can use the mobile app 2 watch OTA TV programs on my mobile devices. I would recommend this produce for Amazon Fire Stick users. I hope Tablo get’s the bug out of Roku soon.

As an owner of the previous generations of this device, I was excited to get the opportunity to review the new 4th gen device. I am also in a unique situation where my house is located between 2 major cities and I am often blacked out of my favorite sports teams games, despite only being 30 minutes from either major city. This is infuriating when streaming with the outlandish licensing and black out restrictions, where I cannot even watch my local, 30 minute away, team plan on gameday. This is where having a local antenna comes into play perfectly as I can pickup both local broadcast locations without blackout restrictions. Tablo TV makes this even easier as I can "steam" my antenna, which needs to be located in an upstairs guest bedroom (I'll eventually put it in the attic) to all of my TVs (which are all using Apple TV). The 4th gen Tablo TV supports all major devices (at least depending where you look) - FireStick, Android, iOS, iPadPOS, Android TV, Google TV, webOS, and Samsung. Physical setup is as easy as it gets. Plug into power, plug coax antenna, plug Ethernet (if using Ethernet, which I am) and my antenna happens to have a USB power, and Tablo supports USB power, so I plugged that in as well. I'm using a very inexpensive "flat" or "sting ray" style digital antenna, which I found can pickup 104 channels and all major locals (ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX) in 1080i HD so this works great for me, others will likely need something far more powerful depending on where you live. Then I went to download the app. This is where the first major disappointment comes in. I start on my iPhone and search "Tablo" in the app store. I'm presented 1 option "Tablo Legacy". without giving it anymore thought, I download it. It doesn't work. I then think to myself "isn't this a new device? why is it called "legacy"?. I then read the instructions closer and I need to search "Tablo TV". Oh, ok, so I do. Opening "Tablo TV" works like a charm. Asks for local network access and finds my Tablo immediately. It then asks if i am new or existing. Well, of course I am existing so I go to login in with my old Tablo account and it doesn't work. I have to create a new account. Once setup and logged in, I am able to "scan" for channels. It picks up all 104 I could get on the TV itself (with antenna physically connected) and from my old Tablo, so great, off to the races. Viewing channels is great, interface is super simple and clean, easy to use, everything seems great on my iPhone. I found getting here necessarily confusing and obnoxios, I'm reasonable, but taking away 1 star for this. Now i'm off to my major need, using all my Apple TVs to stream from this antenna. I go to my Apple TV, search "Tablo TV" because I learned the annoying lesson on iOS, yet to my surprise no Tablo TV app. I double check the box, which CLEARLY states supporting Apple... I also check the website which advertises being able to watch "free TV" using a plethora of devices, one of which, is the Apple TV. Then I found a support page which states "coming soon" for WebOS, Samsung and Apple TV. How annoying and disappointing, I have a device now that isn't even completely ready. Thanks for the unexpected beta test Tablo... another start gone. I also happen to have a Chromecast with Google TV so I setup that instead. Finding the latest app on Google TV play store was equally as annoying as on iOS, it didn't come up right away and I had to type multiple different phrases to find it. Once setup, it was easy to use and worked great, just like on iOS. I also tested on Pixel Tablet and iPadOS. iPadOS worked as you'd expect where Pixel Tablet did not have the app properly formatted (see attached pics), but watching actual live video was full screen. The included 128GB of DVR capability is a real bonus here. I couldn't see any mention of having to pay extra for this or pay for any subscription. This adds tremendous value for the product. I did notice some missing features from Tablo Legacy to the Tablo TV app, such as creating folders, the ability to search, and the "Prime Time" filter. If you liked and use these features, just know they're missing at least currently. I however didn't really care about their omission. All in all, this is a decent product, works very well on the devices it works for, I encountered 0 issues or bugs actually viewing the channels. There is unnecessary confusion with the legacy app and finding the correct new app. The app is also "coming soon" on major platforms many buyers will have and expect to use when buying the product. I wish the lack of current support was made more clear, but my situation was fortunately able to work around it, fill my needs, until the Apple TV app is released.

