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TechRadar
Jacob York

5 things you need to know about Xumo, the latest streaming platform brought to you by Spectrum

A TV with Xumo stream box.

If someone were to ask you to build the best streaming experience, where would you begin? Would you want access to tons of content, an unobtrusive user interface, or the ability to personalize your viewing experience? In a perfect world, you'd have all of those things, right?

Welcome to your perfect world, because Spectrum's Xumo does, indeed, give you all of that and a lot more. It’s so easy to enjoy it—watch your favorite shows by connecting your TV to an easy-to-set-up Stream Box and instantly gain access to tons of the streaming apps you subscribe to. You can even browse the dozens of free channels and movies on your computer right now with Xumo Play. Xumo isn't just my new favorite word—it's my new favorite streaming platform. Keep reading to see why. 

(Image credit: Xumo)

1. Everything is in one place

Flipping inputs back and forth between cable and a streaming setup gets irritating. We all want to easily integrate live TV and streaming apps, and Xumo puts all your content into one platform. With over 250 apps preloaded onto your device, you can start watching as soon as it's out of the box and set up. With the support of cable TV titan Spectrum, you'll be smoothly swapping between watching a live basketball game and streaming your favorite reality show in no time. 

2. There's a ton of free content

Let me just hit you with some numbers. Xumo Play has more than 300 channels and over 10,000 movies, all of which you can watch for free—I mean right now, literally. Dive into the Editors' Picks and check out a list of some films enjoyed by the curators at Xumo. Hit up the Horror & Sci-Fi segment for 12 channels of scares. Classic TV? Xumo has it. Home and design? Xumo has it. It even has local news for several cities. In addition to the free content on Xumo Play, Spectrum subscribers can access all their Spectrum TV channels on Xumo via the Spectrum TV app. Watch shows that are in your On-Demand library, or check in with sports on your live TV channels. Record and watch your favorite shows with the Spectrum TV DVR. You'll never run out of viewing options. Go explore, and I'm sure you'll find something you're into.

(Image credit: Xumo)

3. Spectrum is best with a Xumo device

Xumo is at its best when streamed through the device made for it, such as a Xumo TV or the Xumo Stream Box, both available from Spectrum. You want the remote control (more on that soon), but a lot of the functionality that's going to make your life easier comes from this top-down live TV/streaming service integration. With Xumo, you've got the ability to seamlessly search across live TV and all of your apps to find exactly what you want. The Stream Box setup is so simple, and the TVs are high quality and affordable. So much of what you'll love about the Xumo experience is the user interface, and you just won't get that without going whole hog and running the service on a Xumo device.

4. The advanced voice-search remote is a game changer

First off, I want to encourage you to ditch the basket of multiple remotes on your coffee table. With Xumo, you only need one. And it's not just any remote—it's an advanced voice remote. Looking for a specific title? Just use the voice search function, and Xumo will search across all your apps and live TV at once. It works the same way if you're looking for a specific actor or genre. Don't limit yourself to the painstaking cataloging of various individual apps. Find the thing you want to watch so you can get to watching!

(Image credit: Xumo)

5. You can create playlists of your favorite content

This is one of my favorite aspects of Xumo. I have a friend who falls asleep to stand-up comedy every night. With Xumo, he can put together a playlist of the best in stand-up and never have to worry about decision fatigue at the end of the evening. Try building your own from any of the various services on Xumo, including Spectrum TV through the Spectrum TV app. You can create a playlist of the shows your friends keep telling you about so you can finally mean it when you tell them, "I'll put it on my list." I've loved keeping track of all the movies I need to watch via Xumo. It's personalization at its finest.

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