Tablo Generation 4 DVR Full Review - My New #1 Pick! 

Still using a Tivo Bolt OTA from 2018 but it is nice to see Tablo actively developing OTA products. Will definitely be our next OTA DVR purchase.

Using mine for about 2 weeks now. Is snappy, not buggy, not freezing. I have discovered, as with any digital signal, smoothness and functionality is dependent on good signal strength. I tried the WiFi connection by itself, even after the firmware update (2.2.47 Nov23') that addressed this, but the direct ethernet connection is still superior to using the WiFi alone in my observation. Great Product

I purchased a Tablo Quad a little over a year ago and paired it up with an Channel Master attic antenna and a WD 2 TB USB Storage Drive. I paid the subscription fee for a year and found it unnecessary to have. I don't have nowhere near the channels you have but the dvr is great, the signal is clear for the most part. I need an outdoor antenna but I don't wish to mount one and don't wish to pay to have one mounted.

The DVR functionality is what I wanted. I have 2 issues with using live TV and the guide. 1. The guide let's you choose 'all channels' or 'favorites', but it defaults to 'all channels'. You should be able to either select your default choice, or default to favorites. 2. There is no channel up/down functionality, you have to back out to the guide every time you want to view a new channel ( and the guide is back to showing all channels). Tablo really needs to fix this issue.

This was a terrific objective review of the Tablo 4th Gen. I'm curious if I need a 4-tuner Tablo. I suspect a 2-tuner one would work fine, but... And I'd like an Apple TV app now, but I could use a Roku stick that we have for the time being. Cord cutting comes with a lot of options, but the permutations of each offering make it tricky to understand everything. Sigh 🙂

Great video! Considering purchasing. In your review "cons" you list "no remote viewing or commercial skip offered". Please clarify what you mean by commercial skip. Are you not able to fast forward through commercials when watching the Tablo DVR? Thank you.

Hi Brian, great videos, concise and very well presented! I have two questions: 1. If ATSC 3.0 becomes the only standard (in 2027 or thereabouts) Will this DVR not work at all in recording OTA programs and be obsolete? 2. If I really need to have remote viewing, which OTA DVR would you recommend? Thanks!

I have the original t i v o bolt which has both the card and OTA tuner. Because it has the option for both, TiVo charges me 140 a year. I'm thinking of replacing the TiVo bolt, with this unit. While I don't think I need the four tuner model, I figure it's best to get it up front and pay the additional cost. Thoughts? I have a fire TV on all the TVs, so it's not like I need the additional features of the tablo.

Thanks very much for the information! Question: is there something similar to this that streams 4K?

I've had the Tablo Duo for a number of years and have subscribed to the Channel Guide and Commercial Skip apps. If the Tablo G4 does not need a Channel Guide subscription, does it also include Commercial Skip, or do I have to subscribe to that again?

Hi Brian I have the Tablo Gen4 Dvr like it very only problem is it Crash or It Freeze up I have it hooked up To the Wi-Fi is it better to use the ethernet cable and I have good internet access thank you

Hi, I have the older Tablo Quad I purchased as a refurbished unit a couple months ago. I keep having buffering issues with it. I have contacted support and nothing they said to do has helped it. I have excellent wifi in my house. Now I am thing about purchasing the new 4th Tablo generation 4tuner that is out that can only be purchased through BestBuy. Do you think that this may work better than my old Tablo Quad and not have so many buffering isses?

I am using a Tivo bolt still. I like the unit but i am looking for a replacement in the next few months. I would like to find another dvr that hooks up directly to my tv. I have tv antennae wired thru out my house from my roof antennae and also have eithernet wired thru out my house. I have a number of older HD tvs that are not smart tvs so i do need a dvr that uses hdmi connection to my tv.

After a few days of use, I do like the improved picture quality from not transcoding, instead keeping the original MPEG-2. The Gen 4 software on the Roku is still pretty buggy but hopefully they will address that soon. ( I realize it is 1.0 software). The inability to schedule a manual recording (by date & time) is a big negative to me. I hope and expect this product will mature nicely however.

I think as they add more streaming services we are going to see pay channels.I will like to see 10play from A.U in the USA. I will be glad to pay for that. also I have the old school tablo with a lifetime subscription and never used the commercial skip. I just use the remote to fast fwd and I think you can do the same with the 4th gen. I am on a Roku and uploaded the app already and ordered mine today. I love the tablo.

I have Duel Tablo Lite device with only the 24 hour menu for OTA. I think I heard that Tablo was going to give us the 2 week advance menu for no cost as an upgrade? Is that true?

Hi Brian, I hear that there is a new transparent antenna that is now bundled with the Tablo. Could you do a review and share your thoughts?

Hi Brian, your videos are great, thank you! Can you expand on one point -- In your "Top 5" Video about 8 months ago you mentioned the Tablo was the worst Tuner of the 5 tested as it did not pick up some of the sub channels the other tuners did. While you said this is your new #1, you did not speak to the Tuner quality. Has that changed since you earlier review? I am looking at the WIFI version of both Tablo and AirTV -- all options. I currently have Roku on all TV and I am leaning toward the Tablo. However, if there is a significant difference in Tuner quality and stations I can pull in, I may go with Sling. Any feedback is appreciated.

