For so many years, digital video recorder has been a staple for those who loves to watch TV because this thing will record and save them for you, so you can watch them later. Tivo is one of several brands that always offer dependable unit in the market, for example the Tivo Bolt vs Tivo Premiere that offer similar capabilities but with some differences. If you are having a hard time deciding which to purchase, go check our article below to see their difference.
In this article, we are going to give you information about:
– What are Tivo Bolt and Tivo Premiere
– What Tivo Bolt and Tivo Premiere Look Like
– What Tivo Bolt and Tivo Premiere can offer to you
– Tivo Bolt vs Tivo Premiere
About Tivo Bolt
Along with the popularity of streaming services and streaming devices, it seems that the DVR existence being forgotten for the moment no matter how useful this device used to be. Tivo has been a leading brand for digital video recorder and to fight against the competitors, they continuously offer capable unit like Tivo Bolt. Not only able to record video content, this one is also able to stream and download the recorded content into your smartphone whether you are using Android or iOS.
Tivo Bolt Design
Unlike the company’s most model, this recorder is not using the black color option anymore and changed to white for some reason. The unit also not that bulky and it is clear that Bolt is made to be more compact and thinner with a pleasant overall look that won’t disturb the view even when placed in a visible area. The bend body helps with the airflow but it is to make it noticeable in your room as well. You won’t find any buttons on the unit for control but there is a remote packed with all of the functions you will need.
Tivo Bolt Features
This model replaced the company’s older DVR, Roamio and it can be used to record up to 4 shows or content at the same time since it has 4 tuners but if you are ready to upgrade and want to record more, there is Mini Extenders you can purchase to use up to 3 of the extra tuners when you want to view and record program with another TV in your house. Not only offering the recording feature, Bolt also will give you access to streaming content.
This channels consisting of Netflix, Amazon Prime, YouTube, Hulu Plus, Vudu, Plex and more. This is the era of 4K and along with the popularity of the content as well as the TV, now you can even save those eye-catching images into your device to watch later. It is the first Tivo product with the ability and depend on your region, you will be able to access the resolution from YouTube and Netflix as well as Amazon Prime. Read also: Bolt Plus vs Tivo Bolt here.
To provide you with an even better product from the predecessor, Tivo Bolt has been added with station graphics to upgrade the look of their program guide. This guide is useful to filter the content by specific topics such as movies genres or specified channels. As for the capacity, this DVR available in 500GB and 1TB that can record about 150 hours of HD content for the bigger option. What’s not so great is the service fee because you will need to pay around $150 per year if you want to continue using the device.
About Tivo Premiere
If you are loving all the best features in Tivo Bolt but still think that the price is too high, you may want to check one of the older model of Tivo’s DVR which is the Premiere. This product is indeed released quite some time ago but if you are only looking for the recording capability, this one can already do more than that. Still, the most discouraging thing about their DVR is the monthly fee that can get very expensive. However, if you are already a member, this shouldn’t be a problem.
Tivo Premiere Design
Comparing the unit with its older predecessor, this one looks more compact measuring at 2.5 by 16.6 by 10 inches with of course a sleeker body too. The front part is cleaner compared to older units and flatter; as opposed to the CableCard slot that formerly placed at the front, it is now moved to the back. Here you can also find the RF jack for cable and antenna. Overall, it has a nice look that won’t make you minding the device being placed near your television.
Tivo Premiere Features
What’s been upgrade in this device from the former model is now the framework is based on Adobe Flash Lite, so it can develop future functionality better than how it used to. Taken from PCMAG, its user interface even upgraded from the 480p to now becomes 780 HD which is quite an improvement and you can definitely feel it if you also use the older model. However, the upgrade is still not complete, and you probably will see the downgrade when digging into the menu further.
Since it is an older unit, you can’t expect much here because the 4K support is still not provided when this product is released. But, its search function is improved from the Beta version and now you can filter the content based on criteria like actor name or genres and then the result will quickly showed in your display’s right portion. This list can contain content from Amazon Video on Demand, YouTube, and Netflix.
In the recording capability Tivo Premiere has 500 GB storage with 2 tuners, so you can record 2 shows at once and it is claimed that you can record HD quality content up to 75 hours with the device.
Comparison
Now, let’s compare Tivo Bolt with Tivo Premiere. As you can see, both of them are widely separated by years since Bolt has better capabilities especially to record the 4K content. It is also have more tuners than Premiere (4 vs 2). In the capacity, you may also choose between 500GB or 1TB in Bolt.
Tivo Bolt vs Tivo Premiere
Conclusion
All in all, the decision is all yours to make. In our opinion, both of them are reliable device to record your favorite content and it is best to find the right product according to your need because if you have lots of content to record or plan to use it together with several people, Tivo Bolt with 4 tuners is the better option.