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Black Friday is always a superb time to upgrade to a brand-new television, but there's an even bigger incentive to switch to a new flatscreen this year. Yes, this is the first Black Friday sale since the launch of Freely.
For those who missed the news, Freely is an all-new TV platform from the team behind Freeview and Freesat that lets you watch live free-to-air channels from the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and more over a Wi-Fi connection.
Yes, like the best Sky Stream deals, there's no need for a satellite dish or aerial to start watching live telly.
That means you're able to place Freely-equipped Smart TVs anywhere in your home, provided there's a decent internet connection. If you start watching a programme after it's started to air, Freely will let you restart from the beginning with a single tap. You can also revisit on-demand episodes from the TV Guide — so there's no need to load-up a BBC iPlayer or ITVX app to revisit an older episode, documentary, or film that's already aired.
Freely isn't a software upgrade for existing Freeview TVs or set-top boxes. Instead, you'll need to upgrade to something new built from the ground-up to support Freely.
And that's where the Black Friday sale can unlock some serious savings.
Prices across the Hisense QLED TV lineup have been slashed in the latest Black Friday sale. This all-new flatscreen, released in the UK earlier this year, arrives with support for Freely — a new streaming TV platform from the team behind Freesat and Freeview. It lets you restart any live programme with the tap of a button and integrates on-demand shows and films from BBC iPlayer, ITVX, Channel 4, and more
The Black Friday discount is available from Currys and Amazon UK
For a limited time, Hisense Smart TVs designed for Freely have been slashed in price.
The popular E7N series boasts a QLED (Quantum dot LED) panel, which offers more vibrant colours, an improved contrast ratio for better performance when watching HDR (high dynamic range) content, and a brighter panel. This lineup of Hisense flatscreens — released earlier this year — also comes equipped with 4K UHD resolution for sharper image quality.
All of these hardware gains means the Hisense E7N Smart TVs arrive with support for Dolby Vision — a popular standard for video quality used by a number of streaming services and games consoles.
Aside from Freely for its live television streaming, this Hisense 4K TV model also comes with built-in apps for Disney+, Netflix, Prime Video, Paramount+, NOW, and catch-up services from the major UK broadcasters, like BBC iPlayer, ITVX, Channel 4, more.
The latest Black Friday price cut is available on Amazon UKandCurrys.
Prices across the Hisense E7N 4K TV lineup start from just £299 for the 43-inch Hisense TV — an £80 saving on the standard price tag. This rises to £399 for the larger 55-inch panel and £549 for the 65-inch Smart TV.
Everyone TV Marketing Director Amy Rowcliffe told GB News: "The way people are watching TV is changing, so we’re thrilled to get Freely out to the UK. Being able to watch live and on-demand TV, all in one place, will be amazing for viewers fed up with hopping from app to app to find something they want to watch.
"As content from the free broadcasters continues to hit new heights – the fact it can be accessed by simply pressing the Freely button on your remote is a huge leap towards securing the future of free TV."
With Freely, the redesigned Mini Guide offers extra information on the programme you're watching, a shortcut to additional episodes from catch-up services, and the ability to restart from the beginning with a single tap FREELY PRESS OFFICE | GBN Everyone TV says you'll be able to enjoy linear television over your broadband connection with speeds as low as 10Mbps. For comparison, Netflix only requires 5Mbps for 1080p HD picture quality. In April 2023, Ofcom reported the average download speed for UK homes was 70Mbps, for reference.
As long as you're covered with a valid TV Licence, everything on Freely brings together live and on-demand content in one place for free. The launch of this broadband-powered platform comes as research reveals half of UK homes will watch TV exclusively over Wi-Fi by 2030.
