Freebox Ultra: Price, DEBITS, NEWS, Streaming offers, all about the Premium Internet box

The Freebox Ultra (V9) is the most ambitious internet box launched to date in France. Wi-Fi 7, symmetrical speeds up to 8 Gb/s, a wealth of content, accessories... Free is setting the bar very high, but is it the offer that best meets your needs? Find out everything you need to know about it with us.

Summary

A little behind schedule, Free has finally launched its Freebox Ultra. This offer is the most high-end offered by the internet service provider to date. It is also the most ambitious available on the French telecom market currently, across all operators. Free's goal with this Freebox Ultra is to provide subscribers with the latest connectivity technologies, the fastest speeds, and a comprehensive package including a wide selection of content. All of this, as always, at an attractive price. Has Xavier Niel succeeded in his gamble? Let's review the details of the Freebox Ultra offer, formerly known as the Freebox V9.

What is the price of the Freebox Ultra?

Rather than selling a high-end internet box and a mid-range one, Free has chosen to provide the same equipment to all its customers and divide the offer according to services and content. Two Freebox Ultra subscriptions are available:

Freebox Ultra at €49.99 per month for 12 months then €59.99 monthly. The most comprehensive package, which includes access to video streaming services.
Freebox Ultra Essential at €39.99 for 12 months then €49.99 monthly. The same TV box, equal speeds, but without the SVOD platforms.

Given the small price difference and the significant gap in terms of services, it's safe to predict that it's the more expensive plan, which Free is trying to promote, that will find favor with consumers. Both offers are commitment-free and are already available to new and existing subscribers. The activation fee is 49 euros.

Is the migration to Freebox Ultra chargeable?

Free opened migrations to the Freebox Ultra offer as soon as it was made official, but the operator specifies that orders cannot be fulfilled immediately, citing a delay of up to three months. The migration fee is set at 49 euros for subscribers with a fiber offer. The migration is free only for customers who have a box that does not support fiber, such as the Freebox Crystal, or a Freebox One, which has not been as successful as expected and which the ISP is trying to eliminate.

To request a migration, simply go to your Customer Area from the web or mobile app. Go to the My subscription section, select Exchange my Freebox and choose the desired offer.

What are the advantages for mobile subscribers?

Free is renewing its Freebox + Mobile offer with its new product. If you are a Freebox Ultra subscriber, you can take advantage of the Free 5G unlimited plan at €9.99 per month for one year, then €15.99 per month. To do this, you must subscribe to the mobile plan after the Freebox Ultra subscription. As a reminder, this mobile plan is limited to 250 GB of data and costs 19.99 euros for other customers.

What video streaming services are included?

With Freebox Ultra or Freebox Ultra Essentiel, you get access to:

OQEE by Free: 230 live and replay TV channels as well as VOD content, with features such as live control, start-over, 320 hours of recording, compatibility with Chromecast and AirPlay and resume playback from any screen.
Free Ligue 1 (Premium access): near-live video clips, summaries of every match and every day of the championship, exclusive content. Available on Freebox channel 63 and on the mobile app.

All other video streaming platforms are only available with the Freebox Ultra subscription:

Canal+ the live channel: the most recent theatrical films (Canal is the first served in the media chronology), original and international series, major sporting events (UEFA Champions League, Premier League, TOP 14, Formula 1, MotoGP). Note that the subscription must be taken out directly with the CANAL+ group. Value excluding Freebox Ultra of 15.99 euros per month.
TV by Canal: 50 channels for the whole family, with sports (Eurosport, Infosport+), documentaries (Histoire, Ushuaïa, National Geographic), children's programs (Gulli Max, Nickelodeon Junior, Disney Channel), entertainment (MCM, Mangas, Trace), La Chaîne Météo, Paris Première, Teva… Value excluding Freebox Ultra of 29 euros per month.
Netflix: standard option with ads, viewing on two screens simultaneously, Full HD 1080p quality, offline mode allowing you to download content on two compatible devices at the same time, limited availability of films and series. Value excluding Freebox Ultra of 5.99 euros per month. Possibility to subscribe to the standard ad-free or premium option by paying the difference.
Amazon Prime: access to all benefits, including Prime Video, free one-day delivery, Amazon Music Prime, Prime Reading, Amazon Photos, Prime Gaming, etc. Value excluding Freebox Ultra of 6.99 euros per month or 69.99 euros per year. Possibility to enhance the offer with the Ligue 1 Pass and the Warner Pass at normal prices.
Disney+: standard basic offer with ads, allowing playback on two devices simultaneously and Full HD 1080p quality, without downloading for offline use. Value excluding Freebox Ultra of 5.99 euros per month. Possibility to upgrade to the standard ad-free and premium packages for a fee.
Universal+: includes the 3ÈME RUE, SYFY, E! and DreamWorks channels. Value excluding Freebox Ultra of 5.99 euros per month.

