
Sky’s streaming service put to the last word take a look at
Sky desires you to go all in for its streaming service and, in the event you do, you will not be dissatisfied. The system is not good but and Sky undoubtedly must iron our a number of kinks but it surely’s the very best high quality video and audio on supply from the published big. The tools can be far more trendy, quieter and simple to setup than the normal Sky satellite tv for pc equivalents. The 4K Dolby Imaginative and prescient visuals are excellent and, when you get your head across the live-but-not-live side of linear broadcasting (which is enhancing), you may by no means look again.
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Streamlined streaming service -
Unbelievable 4K Dolby Imaginative and prescient visuals -
All the most important apps current -
Small, simple to put in, pucks -
No want for dish and additional cables
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4K points on sure TVs -
Apps typically crash -
Proceed watching is problematic -
UI presents unwatchable reveals -
A lot of additional charges
Replace: This evaluate first went stay in February 2024, however has been up to date to incorporate a few enhancements that Sky have made to the system in latest months.
Introduction
I moved into my home with my spouse and a 2 month outdated child in 2016 and, on our first day in our new abode, the person from Sky got here and screwed a satellite tv for pc dish to the again wall and ran coaxial cables to varied rooms in the home.
Despite the fact that that was practically eight years in the past now, it nonetheless felt like a reasonably outdated strategy to get the visuals showing on our TVs.
Netflix was clearly already a factor again then, and streaming units like Hearth TV, Nvidia’s Android TV Protect and Apple TV all existed.
I had the web pace to deal with a streaming-only service. It’s not the 1Gig pace I’ve obtained these days, but it surely was a fibre connection (albeit fibre solely so far as the Openreach cupboard outdoors) that also gave me a dependable 60-65Mbps; so greater than able to dealing with a few 4K streams.
However again then it simply wasn’t an choice. Sky did have its Now TV bins out within the wild, however that pick-and-mix method wasn’t what I wished.
I wished the complete vary of sports activities, motion pictures and leisure channels years of Sky viewing had made me accustomed to. Mainly, all of it, on a regular basis, which simply wasn’t on supply.
Nevertheless, with the highway paved by the launch of Sky Glass on the finish of 2021, Sky is now lastly providing a streaming-only service for purchasers; one which boasts conventional linear TV channels, but in addition affords multi-room entry and, crucially, permits customers to make use of their present televisions.
In truth, Sky Stream really now takes pleasure of place above Sky Q when searching for TV packages direct with the broadcaster.
It’s clear Sky desires individuals to ditch the dish (the 1,000 job cuts that simply occurred helps that principle) and go all in for a streaming setup.
In order that’s what I did, considerably reluctantly, again in November of final 12 months.
Learn on for my full evaluate of residing in a Sky Stream family.
Setup and tools
I believe it’s finest, earlier than we go any additional, to clarify what I had earlier than and what I’ve now obtained for my Sky setup.
Within the eight years we had Sky Q in the home, we had the principle, 2TB, Q field in the lounge with extra mini bins in the main bedroom and in my backyard workplace. We additionally had broadband via Sky too.
I mentioned that I ‘reluctantly’ made the swap to Sky Stream however I really started the method a number of months prior once we swapped from Sky broadband to Virgin Media.
Sky depends on Openreach to get its Full Fibre (900Mbps) broadband to households and my road wasn’t due for the FTTP improve till 2025. So I jumped ship to Virgin’s Gig1 service.
I’d additionally stopped counting on the Sky Q mesh system previously few years as I’d began reviewing and residing with numerous complete dwelling Wi-Fi mesh setups corresponding to Netgear’s Orbi and Amazon’s Eero.
However whereas my dwelling Wi-Fi considerations had been now alleviated, the system was nonetheless working ‘fantastic’, our planner was full and, crucially – as I’m an enormous sports activities fan – I had by no means, ever skilled lag, buffering or a drop-out when watching The Huge Recreation.
I liked the thought of Stream, however the thought of counting on an web connection for my stay sport terrified me; even with that web connection being as quick as is feasible within the UK, with a top-of-the-range mesh Wi-Fi system working the present.
However the guys at Sky talked me into it and my new tools landed on my doorstep, together with a field to ship again all my outdated Sky {hardware}.
It’s necessary to return all of your outdated Sky bins when making the soar; you simply hire this tools from Sky, you don’t personal it and you’ll get charged for it in the event you don’t ship it again.
It’s not a problem although as Sky present all of the bins and pre-paid Royal Mail labels you’ll want and also you don’t even have to go to the Publish Workplace, you’ll be able to have all of it collected freed from cost.
You received’t have the ability to ship again the dish although. Sky will recycle it in the event you do get it down and ship it again to them however I wouldn’t suggest making an attempt this with out a professional. I’ve really left my dish up as it could be helpful for Freesat providers sooner or later.
In case you are considering of creating the soar to Stream from Q, then you definately get 30 days from the second you activate the primary Stream puck (or Glass TV) to determine if it’s for you, which is a lot lengthy sufficient to verify all of it works because it ought to in your family.

