The launch of the Freebox V9 is imminent. Free has just sent an invitation to a press conference for January 30. The opportunity to present its new Freebox, eagerly awaited by its subscribers and competitors alike.
This time, no more doubt: it is on Tuesday January 30, 2024 that Free will officially present its new Freebox, the ninth of the name, designated for the moment by the simple acronym V9. The operator has just sent the press an invitation to a conference for an event which will be held from 10 a.m. True to form, Xavier Niel’s company maintains the mystery by containing an enigmatic message (“Like a never-before-seen air”). But there is little doubt about the subject because the operator has been having fun for some time distilling warning signs.
Thus, on January 13, an astonishing publication on Instagram presented the last three Freeboxes in the manner of a horoscope, with their astrological sign and a short characteristic formula: Sagittarius for the Freebox Revolution launched in December 2010, Sagittarius again for the Freebox Delta marketed in December 2018 and Cancer for the Freebox Pop released in July 2020. The fourth sheet of the presentation was devoted to the Freebox V9, without image, associated with the sign of Aquarius, which corresponds to a period from January 21 to February 19 . And as Free likes to launch on Tuesdays, like Apple, it was therefore likely that V9 would be presented on January 23, January 30, February 6 or February 13. It was ultimately the last Tuesday of January that was chosen.
Freebox V9: a more modern and more ecological box?
Apart from the mysterious formula serving as legend (‘“You don’t know me but you already love me”), Free said nothing about the technical characteristics of its future star. But, given recent technological developments, and its high-end positioning since it should replace the Freebox Delta, we expect that the Freebox V9 will emphasize very high speed fiber by adopting the standard 10G EPON which allows a maximum speed of 10 Gbit/s, as well as the latest generation wireless connections by immediately adopting Wi-Fi 7 which has just been finalized.
The rest is a total mystery. We don’t even know if Free will maintain the traditional two-box formula, with a server-modem-router and a multimedia player connected in a network. We obviously imagine various integrated services, in particular privileged access to streaming platforms in addition to Oqee, Free’s multi-screen TV service already offered to all Freebox subscribers. Managing the display in 8K is possible, even if this ultra high definition is of little interest currently, as 4K-UHD is still not widespread. Some people talk about compatibility with Matter, the new universal home automation protocol which, however, seems to be having trouble getting off the ground. We can just hope that Free finally optimizes the electrical consumption of its boxes – the Revolution is not a model of its kind… – by providing them with a physical on-off switch.
And, of course, we also know nothing about the subscription price associated with this new Freebox. We can just assume that it will be quite high if the V9 actually replaces the Delta: probably around 50 euros per month, once the initial promotion period has expired.
But there’s no point playing oracles with guesses: let’s wait a few more days to find out more about this mysterious Freebox. And to see if Free has rediscovered its creative flame by unveiling a box that is ahead of the competition, as was the case in the past.