Freebox Ultra subscribers also have Cafeyn, a digital newsstand for reading newspapers and magazines online or offline.

Note also that it will be possible to increase your bill to get the best possible streaming offer, if your budget allows it of course. For example, do you absolutely want to get rid of ads and have 4K on Netflix? You can do so for €14 extra per month on top of the €49.99 charged by Free for the Freebox Ultra subscription. In this article, you can find all the prices and possibilities to have the most complete streaming and TV offer with your Freebox Ultra.

Wi-Fi 7, speeds: what performance for the Freebox Ultra?

The Freebox Ultra is the first internet box provided by an ISP compatible with Wi-Fi 7, the latest generation of wireless connectivity. Wi-Fi 7 allows speeds of up to 6 Gb/s to be reached on several devices simultaneously.

Like Wi-Fi 6E, Wi-Fi 7 operates on three frequency bands (2.4, 5 and 6 GHz) to limit congestion in the used ranges. By doubling the size of the channels, it allows for explosive speeds and reduced latency.

Improved features such as MU-MIMO, OFDMA, and 4096-QAM also help optimize signal distribution between devices, increase throughput, and reduce latency.

The Freebox Ultra can handle throughputs of up to 8 Gb/s. For its offering, Free has opted for symmetrical throughputs, meaning the theoretical maximum achievable is equal for both download and upload speeds. Such an offer is not uncommon in other countries, but it is unique in France, where operators generally provide higher download speeds than upload speeds.

As with the Freebox Delta, Free relies on the fiber network using 10G-EPON technology, available at all addresses covered by the ISP. Note that to benefit from these 8 Gb/s, you will need at least an SPF+ RJ45 module that Free offers in your customer area.

The Freebox Ultra server is powered by a Qualcomm Quad-core A73 – 2.2GHz processor. The equipment offers Quad-band connectivity: one on the 2.4 GHz, two on the 5 GHz and one on the 6 GHz.

Note that contrary to what one might believe at first glance, the Freebox Ultra did not offer “real” Wi-Fi 7 at its launch. It was not until the 4.9.0 update of Freebox OS that it gained a feature it lacked to claim the opposite: the MLO settings. In short, this allows you to connect to several frequency bands simultaneously to reduce latency and bypass possible network saturation.

What are the connections of the Freebox Ultra?

The Freebok Ultra has dimensions of 11.9 cm (width) x 23 cm (length) x 6.5 cm (height), for a weight of 760 g. It has a large number of ports for connecting devices and peripherals:

4 2.5 Gb/s Ethernet ports
1 USB-C port for 20V power supply and 60W or more power
1 USB 3.0 port
1 telephone port (VoIP)
1 port SFP 10G LAN
1 connector for NVMe 2280 PCIe hard drive

Note that unlike the Freebox Delta, the operator does not include storage on this model. You must therefore purchase a separate SSD and install it yourself to have a NAS.

Player, repeaters, Pocket Wi-Fi, remote control: what are the accessories for the Freebox Ultra?

The Freebox Ultra experience is closely linked to the ecosystem that accompanies it. Four devices allow you to get the most out of it.

The Free 4K TV Player

New internet box, but old TV box. Free provides its Free 4K TV Player with the Freebox Ultra offer, the same TV equipment as the 2020 Freebox Pop. It runs on Android TV and is compatible with 4K, HDR and Dolby Vision for video, as well as DTS HD, Dolby Audio, Dolby Atmos and Surround 5.1 for audio. It works with 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of storage, and supports Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0 LE.

