Wyplay Wyplayer review

Wyplay Wyplayer Review

Reviewed by: Ian Morris

Reviewed on: 17 June 2009

Media streamers have become a big deal and, with video-on-demand streaming and downloads from big broadcasters on the way, we think their future is very bright indeed. Freeview personal video recorders are also very popular, having totally changed the way people watch TV, taking something that was complicated in the days of VHS, and turning it into something that even total technophobes can manage.

There is now, however, some movement to combine the two devices in one far simpler piece of hardware. Wyplay's Wyplayer is possibly the most comprehensive of such attempts.

The Wyplayer is available without a hard drive for around £280, with a 500GB hard drive for around £390, with a 750GB hard drive for around £415, and with a 1TB hard drive for around £430.

Is the name for real?
Yes, indeed it is. Wyplay is an OEM/ODM company, which means it makes hardware for other companies to badge as their own. The Wyplayer is Wyplay's attempt at cracking the consumer market, and, if successful, we'd expect there'll be more products from the company.

Is there anything it can't do?
It's fair to say that the Wyplayer can't make tea, coffee or peanut butter sandwiches, although it could just be that we haven't found the menu option for those features. We are, however, certain that it can play MP3s, show JPEGs and help you watch an enormous amount of media from your network-connected PC, Mac or network-attached storage device. It can also record Freeview on one of its twin tuners while you watch another channel using the other, and it offers all the usual PVR functionality you might expect.

Overall, the Wyplayer is an incredibly impressive piece of hardware. It could potentially replace two boxes under your TV and make your life much simpler. That said, we're yet to see a perfect piece of kit, and this machine is no exception.

The thing that annoys us most is that the Wyplayer can only output video at a 1080i resolution. There isn't anything wrong with 1080i -- it's the most popular broadcast high-definition format and most online video tops out at around 720p -- but most dedicated media streamers can output 1080p, and the omission of support for that format is nothing short of annoying.

Attractive and functional interface
To make everything as simple as possible, the Wyplayer uses what are known as 'universes'. These split the functions of the machine into logical sections. For example, there are universes for TV, music, online content and video. If you want to switch modes at any time, you just press the universe button on the remote, and it will bring up an overlay of the available options.

This is just one aspect of the user interface, but it's a good example of how much thought has been put into everything. The menus are all very pretty and, for the most part, work in a logical way. We'd actually go so far as to say that the Wyplayer's interface is as pleasing, or even more pleasing, to look at than the Apple TV's.

Remote frustrations
There's a couple of real issues that plague the Wyplayer during day-to-day use. Neither is a deal-breaker, but they do somewhat spoil the experience. Firstly, the remote control doesn't have very many controls on it. You might think that's a good thing. After all, there are virtually no buttons on the Apple TV remote. Well, like the Apple TV, the Wyplayer suffers from an excess of simplicity, perversely making it more difficult to use than it needs to be.

Because the remote has so few controls, each button performs a different function depending what mode you're in. The problem is that remembering which button does what in the different modes can be a real challenge. We'd really like to see the Wyplayer remind you which button to press via on-screen prompts. That way, if you forget what button you're supposed to press, you can just look at the TV to find out.

Secondly, we found that using the remote to fast-forward or rewind is a nightmare. Each click of the rotating wheel that controls forward or backward motion speeds your seeking up. The first four settings all seem reasonably slow, but the last seems to be something like 300x normal speed. That means, before you can press the centre button, you've shot over the end of the file. This is infuriating.

The Wyplayer doesn't seek through video at all well. There are numerous times when it just displays a grey screen for a few seconds. Although there are some complicated reasons behind this, it's still annoying. It means you can't skip adverts or through part of the video you've already seen, because you're likely to overshoot and ruin the rest of the programme.