Customer Ratings & Reviews

I was excited when I found this product on the Best Buy website but after setting it up and doing the initial channel scan with my already mounted indoor antenna...I was disappointed to see two of the 3 network channels were not being scanned when the antenna was hooked up to the Tablo. When the antenna was hooked up directly to my TV's antenna input...with the same exact antenna, mounted in the same exact spot, I was getting those 2 other network channels. So unfortunately...the signal seems to take a hit (weakens) when the antenna is hooked up to the Tablo. Will have to return, since all the other 146 channels it did find I have zero interest in watching. Guess it's back to paying for a recurring streaming service again.

This was an interesting piece of equipment species with the ability to record shows.... Very nice but I think it should be cheaper

I really like my Tablo. Works well, setting recordings is easy, not as high tech as Xfinity but a whole lot less expensive, a little chunky on rewind, fast forward but worth the price difference. Tech help has been really good when needed.

Well, my grandmother's Tablo stopped working Wednesday. Worked for two months and some days only to have the device flash endlessly for 6 days straight now. At first support over the phone went well, most of what had been suggested I did prior to my phone call however I was willing to go through it again in hope it would push my case along for a speedy resolution. At the end of our call the first night of support the representative and I came to a general consensus that the device seemed to be "logic locked" or stuck in an endless loop unable to break. The hard reset button was used multiple times, cords unplugged and re plugged multiple times. Made sure our internet was not the problem (mind you this is and always has been hardwired). Again the first night of support ended well and the representative stated the info was being sent to developers and said it could either be fixed easily or would need replacement. The same night we received an email from our support rep with yet another suggestion to disconnect and reconnect the ethernet cord...no change. Responded with the results and two days later I decided to follow up with a call and this is where everything went sideways. Unfortunately Tablo has decided that it is within there best interest to take care of themselves before there customers. Tonight I was asked to do more of the same troubleshooting from two days prior only adding to my frustration finally ending with a demand to send a video of the device flashing while plugged in. I'm sorry, but I'm lost on what we're looking for in the video? Are we checking that I'm telling the truth or are we looking to see that it's flashing sky blue or navy blue...? After multiple requests to speak with a supervisor I was continuously told the same "we don't have one" speech and "I'm not denying a replacement device" spat. My review will continue to be updated (if allowed) as we go forward but for now I will end on this. The device is two months old and has not worked for 6 days straight. I would gladly ship the broken device before you send a replacement or put a hold on my card while you wait for my return either way get your customer back online faster and ultimately saves you from this review. Unfortunately for you, this will be copied and pasted everywhere that will listen until a quick resolution is made.

The idea for this product is good but the implementation is poor. First you should know that you can't stream to your devices unless you're at home. That's somewhat limiting.... Next, I've had countless problems with connecting to the Tablo. It works, except when it doesn't. Basically I have noticed that after a period of time it won't connect anymore. And then you have to unplug the device and plug it back in and then it will work fine. But it's never reliable. I can't just open the app and no that it's going to work. That's very annoying.

It’s ok not worth $99 maybe $60 at most. It’s pretty laggy at times. I have great antenna reception and always have so that’s not an issue. I have 1gb internet so speed is good I always make sure my stuff has no WiFi interference. So the hardware and software has to be the lag issues. Can be a little glitchy as well. It was fast and easy to setup with no issues. Haven’t tried to record yet. Don’t know if I will take it back or not. Not really with $100 but we’ll see.

Works as described. Set up was super easy. The unit picked up the over the air channels with the antenna as well as the streaming channels when connected to the internet. No additional cost!

