Free unveiled Tuesday morning during a press conference at its paris headquarters, its new Freebox Pop, the eighth version of the famous case of access to the Internet, which has led to its success. Coronavirus forces, the head of the operator, Xavier Niel, is mounted on a stage installed in the garden outside the building. The new Freebox Pop, available with a subscription to 39.99 euros per month, is composed of two enclosures, as often in Free : a “server” to connect to the fiber or ADSL and a ” player “, which is smaller, to connect to the television.
The new Freebox Pop. © Screenshot The Point.fr / FreeLes two enclosures, compact, have a round shape and flat, available in white or black. “Something else, too small, then it does not exist on the market,” assured Xavier Niel. The maximum flow rate of the subscription in optical fiber is 5 Gbit/s real, five times more than the subscriptions that are currently available. In emission, the speed can reach 700 Mb/s.
so Here is the Freebox POP !
A box all rounder and, above all, small !
The Server is white with an OLED screen and the Player is black, so small that it fits in the pocket @Xavier75 ! #KeynoteFree #FreeboxPop pic.twitter.com/kBxfHpxkTH
— Free (@free) July 7, 2020
New TV interface
The wi-fi of last generation (standard A/C 2100, 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz) is configurable thanks to a QR code, and is encrypted with the new standard WPA3. The Internet connection can be done via the optical fiber, or the old via ADSL2 + or VDSL2. Three network ports Ethernet (of which one ultra-rapid 2.5 Gbit/s) allow for wired connection, while a port the USB Type-C allows you to charge a smartphone and a port USB3 allows you to connect a hard disk or a USB key.
The remote control of the new Freebox Pop, with two huge buttons dedicated to Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. © Guillaume Grallet / The PointCôté ” player “, the TV box has been totally redesigned with new interface ” Oqee “, which is presented as more fluid and more intelligent. Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Canal+ and Disney+ are partners. The first two feature on the remote control very unsightly and bulky dedicated buttons, which ruin the design : it is frankly a pity. The store Android allows you to install thousands of applications and games directly on the TV box.
A wi-fi range extender included
Free has also introduced a new accessory : a wi-fi range extender, which is included with the box, to be able to extend the wireless network coverage. “The wi-fi is the first cause-call technical support,” said Xavier Niel, by presenting the small white box that is automatically installed and of which several copies can be connected to the same Freebox. This will free customers who actually complain a lot of the failures and weaknesses of the wi-fi of the Freebox, particularly in densely populated areas where several networks coexist on each wi-fi channel.
price wise, not a good surprise : it is rather expensive, and better not be a faithful subscriber to Free. In fact, the package is launched to 39.99 euros per month, except for new customers who can enjoy a year to 29.99 euros per month, without commitment. Once again, Free promotes, like its competitors, the infidelity, and the only way to take advantage of good prices is to terminate each year to change the dairy.
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the Only consolation : the subscribers to the Freebox Pop will be able to enjoy a mobile plan 4G + unlimited for 9.99 euros per month, instead of 15.99 for subscribers to other packages and 19.99 for the mobile customers, non-subscribers to a fixed offering. Free will was imposed on the market of fixed Internet, by proposing in 2002 the Freebox at a single rate without the commitment of 29.99 euros, which allowed for the first time with a single device access to the Internet, television, and phone unlimited. At the time, Free is launched in the face of offers huge, unreadable and most expensive among the competitors Orange, SFR and Bouygues, which is no longer necessarily the case today, especially with the offers low-cost Orange (Sosh), Bouygues (B & You) and SFR (Red).
Finally a box cleaner !
The big positive point of this presentation is the importance given to the ecological footprint of the box. “This new Freebox has been thought to be a product manager in the aim of reducing its environmental footprint,” assured Xavier Niel. According to him, the Freebox Pop and consumes 40 % less energy than the Freebox Revolution and Freebox mini 4K, while being five times more powerful, and its shelf life is a minimum of ten years, more than three to five years, generally recorded for the box competing. On continuously, and sometimes with fans for cooling (especially for Free), the boxes are actually big consumers of energy in homes and it is very urgent that all operators get to grips with the issue.
Free, the only operator to develop its own box, was in the best position to open the ball. Always in an ecological approach, Free will also to the customers to choose the equipment they really need (server, player, repeater), and not more than receive necessarily the whole pack and store some in a closet.
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