I would just like to say that I really wanted to like this product. On paper it looked exactly like what I was looking for. An Over The Air experience that was just like what most cable TV providers offered. Free DVR , instant rewind and pause features, on screen menus and full TV guides. The ability to search for TV shows and movies throughout the whole month. The home screen has separate subcategories for suggested items to watch, live sports, recordings, Top movies, Trending shows, Featured items, Live News, upcoming sports, and several other categories. You can record live shows, or set DVR features to record upcoming shows similar to the cable companies except you can even add a little bit of time before and after the scheduled start and end times, because some OTA shows don't exactly hit the scheduled times exactly as they should. The unit comes with two tuners so you can watch one show and record something else, or record two different things at the same time. You can have several streaming devices hooked up to the main unit at once, but you can still only watch 2 streams at the same time. Now for the bad parts. The Tablo unit has to be setup through a cellphone, it can not be setup through a streaming device. Customer service is very limited on their experience and what they offer for answers. They do at least try and will get back to you within a decent time frame. It took way too many days of attempting to setup the Tablo with nothing working. It wasn't until way too much time had passed trying dozens and dozens of things that I finaly got it to work. The first app in the app store has been relabeled as "Legacy" and their is a new app just named "Tablo". The new app is the one needed. Be aware that for some reason the Tablo Android app interferes with other apps and the performance of your phone. I was unable to use my usual Launcher on my phone as the home button started to not work anymore. It wasn't until I removed the phone app that everything on my phone started to work again. There is currently no 4th generation PC app to work with this. The app itself works fairly well through Roku and Fire TV. The signal booster seems to do a fair job at improving reception however reception is not guaranteed. Make sure you check the free government websites for OTA channels and possible reception in your area. We have to constantly move our antenna based on the channels we want to watch. The display looks good on our 4K TV with high def quality on good channels. However, on our smaller 43" HDTV 80% of the screen is green and the show is shrunken down to a small corner of the TV. I have emailed tech support with no solution, and have been unable to find a video setting that lets you change the video output to correct this issue. It is only on our 43" TV, and it doesn't happen on all the channels. The Tablo experience is a great idea, but it's riddled with a lot of bugs. I can't keep the phone app, there is no PC app, and for some reason the display is shrunken on certain TVs with select channels. However when the parts that do work, work pretty good. With hopefully the right updates this can be a really great product. I would also like to add that even though this is not perfect it is one of the best attempts I have seen so far for an OTA cable experience.

Best device ever. Easy to work. Get lots of channels including local channels.

Works great I use tablo app on firestick no issues so far. I bought to watch local channels. Plenty of storage for recording programs.

Tablo product is great as it seems faster than the previous versions. I upgraded from the Tablo 2. I was impressed with the no subscription vs the prevoius version. I also liked the fact that the new Tablo comes with internal storage. Another bit of information that I did not know is that the channels that are provided from the internet when recording do Not count towards your 2 output devices which is nice.

DO NOT BUY ANYTHING FROM THIS COMPANY, THEY CANNOT BE TRUSTED. PLEASE HELP ME IN PROTESTING AGAINST THIS THEM! I purchased this product almost a year ago with the understanding that a Tablo TV app was "coming soon". It's been almost a year and still no app for the Apple TV. I think we are well beyond "Coming Soon".

No good movie old tv channel ok I would not buy this! Buy Roku player instead!