My Sky Stream system now contains of a 55-inch Glass TV for the bed room and pucks in the lounge, backyard workplace and one for my Sylvox Out of doors TV (the Sky Stream puck just isn’t stored outdoors, for apparent causes.)
It’s necessary to notice that each one the pucks are the identical and are all created equal. In contrast to Sky Q mini bins, that are inferior to the principle field, all of the pucks are able to 4K, Dolby Atmos and all the opposite bells and whistles that I’ll discuss extra in a bit.
In case you have a combination and match Glass and puck setup like me, you need to arrange the Glass first, however in the event you’re puck solely it doesn’t matter what puck or what room you select to activate your service on. The primary one simply will get the system up and working, it doesn’t grow to be a major gadget.
By way of {hardware} and the design of Stream puck, it’s not precisely a reinvention of the wheel in comparison with different streaming units; it seems to be like a barely squashed Apple TV.
The excellent news is, in comparison with the older conventional Sky satellite tv for pc tools, it’s a lot smaller, a lot simpler to put in and, crucially, a lot quieter. There’s no whirring fan continually inflicting a hum and hardly any warmth generated.
For my outdated Sky Q principal field, inside an AV cabinet, I had to make use of USB cooler followers to cease it overheating. There’s none of that wanted with Stream.

On the again you’ll discover an enter for the facility lead, a HDMI 2.1 port, an Ethernet socket and an area for a coaxial aerial cable. The latter is redundant within the UK, there’s no plans at current to allow broadcast TV via the Sky Stream puck.
I received’t go into an excessive amount of element on Sky Glass right here as this can be a evaluate of Sky’s streaming system as a complete.
Sky tells us that you just’ll want 10Mbps at the least to make use of Stream, however 30Mbps is beneficial in the event you’re streaming in 4K. Ethernet is clearly extra dependable however is capped at 100Mbps, which is a lot however you might discover your Wi-Fi is far sooner if the router on an entry level is close by.
When you’re able to go, simply plug in your first gadget and comply with the on-screen directions. The step-by-step UI will enable you get the suitable settings to your TV and also will pair your Sky distant by way of Bluetooth in order that it doesn’t depend on line-of-sight IR.

Navigating the UI
When you’re all setup you’ll be offered with the Sky Stream homepage and revised UI; Sky calls the brand new onscreen visuals ‘Leisure OS.’ It’s principally an enormous aggregation of all of the native and third-party content material on supply, very similar to you’d discover on a Hearth TV.
Up prime, and sometimes offered as an even bigger visible takeover, is the Prime Picks the place you’ll see sure motion pictures and reveals highlighted, together with high-profile sporting occasions which are taking place stay.
Under that could be a rail of tabs you’ll be able to entry to dig deeper – Playlist, TV Exhibits, Films, Sport, Children, Audio, Information and extra.

