Everything you need to know about the Safaricom Big Box

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Safaricom has officially launched its digital set-top box. The Safaricom ‘Big Box’ was one of the most anticipated products of the year as it marks the telecommunications giant official entry into the home entertainment business.

With the Safaricom Big Box here with us, below are all the fine details you need to know about the Big Box.

For starters, Safaricom Big Box is more than just a set-top box.  The Big Box is a media-streaming device that goes beyond offering basic TV services.

The Safaricom Big Box will run the Android Operating System. This Android OS is an open source operating system that runs on over 80% of the smartphones on the planet.

The benefits of running the Android OS are significant and this gives the Big Box an edge over the other decoders in the market. Part of benefits include being able to run a select number of Android Applications on the Safaricom Big Box.

Features

The Safaricom Big Box is a Free to Air decoder. Therefore, you can through the Big Box, access over 35 free to air channels that include the following.

The Safaricom Big Box comes with 1 GB of internal storage. The Big Box additionally, has a slot where you can plug in your Flash Disk or a MicroSD card. This allows you to expand the Big Box storage to a maximum of 32 GB.

You can, therefore, play media content such as MP3s and Videos from your Flash Disk/MicroSD.

The Safaricom Box will also come with a 4G/3G SIM card that offers high-speed connectivity necessary for streaming HD content. The box can also connect to the Internet through a Wi-Fi connection. The Box can in addition to this serve as an internet hotspot for tethering of up to 10 devices.

Apart from the content being of HD quality, the set-top box allows for video on demand.

Video on Demand is a service that allows you watch what you want and when you want it as opposed to the conventional model where you have to abide to a specific broadcast time.

Safaricom is working on rolling out its 4G network to 15 major towns before the end of June and this will provide the necessary infrastructure for their Big Box.

Safaricom Big Box Price

Option 1: One-off Price

The Safaricom Big Box has a suggested retail price of Ksh. 9,999. This is the one-off price and you will not have to put in more payments after you purchased the Big Box.

Option 2 – Easy Pay Plan

The Easy Play Plan allows you to purchase the Big Box for a down payment of Ksh. 4,999 and an additional monthly payment of Ksh. 999 for six months (Basically, Ksh. 1000 more)

Both the two options come with a 6GB bundle for six months and 3 months of Free YouTube streaming.

Payments

The Big Box is a Free to Air Decoder. Therefore, you won’t have to pay any monthly subscription fee for the Big Box.

If you, however, plan to utilize the complete features of the decoder such as the streaming of online content, you will have to purchase data bundles for that.

Fortunately, Safaricom has a somehow ‘subsidized’ Data Bundle Plan dedicated to its Big Box.

Payments can be done via dialing *422# from your Safaricom Line, online via the Safaricom Portal or alternatively directly from the decoder via the ‘My Account’ option.

Are you feeling the Big Box?