I bought the Tablo 4th gen. after we moved to a different house that didn't have coax to the living room for our main TV. Pros: a. Watch OTA TV anywhere you have a supported app (we use Rokus). b. Supports wifi. Streaming OTA TV over wifi works well if you have solid and strong wifi connectivity. c. Doesn't require a TV schedule data subscription. Cons: a. The Tablo internet infrastructure required to deliver the service sometimes experiences unexpected outages that prevent the app from working as expected. b. Requires a good antenna signal. For best results depending on your location, you may want to hire someone to install and position a rooftop or attic antenna. c. The app is easy to use on streaming devices or TVs but you have to scroll a lot if you have a lot of channels. I don't have much to say about the DVR features as we rarely use them. Other than the occasional server outages, it works as advertised. There might be better devices out there but not in Tablo's price range. (Addendum: You can view the status of the Tablo infrastructure services at https://tablotv.com/status).

The Tablo OTA DVR & Streaming player is a networked tuner for a broadcast antenna. This is a dual tuner device meant to sit on your home network and allow streaming players and TV’s to connect and play live broadcast signals. I have had on OTA antenna for a few years now, but I have always had to make the compromise of a diminished signal due to my TV’s location. With the Tablo I have been able to break free of this limitation. For starters this is a network attached OTA antenna tuner and DVR that can be connected via ethernet or WiFi. To watch TV, whether it is recorded, live, or streaming you have to have connection to the internet. This Tablo device has 2 tuners, so you can watch 2 live broadcast shows at the same time on different devices. It also has 2 virtual tuners which enables additional streams of recorded or free stream content. Based on the support page on Tablo’s website the device can support up to 6 screens playing fully recorded content, whether it be from a broadcast or free streaming channel. The main takeaway is if you are watching live content you will max out at 2 feeds of live broadcast TV and 2 feeds of a live streaming channels for a total of 4 screens watching live (not recorded) content. The Tablo is also a DVR with up to 50 hours of HD video storage (128GB with about 115GB available). You can also connect an external drive to expand storage up to 8TB. I hooked up my Mohu Arc Leaf antenna, which has its own powered amplifier, to the Tablo. The Tablo has a built-in amplifier if your antenna needs it or if you want to free up a plug. My antenna showed full signal at the new location. The old location only had 3 out of 4 reception lights illuminated, but I was limited at the time based on my screen location. I went from 56 channels to 88 due to this change, which was entirely enabled by the Tablo tuner. Configuring the Tablo requires you to download an app on your phone – like everything these days. Install and setup was pretty swift. The Tablo was discovered by the app within a few seconds and I had it added to my WiFi network in only a minute or two. The initial setup requires Tablo to scan your area for channels, which took about 10 minutes for me. There was another 10 minutes for it to download all of the guide info, but then it was up and running. Total setup time was under a half hour, and the vast majority of that time was spent waiting for the automated processes to complete. Getting the Tablo to stream to my TV’s required me to download the Tablo TV app – I set it up on a Roku TV (TCL), and Vizion TV with a Roku Express HD, and my projector that has Google TV. App install and discovery was super easy on all devices. Watching on the projector and the Roku TV was done without any issue. They ran 1080, 720, and 480 content without issue. I set up a few recordings and watched them as well. No issues ran into at all – it was like watching recordings in the past on my digital cable DVR. I ran into some funkiness on my Vizio TV with the Roku Express. My Vizio TV is from 2015 and it’s a HD (1080p) model, and it has a Roku Express HD attached. There were no issues while playing HD content. However, if I changed to a channel broadcast in 720p or 480i my screen would be windowed. The content would show up in the top left corner while the rest of the screen was green. 480i content occupied 20% of the screen while 720p content took up about 40%. I was missing out on a lot of screen real estate. I tried adjusting settings on the TV, on my Roku, and on the Tablo but nothing worked. I found a few forum/Reddit posts of others running into the same problem, so I submitted a support ticket. I am currently working through that process to see if things can be worked out. As of right now its my 3rd screen that’s affected, so my two main screens run just fine. I am impressed by this little tuner. It has allowed me to use my antenna to its fullest potential by being network connected. I can now watch broadcasts on all of my screens instead of just 1. This is really a nice little piece of equipment. I have already recommended it to my parents who hesitated cutting the cord because they would miss out on local programming.