Playlist primarily replaces your planner and you’ll even have 5 completely different profiles arrange right here, in order completely different members of the family can have their very own areas.
It’s simple so as to add stuff to the Playlist, with a purple plus button on the distant permitting you to ‘bookmark’ reveals and flicks from no matter display screen you’re on. All the content material in your Playlist is offered in chronological order, not the stuff most just lately watched and no indication of something that you’re half-way via and so forth.
I’ve discovered that, in contrast to the trusty outdated Planner, we don’t actually use Playlist in any respect; it’s a lot simpler to simply seek for reveals we need to watch – the voice search on Sky Stream is nice – after which use the Proceed Watching row, which seems a few rows beneath the Playlist.
Proceed Watching isn’t good although, it’s hit or miss relying on what service you’re utilizing. Stuff from Sky direct just about all the time picks up from the place you left off, and Netflix and the BBC iPlayer content material is fairly dependable too.

However I’ve had it playback reveals from Disney+ a few episodes behind the place I left off on my iPad and Amazon Prime stuff is in every single place.
It could possibly additionally grow to be a whole mess fairly rapidly as there’s no means of cleansing up what’s proven there – so even in the event you by accident begin streaming one thing for a number of seconds, it seems within the row.
Under the Playlist row is the TV information and stay TV – extra on that in a bit – after which beneath that there’s curated content material corresponding to Sky Cinema premiers, the weekly prime 10, Sky Retailer content material, themed rows corresponding to Oscar Season and extra.
Navigation is quick and clean, akin to a latest Apple TV or an Amazon Hearth Stick and far, a lot slicker than utilizing the native apps on my ageing Sony Bravia.
Nevertheless, some components of the UI are simply plain daft. For instance, you get TV reveals and flicks promoted to you from providers that you just don’t even subscribe to.
There’s additionally not full HDMI-CEC, so you’ll be able to’t use your TVs distant management to navigate it, as you’ll be able to with the likes of Apple TV; however you should utilize your Sky distant to show your TV on/off and modify the quantity.
On that, in the event you simply need to management your TV’s native quantity, you most likely received’t have a difficulty. Nevertheless, throw a soundbar or AV system into the combination and also you may run into bother.

I discovered I had a HDMI handshake situation with my Sonos Arc. An entire energy cycle of all the pieces, mixed with turning HDMI management off, obtained issues working as they need to however I’m undecided the typical (non tech-nerd) person would work this out as rapidly.
Every little thing on the Sky Stream puck is 1080p Full HD by default, you need to change to 2160p UHD in settings.

Additionally, in the event you don’t use a puck commonly and it’s left powered off or on standby for a protracted whereas, the puck will revert again to 1080p – presumably that is due to an absence of EDID messages between the puck and the TV, however it’s a bit annoying.
There’s additionally a UHD ‘good swap situation’ whereby the change to 4K isn’t mirrored within the channel numbers on the TV information. For instance, Sky Sports activities Foremost Occasion doesn’t grow to be the UHD model on 401 instantly – though it may be discovered within the 900s.
On my principal puck, in use in my front room, this swap took a few hours and has remained appropriate ever since. Nevertheless, in my backyard workplace, the UHD model of Sky Sports activities Foremost Occasion has by no means hit 401… I presume due to that EDID situation I discussed
When you pause a present for a very long time, or simply go away the homescreen on with out navigating then a pleasant screensaver kicks in, promoting numerous content material. Then, after one other interval of exercise, the field will go into standby; the settings for this may be modified within the menu down the underside.

