The 6 Best DVR Recorders For TV
This wiki has been updated 18 times since it was first published in June of 2019. Whether you use a cable box or a digital antenna to watch TV, adding the ability to record shows that you might miss can be prohibitively expensive, costing a hardware upgrade from your provider or an added subscription fee for their DVR service. The recorders on our list put all that power in your hands, allowing you to manage your payment plan and the size of your hard drive. When users buy our independently chosen editorial selections, we may earn commissions to help fund the Wiki.
1. Fire TV Recast
2. Tablo Quad OTA
3. Tivo Edge For Cable
Editor's Notes
November 14, 2020:
The Tivo Edge For Cable and the Tivo Edge For Antenna are likely the two biggest upgrades since our last ranking. The company has seen fit to integrate a streaming platform into their familiar DVR setup, allowing you to use a single box for everything from recording shows you missed to binging things on Netflix, Hulu, and more. Both of these models now also support 4K, which may not be as useful for antenna consumers, but for streaming purposes it ensures you'll get the most out of your 4K television.
And instead of having two of Tablo'a Dual models on our list like we had last time, we stuck only with the Tablo Quad OTA, which boasts double the tuners of its Dual counterparts, allowing you to record up to four shows at once. Finally, we added the SiliconDust HDHomeRun Scribe Quatro, which doesn't have the most user-friendly software in the world, but that gets the job done if you're looking for something with multi-room playback and Ethernet networking that won't cost you anything for the first year of your subscription.
June 19, 2019:
Given that the R in DVR stands for Recorder, it was initially important that any device included on this list be able to do everything short of receiving an OTA signal or displaying recorded images (you'd ideally have a TV and an antenna/cable box for those things). In other words, we wanted DVRs that could record, so models with internal storage took precedent. Unfortunately, only Tivo units, the Fire Recast, and some Tablo offerings had built-in storage, and the rest of the market seems to want to run with external hard drives. At the end of the day, this might actually make file management easier for most users, so we went ahead and included the best of the market's models without built-in storage, as well. Our number one pick — the Amazon Fire TV Recast — turned out to boast a hefty internal hard drive in addition to some of the best features you'll find. And because it sends video signals over Wi-Fi, you can place it and your antenna pretty much anywhere in your home to maximize reception.
4. Tivo Edge For Antenna
5. SiliconDust HDHomeRun Scribe Quatro
6. AirTV 2
Daniel Imperiale holds a bachelor’s degree in writing, and proudly fled his graduate program in poetry to pursue a quiet life at a remote Alaskan fishery. After returning to the contiguous states, he took up a position as an editor and photographer of the prestigious geek culture magazine “Unwinnable” before turning his attention to the field of health and wellness. In recent years, he has worked extensively in film and music production, making him something of a know-it-all when it comes to camera equipment, musical instruments, recording devices, and other audio-visual hardware. Daniel’s recent obsessions include horology (making him a pro when it comes to all things timekeeping) and Uranium mining and enrichment (which hasn’t proven useful just yet).