A tiny streaming box tapping into the power of Android, the Fetch Mini Gen 5 (G5) puts the best of broadcast and internet video at your fingertips.
For Australians who don’t want to hand over their money to Foxtel, Fetch TV has long been the best alternative for bringing the best of free-to-air, pay and streaming television into your lounge room.
The flagship Fetch TV Mighty (Gen 4) personal video recorder competes against the Foxtel iQ5. Meanwhile, the little Fetch Mini lacks recording features and is more of a rival to Foxtel’s new Hubbl streaming box. Over the years, the Fetch Mini has seen off ill-fated rivals like the Telstra TV, Vodafone TV and Foxtel Now box.
Fetch Mini Gen 5 (G5) review
First impressions
The Fetch Mini has been through several iterations, including the Fetch Mini 4K released in 2021. This year’s Gen 5 Fetch Mini is still 4K capable, despite the name, but it stands out thanks to its smaller footprint.
At only 10x10cm, the Mini (G5) is more compact than the old 12x12cm Mini 4K. This makes it even easier to tuck the little set-top box out of the way, whether it’s connected to the main television in your lounge room or, more likely, a secondary television in a bedroom or rumpus room.
Along with shrinking the footprint, Fetch has also managed to shrink the price tag, bringing it down to a budget-friendly $149, whereas the Fetch Mini 4K sold for $199.
At first glance, these appear to be the only changes, but look to the rear and you discover that the new Mini’s smaller footprint comes at the expense of the digital optical audio output.
This leaves you with an HDMI 2.1 video output, Gigabit Ethernet port, RF aerial input and power socket – which should be enough to satisfy most people. Plus there’s still a USB-A port on the side, which can be used to play media files but not as external storage to enable recording. Unfortunately, you can’t take advantage of it, as the Media Hub features found on other Fetch devices are missing for now, but should return down the track.
Under the bonnet is a single MPEG-4-capable DVB-T2 digital TV tuner, meaning you can pick up all of Australia’s new digital-only free-to-air channels.
Setting up is simple, you just connect your television and your broadband connection (via Ethernet or Wi-Fi). If you don’t plug an aerial in the back, for accessing terrestrial broadcasts, you can still use the box’s internet-enabled features – including free-to-air catch-up and online free-to-air simulcasts.
The latest Mini comes with the same easy-to-use, voice-enabled Fetch remote control. Exiting the current app or menu takes you back to live free-to-air broadcasts, which makes the Mini more intuitive than Foxtel’s Hubbl, which buries free-to-air channels in the menus.
Fetch Mini Gen 5 (G5) specs and price
| Resolution | 4K @ 120 fps |
| Picture quality | HDR10, HDR10+, Dolby Vision |
| Video formats | MPEG4 HD, H.264 AVC, H265 HEVC |
| Audio formats | MPEG4 AAC, MPEG 4 HE-AAC v2 Dolby Atmos/Digital Audio |
| Digital tuner | 1 x DVB-T2 |
| Connectivity | HDMI 2.1 with HDCP 2.3 Gigabit Ethernet 802.11ax Wi-Fi6 with 2×2 antenna Bluetooth 5.0 1 x USB 2.0 Type A |
| Processor | Amlogic S905X4 |
| RAM | 4 GB |
| Storage | 8 GB |
| Dimensions | 100 mm (W) x 100 mm (L) x 23 mm (H) |
| Weight | 167 gm |
| Price (RRP) | $149 |
| Warranty | 2 years |
| Official website | Fetch TV |
Features
Apart from the lacking ability to record, the Gen 5 Fetch Mini offers the same feature set as the Fetch TV Mighty (Gen 4) personal video recorder. Thankfully, if you’ve got a Mighty in the lounge room, you can stream its recordings across your home network to a Mini in the bedroom.
With an aerial plugged in, the Mini lets you watch free-to-air terrestrial television broadcasts, with the advantage of a great on-screen Electronic Program Guide (EPG) that’s more accurate than the guide embedded in the broadcast signal.
You can also watch streaming simulcasts of the free-to-air channels, as of late September they’ll be in the EPG just like a traditional channel – letting you watch live TV even if you don’t have an aerial connection.
Keep in mind you can’t rewind live broadcasts as with the Mighty, but you can pause them for up to 15 minutes – plenty of time for a trip to the kitchen via the bathroom.