I live about 25 miles west of Philadelphia, and have a GE Attic Antenna (29884-PK1), GE 50-ft RG6 Quad Shield Coax (33532), GE Antenna Amplifier (42178), two way splitter, and finally this device. 1GB internet is provided by a Verizon Fios. Physically, the device is everything I could wish for. It is well made, has a tiny footprint (5" dia x 3/4"), is very light, and only has the four connections in the back (power, network, usb, and antenna). It has an 18 watt (12 volts @ 1.5 amp) DC power adaptor with two unpolarized prongs. With no connections, it uses about 2 watts. With the tuners/dvr running, it consumes about 5 watts, which is nothing. Just bought it yesterday, and I am very impressed so far. I recently spent a month testing the HDHomeRun FLEX 4K. The HDHomeRun supports all types of operations that the Tablo does not. For example, you can tie it into a Plex Media Server, run configuration and status commands via telnet, translate signal strength and signal quality into dBm and dB, stream videos to files or third-party players such as VLC, tune-in unencrypted ATSC 3.0 stations, and run their app on mac os or Windows 11. However the plethora of HDHomerun viewing apps are inconsistent, feature-laking, buggy, and resource hogs. Also, its channel listing and DVR service requires an external hard-drive and an annual $35/year subscription. I hooked up the Tablo to the antenna coax, a hard-wired ethernet cable, and the supplied power adaptor. Then I spent about 15 minutes downloading and running the Tablo TV app on an Android phone. After launching the app, it walked me through the steps of creating an account, selecting a few options, updating the firmware, running a channel scan, and downloading the channel guide data. The process was very easy and did not require any low-level technical skills. The Tablo account only requires an email address. You do not have to enter any payment information. The tuner works very well. It picked up all the same networks as the $200 HDHomeRun FLEX 4K, which is known to have very sensitive tuners. Of course, I had previously tuned the antenna input using the HDHomeRun's excellent signal meter functions. The channel selection interface, which allow you to hide useless stations like advertising networks, is built into the main application and is easy to use. I noticed that I had to restart the Tablo TV apps running on other devices before their channel listings were updated. I test the Tablo TV app on three TCL 4-Series Roku TVs (one with hard-wired ethernet, and two using wifi). I also used it on a hard-wired Roku Express 4K+ connected to an old Vizio TV. Finally, I ran the app on an iPhone 6s Plus, a first generation 9.7 inch iPad Pro, and a OnePlus Nord N20 5G Android phone. On all these devices, the apps were almost identical. They supported live streaming, DVR recording/scheduling/playback, channel scanning/selection, and a few configuration options such as the LED status light and power for the internal RF amplifier. While the HDHomerun supported more platforms, the application interfaces were very inconsistent. For example, the Windows app ran fairly well, the mac os app was a resource hog, and the Roku lacked DVR scheduling functions, and always crashed when you tried to use rewind and fast-forward. Each of the Tablo TV apps have the same functionality, and all functions performed well. There were a few minor issues. For example, the app crashed twice on my ancient iPhone 6s Plus, and the results of the channel scan were not in numerical order on the Roku app. But, overall, the apps are fantastic compared to the HDHomerun. I stress tested the app on all seven of my devices at the same time, with all tuned to the same channel. The results went well, with pause, fast-forward, and rewind being very responsive. I watched part of a college football bowl game, and was pleased with how the time-shifting worked on the Roku remote. Finally, I tried tuning three devices to different channels, and noted that the first device stopped streaming due to the 2-tuner limit. The record function was also partially tested, but only with the internal storage. I have not connected an external storage device yet.

The setup is easy, thanks to a simple yet thourough setup wizard that walks you through everything. The streaming quality to my iPad and Apple TV are very good. The interactive guide is simple, effective, amd very familiar to anyone who has used a cable box or streaming service. 50 hours of storage is plenty, and I like that I can hook up a cheap hard drive to add a lot if I want to. Highly recommended.

After setup, it successfully scanned in all 22 local channels. Then it got slower, with repeated messages "it's taking longer than normal, disconnect." Rebooting, it showed a spinning blue wheel, longer and longer between reboots. Last try, while exploring Tablo's 8o+ channels, it went to the spinning circle "permanently" and I never got it back. Returned for refund. I do not have enough confidence in Tablo to risk another try.

