Wilmaa actually stands for television on smartphones, tablets and PCs. With the Wilmaa box, this now also works on the television – but the fun is not free.
It doesn’t take much to watch television via the Wilmaa box; a TV set with HDMI connection, some electricity and an Internet connection with a download speed of at least 10 Mbit/s are sufficient. The box can be connected to the web via cable or WiFi. The one-time installation takes only a few minutes and is no witchcraft.
Once started, it is very easy to navigate through the menu using the remote controls. More than 200 transmitters are available. Positive attention: The TV box does not require a fan and doesn’t make a sound.
Using the “Top 10” function, viewers can see which programmes other Wimaa users prefer to watch on their screens. An orientation aid that doesn’t necessarily have to match personal taste.
The “Time Machine” function is particularly practical. As the name suggests, it can be used to “travel” into the past – through the programming of the last seven days, no matter on which of the more than 200 stations. All programmes are automatically stored in the virtual memory of the Wilmaa Cloud. This means that you are no longer tied to fixed transmission times and the tedious programming of recordings is no longer necessary.
Just for checking: With just a few clicks, you can find out which programmes have been particularly well received by viewers over the last seven days. One click on the play button is all it takes to display the programme on your own screen. But just that, a kind of orientation aid that is not always helpful.
If you want to save a programme forever, you can do so even though the box does not have an internal hard drive – two USB ports are helpful. USB sticks or external hard drives can be connected via these ports.
So you always have your favourite movies with you and can watch them on any Mac or PC or TV with USB connection – a cool feature.
Bottom line
The Wilmaa Box has so far performed well in the short test. Installation and operation are self-explanatory, the image quality is usually very good and the easy use of the replay function is super. It’s also great that the Box is provider-independent and that broadcasts can be stored on USB sticks and external hard drives. Swisscom’s TV offer, which was also presented this week, does not offer this option. The only thing that was really annoying was the perceived eternity that passes when a station is changed. Sometimes it took several seconds until the picture was displayed. When starting up, exactly the same problem appears – it simply takes too long.