There’s no green button access to the oft-maligned FreeviewPlus catch-up service, but that’s no great loss when the Mini has built-in access to the catch-up apps from Australia’s five free-to-air broadcasters, along with their new FAST (Free, Ad-Supported Television Channel) niche streaming channels.
Catch-up is also integrated into Fetch’s onscreen seven-day Reverse TV Guide, so you can call up the EPG and scroll back in time to watch what you’ve missed (assuming it’s available in a catch-up service).
Fetch also offers a wide range of subscription Pay TV channels, integrated into the on-screen EPG alongside the free-to-air channels. There’s plenty to watch, although you naturally miss out on Foxtel’s crown jewels like every AFL match live and fast-tracked weekly HBO hits like House of the Dragon.
Alongside free-to-air and pay TV you also have Fetch’s own on-demand service which lets you rent or buy movies and TV shows (similar to the Apple TV set-top box or Google TV Streamer). If you’re prepared to wait, you can purchase some HBO content from Fetch months after it’s screened on Foxtel.
Supported apps and streaming services
To round things out, the Mini supports all the top-tier streaming services like Netflix, Disney+, Apple TV+, Stan, Amazon Prime Video, Paramount+, Optus Sport and YouTube. Plus there are niche services like Hayu, BritBox, Acorn, Vevo, Vimeo and others that tend to be missing from other devices such as Foxtel’s Hubbl.
Of course, the notable omissions from the Mini’s long list of streaming services are Foxtel’s Kayo and Binge. Their absence is due to commercial reasons rather than technical limitations, so there’s some likelihood that this could change down the track (Fetch is now owned by Telstra, which gives it more negotiating power).
For now, if the lack of Kayo or Binge is a dealbreaker but you don’t want to go with Hubbl, you might be lucky enough to find Foxtel’s apps built into your smart television. Otherwise, you could consider an Apple or Google streamer, although they lack a free-to-air tuner.
The Mini also supports Chromecast streaming for flinging video from your computer, smartphone or tablet. You’ve also got Plex support, but the box lacks the ability to tap into DLNA media servers around your home, although it’s on the roadmap.
Behind the scenes, the big change with the Gen 5 Fetch Mini is that it runs on the hybrid RDK-Android V Opensource operating system.
Right now you won’t notice much of a difference with Android inside but, going forward, the box’s world-first support for the AndApps application delivery platform gives Fetch the flexibility to more quickly and easily add new apps and services. Fetch intends to roll out AddApps to existing Mighty and Mini 4K devices later this year.
Go into the Apps > Streaming menu on the Mini (G5) and you’ll find AddApps. For now, only the Spotify, Twitch, TikTok and NBA Android apps are available, you just need to accept the T&Cs to use them. Fetch will add more apps over time, but there’s no access to the Google Play Android app store or an easy way to side-load apps.
Quality
Stepping up to 4GB of RAM, compared to the Mini 4K’s 2GB, will help the Fetch Mini (G5) make the most of RDK-Android and AddApps. It also ensures that the menus stay fast and responsive, even when loading apps.
The Fetch UI focuses on helping you find your favourite shows, and discover new ones, with as little friction as possible – regardless of the content’s source. Putting content from different services side-by-side reduces the need to trawl through individual streaming services and Fetch TV’s own movie rental store.
While it’s great for content aggregation, one of Fetch’s shortcomings is that it lacks a bundling option like Hubbl’s ‘Stack and Save’, which lets you save up to $15 a month for bundling up to five eligible services (admittedly, mostly Foxtel services). Optus SubHub offers something similar which covers a lot more services.
Who is the Fetch Mini Gen 5 (G5) for?
If you’re looking for the one streaming box to rule them all, and don’t care about recording, the Gen 5 Fetch Mini is the one to beat. It seamlessly combines free-to-air, pay TV, streaming services, movie rentals and in-home Chromecast streaming to put the world at your fingertips.
The only real caveat is that you can’t tap into the best of Foxtel, such as every live AFL match and fast-tracked HBO blockbusters. While RDK-Android and AddApps would technically make it easier for Fetch to add the likes of Kayo and Binge, we’ll just have to wait and see.
The post Fetch Mini Gen 5 (G5) review: one streaming box with the lot appeared first on GadgetGuy.
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