The TV box measures 12.6 cm (diameter) x 2.7 cm (height) and weighs 275 g. Its connectivity is as follows:

100 Mb/s Ethernet port
HDMI 2.0 port
S/PDIF port
DVB-T2 TNT antenna socket
Micro-SD port
USB-A 3.0 port

Owners of a Devialet player, which was available as an option with the 2018 Freebox Delta, can choose to keep their device, which is supported by the Freebox Ultra. However, Free does not allow you to replace your home TV box, with its, let's say, limited performance, with an Apple TV 4K. With its Freebox Pop offer, this option remains accessible, billed at 2.99 euros per month for four years. Xavier Niel, however, told Univers Freebox that a brand new player is in preparation for the Freebox Ultra, which probably explains this lack of choice for the moment.

The remote control

As with the TV box, Free recycles the remote control supplied with the Freebox Pop. It uses Bluetooth 5.0 LE technology and includes a microphone for voice control with the Google Assistant. There are shortcut buttons for Netflix, Prime Video, Canal+, Disney+ and the OQEE by Free TV interface.

Wi-Fi 7 repeaters

To improve your home's Wi-Fi coverage, Free offers repeaters of its own design, compatible with Wi-Fi 7 and allowing you to establish a mesh network. The first repeater is free, but you must explicitly request it to benefit from it; it is not included by default. Subsequent repeaters cost €20 each, with a limit of three additional repeaters.

Each repeater is equipped with a 1 Gb/s Ethernet WAN/LAN port and a USB-C power port. The device measures 12.6 cm (diameter) x 4 cm (height) and weighs 280 g. Installation is easy: as soon as it is plugged in, it automatically synchronizes with the Freebox Ultra, without any manipulation or code to enter.

Pocket Wi-Fi

Pocket Wi-Fi is an option whose provision costs €10. This is a portable 4G Wi-Fi router that allows you to connect to the Free mobile network to benefit from a temporary internet connection while waiting for the Freebox Ultra to be delivered. Users can use up to 200 GB of data per month before being connected to fiber. Once you receive your Freebox equipment, you can keep the 4G router at no additional cost. The mobile data allowance then drops to 50 GB per month. It can be used in case of a problem with your fiber connection, when you go on vacation or are on the move, during a move...

What is the consumption of the Freebox Ultra?

Free promises an "ecologically responsible" product with its Freebox Ultra. The ISP mentions optimized energy consumption, close to that of the Freebox Pop, although much less powerful. Free, for example, announces a consumption of 9.9 W in dual-band Eco Wi-Fi mode. Eco WiFi mode automatically turns off some of the Freebox's Wi-Fi bands when they're not needed, helping to reduce power consumption.

Another effort made by Free in this regard is a new standby mode. “Power consumption drops from 12.9 W in full 4-band Wi-Fi mode to 0.56 W in total standby mode,” the operator assures, representing 95% energy savings. In addition, the repeaters automatically synchronize with the Freebox Ultra and activate to consume less power when the internet box is on standby. The operator is also focusing on more efficient components. He cites a new radiator “which emits less heat, allowing the fan to operate less and therefore consume less”.

For the design of the Freebox Ultra, engineers took care to reduce the quantity of material needed in order to limit the environmental impact of the device. It is also designed to guarantee a minimum lifespan of 10 years. Free has also ensured that the repair and refurbishment of the majority of the components used is as easy as possible. In particular, the operator has avoided gluing the components together. Finally, the packaging of the Freebox Ultra is made of recyclable materials.

Freebox Ultra: an offer set to evolve?

As explained earlier, the Freebox Ultra will later be equipped with a more recent dedicated TV player. But this is not the only development expected in the months and years to come. Home automation was at the heart of the Freebox Delta project, but is currently absent from the Freebox Ultra. Xavier Niel is keeping things vague, but has hinted that announcements could be made in the future.

In early December 2024, to celebrate its 25th anniversary, the operator unveiled a limited edition of the Freebox Ultra, transparent red with an LED strip with 6 different animation modes. Aside from its bold look, it is strictly identical to its “classic” version. The prices for subscriptions to obtain it are also the same.

The question of cloud gaming also arises. More and more Smart TVs and TV boxes are incorporating native applications for streaming games, allowing you to enjoy the latest AAA games from your couch without a home console or powerful PC. With such a powerful connection, the Freebox Ultra seems like the ideal system for cloud gaming. We can hope that the new Player TV in preparation will meet this need by integrating GeForce Now, Amazon Luna, or Xbox Cloud Gaming.