TiVo Bolt Plus Packs 6 Tuners, 3TB of Storage and Skips Ads

The latest version of TiVo's commercial-skipping Bolt DVR promises to give you a lot more recorded programming where you can blow past the ads.

Announced today (Sept. 12), TiVo's $499 Bolt+ adds six tuners for recording simultaneous programming and 3TB of storage. The original Bolt, introduced last year and available in $199 and $299 versions, offered four tuners and topped out at 1TB of storage.

MORE: Best Streaming Players: Chromecast, Roku, Apple TV & More

The additional tuners and storage bring the new Bolt in line with TiVo's Roamio Pro, which also offered the ability to record six programs at once onto the DVR's 3TB of storage. But Bolt+ also includes the features TiVo introduced with last year's Bolt model, including the ability to stream 4K content.

In addition to their 4K capabilities, TiVo's Bolt DVR lineup is most well-known for the SkipMode feature, where you can press a button and immediately jump past ads to where the program you're watching resumes. That feature remains limited to programs tagged by TiVo on popular channels and viewing times.

A QuickMode feature lets you watch a sped-up version of a show while also adjusting the audio — ideally for when you're watching a game where the action's lagging. TiVo's also touting its OnePass feature for consolidating all episodes of your favorite shows, whether they're available on broadcast TV or through streaming services, and a OneSearch feature lets you look up programming from local, cable and Internet sources.

Last year's Bolt models came in white. The new Bolt+, which goes on sale Sept. 15, features the same curvy design in black.

Philip Michaels

Philip Michaels is a Managing Editor at Tom's Guide. He's been covering personal technology since 1999 and was in the building when Steve Jobs showed off the iPhone for the first time. He's been evaluating smartphones since that first iPhone debuted in 2007, and he's been following phone carriers and smartphone plans since 2015. He has strong opinions about Apple, the Oakland Athletics, old movies and proper butchery techniques. Follow him at @PhilipMichaels.