I currently have a recast and have to unplug or restart it every so often. Is the Tablo more reliable?

The 4th generation Tablo works well enough and does not require an annual fee for guide service like the legacy Tablos. The Roku and android apps work, but I don’t find them as intuitive as apps for legacy devices. As a Tablo user for many years, the new one disappoints me in several ways. There is no Windows app, no remote access, no commercial skip, and no support for the user community to create 3rd party apps like Tablo Ripper. The new Tablo requires a separate Roku and android app from the old Tablo, which means my Roku now has 2 apps for Tablo. Setup failed several times because it refused to register under my existing Tablo account. Not until I created a 2nd account with another email address would the new Tablo register. The new Tablo is feature poor compared to the old Tablo. I had hoped in buying a new Tablo I’d feel good about retiring my old one. Instead, I’ll be keeping it until the annual subscription runs out in November. I hope by then they at least come up with a Windows app - I have no intention of giving up the ability to watch my Tablo in a small window while working on a spreadsheet, etc.

Could you put a 3.0 tuner in-line before this unit and it would still work?

Can you use a android cell phone hotspot? If you don't have home Internet service.

i baught that tablo and i love it also i baught the adth box for nextgen tv so when the atc 1.0 leaves i will still have the adth box that box also has dvr but cant firgure to use with the adth box time will tell.

Question? Does it record shows with the TV off?

How does the video signal get to the TV? How do you control it? Bought one from Best Buy but none of this made any sense. They don't answer their phones so I returned it. Is there a dvr that connects to a TV and has a remote?

How would I hook this up if I have one antenna feeding 2 tv's? Each tv has a Firestick.

First off, this looks like a great product and JUST ordered it! We were cord cutters in 2010, and back then the best solution IMO was Windows 7 NUC computer with an OTA Tuner quality and Windows media center to manage the DVR side. This WAS an awesome setup, until I didn't read the fine print when upgrading to Win10. Guess what? Windows media center was NOT compatible with Win10, which was BS. I am curious if anyone out there is still running a Win7 rig w/Windows Media Center?

Hi there, can this device be used in Australia? Or can you recommend something similar for Australia please?

Would it be a possibility that Tablo could/would update it's firmware to 3.0 in the future?

What do you mean by 4 Channels? I've seen the 2 channel version and the 4 channel version. What are the channel functions for?

Here's what I ran into on the channel scan. It picked up all the channels available to me locally but on some of the sub-channels it just showed the channel number but not detail on the grid(right of the channel number) and as a result I could not connect to those channels. Those channels showed all green dots on my phone when scanning so I know they have a good signal plus they always showed up when the antenna was connected directly to the tv. I rescanned, rebooted and even did a hard reset....basically starting all over and I still get the same results. I see on their forums that many have the same problem. Any idea what could be the problem? Any tips? I'm about ready to send it back.

Good report. Thanks. Just discovered and purchased on Halloween23'. The fees stopped my purchase previously. Have the homeworx tuner with storage but just a mess to use. This looks great for OTA.

Very nice review. But I don’t have Internet connection in my home. I just have an antenna. Can I still get this device? or do I need to have Internet connection at home as well? Because I thought the purpose of using an antenna TV is to “Cut the Cord” but, having Internet in your home is pretty much having a cord come to your home.

Do you have to have a paid subscription to use the Roku app?

Can you cast or air play from IPhone or Ipad? I have a Samsung Frame TV. They don’t have it as an app!

Question, does this also record Internet FAST channels? I thought that was the point of the newest model.

I purchased Tablo latest one it did scan majority of channels but missed few channels m (which are coming up on the TV but not showing up on the Tablo stream so cannot record these showing up on the TV) . Overall ok purchase..

Can multiple tvs view different shows simultaneously?

I am a totally blind person. We are having an outdoor TV antenna installed next week. The installer recommended a Tablo. This is why I was checking out your video. Thank you, by the way. My question is, do you know if the Tablo can receive and or record the second Audio program? This Audio sub channel sometimes lets you hear the show in Spanish but the reason I am interested in it is because, often, this channel lets you hear audio description for the blind for certain shows.

As a long time TABLO user, I was crushed to find out that the corporate takeover has resulted in customer service reps no longer in Canada, but (you guessed it) India. You mentioned that a real person answers the phone. NO! I called and left messages every day for week. No one answers, no one calls you back.

I’ll stick with my TiVo Bolt. When Tanlo comes out with a 4K, ATSC 3.0 device, with upgradeble storage, I’ll buy it.

ATSC 3.0 is NOT 4K, 4K is part of the standard but unless I am wrong, no broadcasters are broadcasting 4K. I have been using the original Tablo for several years and love it. I wish they have an NVMe drive slot inside.