The Tablo TV experience has completely revolutionized my approach to television. As someone who opted to cut the cord, I was in search of a seamless method for watching and recording live TV without the complexities of subscriptions. In this regard, Tablo has unquestionably lived up to its promise. The setup procedure is incredibly straightforward, with the Tablo app providing excellent guidance every step of the way. With just a few simple clicks, I successfully initiated my Tablo and had it operational. It's worth noting that the model I chose did not include an antenna, but there's an alternative "Total System" model that comes with one. Given that I already had an outdoor antenna installed, which I connected to my home's coaxial system to cover the entire house, this arrangement better suited my requirements. The elegance of Tablo's simplicity truly shines during the process of connecting to your internet network. Through the use of the provided Ethernet cable, I seamlessly integrated the Tablo into my home setup. A standout feature of the Tablo is the option to augment storage capacity using a USB hard drive. While the built-in memory of the Tablo can accommodate up to 50 hours of high-definition recordings, the ability to link an external drive with a capacity of up to 8TB is an absolute boon for those who enjoy binge-watching and avid recording. The absence of any subscription obligations, contracts, or hidden fees is a much-appreciated relief. With Tablo, I've been able to relish both broadcast programming from my TV antenna and access to over 40 streaming channels via the internet, all without incurring any costs. The freedom to watch what I desire without the burden of recurring payments is genuinely liberating. The incorporation of a 14-day TV guide data cycle is a notable advantage, ensuring that I'm consistently updated about my favorite shows and upcoming events. Overall, the Tablo TV has completely transformed my TV consumption habits. Its user-friendly setup, compatibility with existing systems, expandable storage capabilities, and steadfast commitment to subscription-free entertainment make it an absolute game-changer for anyone in search of high-quality TV without the usual cable clutter.

I really wanted to love this device. I was excited to be able to record live tv and play it back on any other tv. I have had similar devices in the past and they were overall just ok. The size of the Tablo is supper small and easy to tuck away and not worry about. You can also add an additional hard drive to expand storage. Without adding the additional hard drive, you can record up to 50 hours of video right out of the box. It does have two built in tv tuners so you can record two shows at once or watch one and record another. Overall, this is pretty great product, and the price point is on par or better than the competitors. With all the great things this device can do I don't think it's ready for consumers. I tried setting Tablo up on my google pixel 7 phone and it wasn't working and kept crashing and or not responding to anything. I gave up my android and tried my iPhone and it worked and was easy to get setup. Once I finally had the device on my Wi-Fi network, I then tried to use the Roku app. I was met with a loading screen and nothing showing for my device. My Roku is a few years old but works fine, but I tried another device android tv and was met with the same loading screen. In both situations I did let it run for about 5 minutes to see if the app was updating Tablor or something, but nothing happened. I spent some more time messing around and trying to get it to work. Came to the conclusion if I hard wire it to my internet it will get passed the loading screen. I was able to use the app on my iphone to pull up the TV guide and was able to setup the shows I wanted recorded. The menu, when it works, is very simplistic and easy to use. You can select just record this one episode, or you can also select the series. Your recordings show up in the Library and are easy to navigate through. I went back to using my Roku for the Tablo app as it seemed to function. I was able to browse my library and live tv. I tried out one of the recordings I did, and it was flawless, the sound was great, the screen clarity, everything was perfect. Next, I tried live TV, the tv guide takes a moment to load and is choppy to scroll through. I selected a show and it was streaming totally fine, then after 5 minutes the video was no longer in sync with the sound. I figured I will reboot and try again, and then the Tablo app was no longer working. Overall, I feel like this is a pretty simplistic device but somehow it doesn't work. I was pretty bummed out because I wanted to love this and overlook the setup issues, but there are too many issues for me. Maybe Tablo will do an update to fix some of these so the device can be used.