I stream on a PC, Apple TV, Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max, iPad Pro, Nvidia shield, Roku 4K, Google Chromecast, Amazon fire TV cube, and PS5. I have the HDhomerun quad tuner and a lifetime PLEX Pass. The HDhomerun combined with Plex can accomplish all of this. The HDhomerun is harder to set up, and the server occasionally glitches on failing to record schedule recordings. The Tablo is easier and more user friendly. However, you are very limited to watching on only a few devices. If you are not very tech savvy I would go with the Tablo. If you plan to stream abroad from multiple devices and want access to your recordings and other digital movies and family videos, I would go with a more capable device.

I love this device! I can finally record programs that come on the antenna. There's been times that my wife missed her show that she looks forward too, and life was hard around my house. BUT, after the new Tablo, HAPPY WIFE, HAPPY LIFE!

If you are a Roku user i would wait until they fix the bugs in this thing first. When viewing antenna channels, this thing will kick you out of live viewing. And then other times it will take forever to load antenna channels. When they do finally address these issues, it will be a solid device.

When we bought this a couple months ago, it was great. But now when we try to watch live TV, we click on the show, and it gives an error message. The only way to fix it (most of the time) is to get out of the app and re-enter. Also don’t like how the record cuts a show into pieces, or it misses the first few minutes or cuts off at the end. We’ve tried using the feature that allows recording before the show is supposed to start, but that doesn’t always work. If there was something else out there that was as affordable, we’d try to return it. Hopefully the next software update will fix it, but I don’t hold out hope, since the last update didn’t fix these problems. In fact, I think they’ve gotten worse, since we didn’t get the error messages before.

A bit buggy on Roku devices, no LG TV app as of yet (10/13/23) But all in all it's pretty great, especially the ability to DVR FAST streaming channels, in addition to the OTA channels. Hopefully, a LG TV app and some of the bugs get worked out.

Does NOT work with Samsung TVs, very disappointed that this not clearly noted. I even checked Tablo website, and it say coming soon. Contacted them directly and they say the 4th gen will not be capable with Samsung ever. So I can not useit with two of my tvs, unless I want to add another remote. Roku or firestick ect....

I bought this January 13th in store, it is the 16th, 3 days later now it is on sale $20 off (After owning it, I see why it is now on sale). First off, the idea of this is great, but the execution is literally the old saying, "putting the cart before the horse". On the box it shows the Apple logo, now this is a TV device, so I think like anyone, I would believe then it works with Apple TV, it does not. This would be the "cart", it seems they released this 4th generation Tablo TV without the "horse". Purchasing this in store, I was lead to believe all you needed was an Apple TV or a smart TV, I have those, so I purchased it for $99. I unboxed, set this all up using my Apple TV, every time I went to "watch", all I got was a black screen. I thought I was doing something wrong, so I went to google and googled "Tablo TV Apple TV black screen", immediately I got up multiple threads of customers saying this is what happens, the new Tablo TV doesn't have and updated app to work with Apple TV. So I thought, ok, I have three TVs, all LG smart TV's, I download the app directly onto the TV, couldn't even find the Tablo device this way. So after more research, I found out there was a legacy app for the older devices (the app I had downloaded) and an updated app for the 4th generation, yet this app isn't available yet on many many many devices. Why in the world would you release a piece of hardware without the technology to drive it, this is literally putting the cart before the horse! This would be like releasing a game console with no games, why would you release a device that you do not yet have the apps/technology yet to drive it and that are required to use it?

This works really, really well. Super easy setup and operation. Includes a great program guide fur all the channels you receive. Great picture and sound.

Nice form factor. Great having built in storage for recording. Also nice not having to pay for guide data. That being said, the unit is often slow and glitchy. I suspect their are unresolved software issues. Perhaps rolled out too soon. Can't recommend it - yet.

Just what we needed. Like the ability to record and play back also to replay.