True to form, Free has just published a mysterious announcement suggesting that its new Freebox will be released in a few days. Enough to whet the curiosity and impatience of his fans…
Free does not seem to give up his facetious side. The operator who has played the agitator of the PIF – the French Internet landscape – since its beginnings never ceases to surprise with its offbeat, often funny and provocative communication, just to distinguish itself from its main competitors. He gives us new proof at the start of 2024 through an astonishing publication on Instagram on January 13 which suggests an imminent launch for a new Freebox, designated for the moment by V9 – it is the ninth in its history. A new generation box, which some expected for the end of 2023, and which could be officially unveiled in a few days, or even in February.
Brief and amusing, the publication from the official Free account on Instagram presents 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 is devoted to the Freebox V9, without image, associated with the sign of Aquarius, which corresponds to a period going from January 21 and on February 19. And as Free likes to launch on Tuesdays, like Apple, it is therefore likely that V9 will be presented on January 23, January 30, February 6 or February 13 – the least likely date for good reason of superstition…
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 say 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 moving directly to 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.