Fetch Mighty (Gen 4) review – a powerful PVR that meets all your content needs

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• VERDICT

The Fetch Mighty certainly lives up to its name. It’s one of the best PVRs you can - it also ticks all the boxes for your content demands including free-to-air TV, catch up apps, streaming apps, subscription channels and a movie and TV store. And it does it in style with stunning video and audio quality.

The new Fetch Mighty (Gen 4) might not look much different from the previous model but under the hood it is has the power to keep up with the entertainment demands of the modern household.

The box, which has a 1TB hard drive onboard, is a powerful PVR for those who still want to record their favourite programs or entire seasons.

But it’s also homebase for all your streaming services.

That means in one spot you can access Netflix, Stan, Disney+, Prime Video, Paramount+, BritBox, Hayu, YouTube Kids and more.

With four TV tuners, the box can deliver your free to air channels and allow you to set up multiple recordings.

But for $20 a month you also get access to 46 channels including Discovery, Universal, E Entertainment, National Geographic, Investigation Discovery, ESPN2 and many, many more.

And all these channels allow you to go back and watch a program from the start if you come in halfway.

The Fetch Mighty (Gen 4) M681T model has 4GB RAM and 8GB eMMC Flash memory.

It also has a faster processor that’s twice as fast as the chip on the Gen 3 box.

It’s also rocking the latest Bluetooth 5 version as well.

There is also one less USB port on the back – there used to be two – not a deal breaker as I have never had to use the USB port on the previous model and on this one.

Performance is snappy when getting to the home screen and navigating the menus.

Moving channel to channel is also pretty fast which will be music to the ear of channels surfers hunting for something to watch.

But, of course, there are easier ways to get to your content with Universal Search so you can ask for a program and the Fetch box will search not only all of Fetch but also the streaming apps as well.

The box offers a high-quality viewing experience and it can also handle Dolby Vision – a form of High Dynamic Range (HDR) – on 4K movies available in the Movie Store. And this is on top of support for HDR10.

There also already support for the AV1 streaming codec which may come in to play in the near future to provide streaming services with a better quality streaming without the need for a big increase in bandwidth.

On the audio side, the new Fetch Mighty offers Dolby Digital Surround 5.1, Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby Atmos so you can hear 3D surround through your TV or speaker system when watching movies with Dolby Atmos soundtracks.

Most customers connect their Fetch Mighty to their wireless network.

Not many have the luxury of having their modem right next to the box and connected with an Ethernet cable.

The great news is the Fetch box now has Wi-Fi 6 connectivity – the faster wireless standard – so you’ll get a better wireless connection from your modem or mesh wi-fi system with reduced buffering and a better viewing experience especially when viewing 4K content.

What’s attractive about the Fetch Mighty box is the ease of use, the excellent performance and the ability to locate your content in one place and find what you want to watch in seconds.

But the Fetch ecosystem also extends to the impressive Fetch Mobile app which can easily be linked the box and even used as a remote control.

But it can so do much more. You can browse TV Guide and set recordings if you’re not home in front of the box.

You can also view Fetch through the app whether it’s one of the subscription channels of your own stuff including your recordings and purchased and rented movies and TV shows.

Fetch also has the Mini box which can be wirelessly linked to the Mighty.

The Mini can’t record but you can stream your recordings and even Live TV from the Mighty.

This means the Mini can be placed in a room where there is no antenna connection or anywhere you want to access the content from the Mighty.

The Fetch Mighty is priced at $449 and is also available through internet providers on a subscription.

VERDICT

The Fetch Mighty certainly lives up to its name. It’s one of the best PVRs you can buy – it also ticks all the boxes for your content demands including free-to-air TV, catch up apps, streaming apps, subscription channels and a movie and TV store. And it does it in style with stunning video and audio quality.