I connected the same to my tv and wifi......just couldn't figure out how to show on tv.....i have no idea how to put it on screen on tv i have a LG 55lb6300 uq tv.

Hi Brian - You reviewed Tablo Gen 4 and SiliconDust HDHomeRun in Dec 2023 and picked Tablo as your #1 choice for now. I wonder if the poor Amazon user rating on Tablo Gen 4 vs a much better rating of SiliconDust HDHomeRun would dissuade you from making that choice?

Do you need to buy an antenna in order to use this?

How do you watch it on a LG tv?

TIP: Missing thumbnails for a recording? Press and quickly release the reset button on the bottom of the unit to do a reboot. Reboot is pretty quick ...and now your thumbnails are back for rewind and FF.

What happens to the channel guide after the subscription is done?

How slow is it to tune into a channel? My Tablo OTA Lite is is dang slow.

Enjoyed the video. I too like the customer service Tablo offers, but was saddened to hear from one commentor that since they sold out, it is not the case anymore. I currently have a Quad 4 HDMI on my main tv with the lifetime guide and I really like it. I'm running a Televes Datboss LR Mix Hi VHF/UHF 75 mile antenna that works great. The Televes antenna comes with a built in amplifier with an aux. port for a second antenna connection. I was thinking about running a RG-6 coax to my bedroom and setting up a Gen 4 Tablo on that second tv as it would be nice to be able to watch and copy antenna content in that room. It is about 40 ft from my cable modem so I think the wireless would work fine. I'm wondering if the two different Tablos would conflict with each other. Has anyone ever tried running this combination? The stand-alone unit is on sale right now, but I hate to buy it and set it up only to have issues with my Quad 4. Would appreciate anyone's opinion on this.

Do you have to connect your tv to a antenna 1st and scan for channels or can you mount a antenna and connect the tablo all at one time and then scan for channels? Also how do you get the channels and menu onto your tv from this Tablo?

I believe you can hook them both up and run 2 different apps and keep you lifetime subscription

My tablo doesn't pick up all the channels my tv picks up with my antenna? Can someone help?

Can this be hooked up to ur firestick?

No need to upgrade since I currently have 4-tuner quad and have able to view remotely

Hey Brian. I'm not trying to be a jerk here. I love your reviews! I just want to point out that you are using an expression incorrectly. 1.) A "SHOWSTOPPER" is a positive thing. It is a moment in a show that is SO good, that the progress of the show STOPS (temporarily) for the roaring applause to subside! 2.) You should be using the term (for how you intend it), "DEAL-BREAKER" (i.e. meaning something that is too egregious to allow continuing with the deal ... or purchase). I know when you're used to using a certain term, it can be hard to stop, but you should make the effort. Keep up the great reviews! 👍

I bought one. I like it. It works, but I wish I had know that it does not work with LG smart televisions. I am getting a smart box to able to watch it on my big screen. :(

Can’t get it to connect to WiFi 😩

I am trying to set this up and want to throw it out the window. It won't connect to wifi or the Ethernet cable and support isn't available on Sundays 😂😂😂

no 3.0 is a deal breaker sadly but otherwise this would be a good pick for me

Oh they've done a fine job botching the 3.0 rollout, particularly with DRM. But the problem remains that ATSC 1.0 goes away in 2027. So any device with a TV tuner that you buy that doesn't support 3.0 is a three year then throw it away device. That's what doesn't work for me, not lack of Nextgen TV features.

My experience: Channels don't populate pictures on recorder menu. Unit upgrades software every other day, irritating. App disappears randomly and requires a complete new install. Lots of irritating, time wasting glitches.

This must be for t.v.'s that are not digital and records t.v. shows; I just plugged in an antenna and set the t.v. to antenna and you can only get what is available within 50 miles or so to the t.v. stations, otherwise you don't get anything extra on OTA.

The quality of the sub channels on a OTA is terrible there in SD only ,the big networks are in HD,all those sub channels are useless not Tablo fault

I am a current tablo costumer with a tablo lite. I bought into the hype of purchasing a tablo 4th generation. Major mistake. Setup is not easy, moving from one tablo to another, as they are on different apps and dont recognize your existing account. But the main problem....the 4th generation will not read your saved stuff from your hard drive that was attached to the old tablo. That makes no sense! And tablo does not make that well known on their website. I have a ton of stuff still on my hard drive, so that makes the upgrade pretty useless to me. But the tablo company is MAKING me pay return shipping for something that they didnt make clear on their website. So if you have an existing tablo, dont bother buying a new one if you have things on your hard drive. And the company will not work with there customers on this issue. Wont be buying any new tablos in the future from this company

A forced internet connection is a deal breaker, should work without it using the Wi-Fi.

For a person that doesn’t understand this you could’ve showed how to hook it up. I don’t understand you hook it to a television or do you hook it to your computer. You didn’t help a person who is not Computer Smart

no 3.0, it has to go

Sucks you can’t stream outside your home. TiVo is still the best.

Sorry, but I’m having a problem following you. 🙃

I have a hockey stick that will take care of that hockey puck.

iPhones suck!