Formuler Z8

by kurdokolenko8

Hi guys I’m planning to purchase the new Formuler, did anyone have it already and whats your thoughts? Thanks

Blue-Thunder

Well if you had bothered to use the search function like a normal fucking person, you'd already know how most of us feel about it. But since you're so fucking special that you don't think someone has already asked this question, I'll fill you in.

No scheduled recording function till at least March 2019, as per the forums.

Unable to start catch up on current show that is airing. You need to wait for it to end before you can play the file. IE if you come home late and your show has started, I could start it over with my MAG. Currently there is no way to do it on the Z8.

Mine the screen goes blank when the host is buffering, instead of showing the frozen or messed up screen. Annoying as fuck. (fixed this as it was a bad HDMI cable)

Auto HDR didn't work on my Samsung. I actually had to manually set the HDR function in display settings.

As others have mentioned it runs tablet Android instead of Android TV, and it only comes with Nougat instead of Oreo as promised.

On VOD if your provider doesn't have the pictures setup right, you get blank spaces on your selections with the name. You are also unable to see when the files were uploaded. I might have it in default mode, I am not certain..but this fucking sucks. Not even info tells you when the files were uploaded. You would want this to see what new movies or TV episodes were uploaded that day/week.

If your provider has TV in the VOD section, ie they haven't updated their stalker version, the box will not let you select episodes and won't tell you what one you are on.

The box only has a 10 second buffer.

I really feel that we were sold an alpha product in the software. I know there will be updates, unlike OTHER boxes, but it's annoying as fuck that features you want, aren't available. The EPG does load slow, and doesn't stay resident in memory. It slowly loads up each and EVERY time you hit the EPG button or any other means to view your channels.

I will say this, it is way faster than my MAG on loading my providers, and switching between them. Maybe 10 seconds switch and load, where as on my MAG it would take upwards a minute, or longer. The ability to have all your pirate Android apps on the box is great, and the gigabit ethernet is gigabit.

I am disappointed with the product as it currently is, and really fucking wish Formuler was more upfront on what would be functional and what would not be. If I had known I could not schedule recordings till at least March, I would have just bought a Z7+. Not all the channels on my providers have catch up, and certain shows just aren't on torrents, like Beachcombers which airs on APTN.

Tamar1nd

My condolences !!!

sinne54321

Now that's a review...

Huskies2710

Well all I will say I've been a MAC box user solely for the supremacy over m3u in IPTV realm. It would seem the counterpart writer disagress, but I have loaded up two m3u providers and the EPG has not been working. On to the good news.....

The live tv experience has blown away my Dreamlink T2. EPG loads instantly after turning on. Its snappy when it comes to clicking around from epg, to single channel, groups, and back to live TV. The channel changing is quicker then my buddies Direct TV. My VOD is working well and plays videos my other boxes wont. YouTube and Primve Video from the market made for the box work well. The picture is 720p though, not 1080p.

The bad: Catchup has been absolute shit, constant buffering. I don't utilize the record function so haven't tried it out.

Tonight I will test out playing a Blu Ray movie off the USB 3.0 stick in the 3.0 port. I prefer hard copies of movies over Plex. I did not realize this box did not have an SD card slot which is my go to on the my other boxes.

danny121pt

MOL2 on z8 has an early beta you can access in software updates at the moment, changing groups within graphical epg, few fixes, but think they say stable release and more features be in March update.

Midranger4

I'm new to the device. I have been running a shield and now run a z8 along side it. MOL is new to me so I was/remain impressed with its listed functionality. With that said some posts here seem to indicate issues with catch up and other features. Catchup works fine for me on the one provider I'm using portal access with. Doesn't seem to even appear on m3u setup which may be normal, don't know. VOD...spotty for now in that much content from my provider throws an unable to play errors while some titles work. Provider claims issue with VOD playlist that is being addressed. Recording...works fine, am happy with it but no real need with catch up for now. Channel Zapping...in retrospect likely best function in MOL. It's quick to change streams and I'm pleased thus far. I have occasional stutter on stream connect but it never seems to last more than a second or two..again unsure if MOL or provider specific. No experience with Z7 so no benchmark from which to compare. Just my insights to date. I do find myself on it more than my shield and likely because I'm still experimenting. I do wish they would integrate the EPG to list multiple providers as TIVIMATE does but that's a wish. I give it a solid 6 maybe a 7 for now.