I tried StarHub’s TV+ Pro & its Bang & Olufsen engineered speakers for free & now my family would like to pay to keep it

I had just gotten home from work when my dad came over to me with a couple of new gadgets that had just arrived that day.

To my surprise, it was a compact StarHub TV+ Pro box with audio tuned by Bang & Olufsen (B&O) – part of the perks of work being that I get to try out and review such equipment from time to time.

Anyway, my dad was quite eager to try the gadgets, but didn’t really want to set it up himself.

But setup was very easy and within a few minutes, we were ready to go, lining up some of the “explodiest” movies and TV shows we could find.

Unconventional space

Our main TV at home isn’t actually in the living room, but in the dining area.

It's the natural spot for us to congregate as we don’t have a habit of gathering together to watch shows.

It’s partly for this reason that we’ve never really invested in a dedicated sound system for the TV, despite my dad having once been quite an audiophile.

There was simply no easy way to fit the equipment needed into the room without it disrupting its primary usage.

So when I saw how little space the TV+ Pro box took up, I was pleasantly surprised.

Previously, when I looked up information about the box and read about its centrepiece, the Dolby Atmos rated technology, I had wondered what form it would take – whether it would be a set of external speakers, or a sound bar.

I had not anticipated that the sound system and the StarHub control box would be the same unit.

Setup and startup

The TV+ Pro came with a remote that had buttons to quickly get to Netflix and Disney+ apps, and batteries were included as well.

As my family are already StarHub TV customers, the first step was to disconnect our previous box, and install the new one.

Physical setup was very easy, with just three standard connections: a power plug, a HDMI cable, both of which were provided with the TV+ Pro, and an ethernet cable.

2.4 and 5 GHz wifi was also an option, although we didn’t use it.

Disney+ and Netflix Premium were accessible, both of them supporting 4K, HDR and Dolby Atmos shows.

This, coupled with the TV+ Pro’s Dolby Vision®, provided clear, bright, and vibrant pictures on my 4K-compatible TV set.

To be honest, I was excited to see what the speakers, tuned by Bang & Olufsen, could do – I had previously experienced good sound in large, complicated, and very expensive home setups.

The B&O tuned speaker, paired with Dolby Atmos sound, promised a premium audio experience, but without the hassle of a premium speaker setup, and its associated cost.

To test it, I needed the explodiest movie I could find.

Breathing new life into well worn favourites

The first thing I did was to find a movie that had Dolby Atmos sound enabled, and “Star Wars: Rogue One” immediately came to my mind.

Rich in audio and visual treats, I had watched the movie dozens of times in cinemas, home setups, and even on a cell phone.

I knew I could easily benchmark the experience.

And boy, did it not disappoint.

On conventional TV speakers, turning up the volume can lead to distortion and a drop in sound quality as the tiny speakers struggle to keep up with the demanded output.

But the TV+ Pro speakers had no trouble keeping up when I turned up the volume.

Laser bolts zipped across the room, explosions resonated in my chest, the whine of starfighter engines dipping away as they peeled away from the screen.

I only meant to watch a quick five-minute clip to test things out, but between the sharp visuals and booming audio, I was so engrossed I ended up watching the whole movie.

However, the real testament to how good the audio is was when I realised my dad had come into the dining area and sat down behind me, drawn to the noise, drawn in by the experience.

Dreaming dreams

We ended up watching the first episode of Netflix’s new series “The Sandman” as well.

The series is gorgeous, even more so in Dolby Vision®, especially in the opening sequence when the camera flies through Dream’s realm.

The TV+ Pro even allowed me to see things I never thought I would see: Manchester United defeating Liverpool at the Theatre of Dreams. It was a great way to cap a weekend TV binge.

Unexpected buy in

If this was the extent of my experience, I would be happy to recommend the TV+ Pro box already.

But the most surprising thing occurred after I left the box at home while I went to work.

Other members of my family found their own way of appreciating it.

Whether it was my father trying out Google Assistant to use his voice to control the box, or my sister remarking how noticeably clear the sound and visual quality was when she and our mum were watching “Extraordinary Attorney Woo”; everyone had found something to rave about the experience.

And although the remote provided was very nice, I found myself indulging in a bit of laziness, using the inbuilt Chromecast feature to send content to my TV Screen with my phone.

At the end of the week, I canvassed my family’s opinion about the box.

Mum, who admittedly treats the TV like white noise, was a little ambivalent.

But my sister immediately asked if we could consider the upgrade, and to my surprise, my dad, who is usually loath to spend extra on what he considers luxuries (we only have a 4K TV because the old one broke), already had information on hand.

He had seriously been considering it, it seems.

(I later found out that he had tried to nick the box while I was at work.)

Futureproof

While the TV+ Pro’s features are already significant, its abilities are likely to grow as time goes on, with StarHub planning to add the ability to play games and stream music via apps bought on the Google Play store.

It’s an impressive suite of features for a neat and tidy box.

Currently, the TV+ Pro box costs S$14.90 a month to rent, and you can sign up for it here.

This sponsored article by StarHub might have caused the writer’s neighbours a fright, and for that he apologises.

All photos by Tan Min-Wei