In use
I’ve talked about the apps a number of occasions and, whereas Sky Stream hasn’t obtained the identical quantity of providers as Google TV, Hearth TV or Apple TV, all the principal gamers are current and proper.
Apple TV+, Amazon Prime, Disney+, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sounds, ITV Hub, All4, YouTube, Discovery+, Peacock, Fiit, Paramount Plus, Spotify, Peloton and extra are all on supply.
There’s the rigmarole of signing into all of the related streaming providers for first time use and, annoyingly, sign-ins don’t sync throughout units, so you need to register to all the pieces a number of occasions, relying on what number of pucks and Glass TVs that you just go for. No less than the most typical e mail domains are preset for usernames, so it makes the method a bit faster and lots of apps use a fast QR code technique too.
Relating to stay TV, and this was one in every of my main worries being a giant sports activities viewer, it’s not really stay in any respect.

Technically, no TV is stay as that will be not possible. Sky Q customers would have most likely already observed that their 4K channels are a few seconds behind the HD ones. That is significantly noticeable throughout massive soccer matches the place a cheer could be heard on the road a few second earlier than you see the aim.
Nevertheless, that delay is 2-3 seconds at most… on Sky Stream I clocked a delay of round 33 seconds. That consequence was fairly constant throughout completely different channels, on completely different days. I’m on 1Gig web don’t overlook, so it’s not a pace situation; that’s simply how lengthy it takes to buffer and current the stream.
When you get your head round this it’s… fantastic. Certain, for World Cup video games I’d revert again to conventional BBC or ITV broadcasts when England are enjoying, however on the entire you just about overlook that half a minute(ish) delay even exists.
In mid-2024, Sky additionally took the covers off a brand new function, designed to make stay sport extra, properly, stay.
Dubbed ‘Dwell Sync,’ Sky Sports activities Foremost Occasion is now obtainable in Low Latency, decreasing the time between the motion on the pitch and it being proven in your Sky Glass or Sky Stream.
Sky Sports activities Foremost Occasion is the primary channel to profit from the latency discount of twenty-two seconds, however it can additionally come to different Sky Sports activities channels later in 2024. Sky tells us that it means simply an 8 second delay.

You possibly can browse stay TV identical to you may earlier than on Q, albeit with a a lot slicker wanting TV Information, and there’s the added bonus of having the ability to restart just about an TV present that’s being proven.
Sky’s native content material is fairly instantaneous for this, the likes of the BBC iPlayer and All4 generally have a delay of 15-20 minutes as soon as a stay broadcast has begun earlier than you’ll be able to stream it from the beginning. This isn’t Sky’s doing, they depend on the app makers themselves and their particular streaming apps to current content material.
A whole lot of the channel numbers are the identical as they had been on Sky Q but it surely’s value noting that you just aren’t actually watching a broadcast, you’re watching a stream. So, even on stay TV, you’ll get popped out to the likes of the iPlayer or ITVX to look at terrestrial TV.
Video and audio high quality
No matter you do watch, the Sky Stream pucks and the Glass TVs will stream within the highest potential format, relying on what the app makers are providing up and what your TV can deal with.
The pucks themselves are all able to 4K (Dolby Imaginative and prescient, HDR10, HLG) and Dolby Atmos.
It actually is excellent high quality if you get a 4K stream singing and dancing in its very best quality and even the common Sky 4K and HD broadcasts are a giant step up from what’s on supply with Q via a dish; though it’s value mentioning that there’s really no Dolby Imaginative and prescient for Sky content material but, for that you just’ll have to stream from Netflix, Apple TV and the like.

Nevertheless, all of this excellent streaming high quality doesn’t come with out a few ‘quirks’.
For instance, I’ve had points with the Apple TV’s app with regards to 4K and, Sky’s boards, so have lots of different individuals too.
Typically it streams from Apple TV in HDR, Dolby Imaginative and prescient, and generally not. A reboot usually kinds it when it’s not enjoying ball, however then it goes again to ‘regular’ 4K a number of days later.
I don’t have this situation with Netflix or Prime, so I presume it’s a bitrate / reminiscence situation between the app and the Stream’s RAM.
There’s additionally a 4K Concern with the field going into standby when beginning stream from some apps. The menus and apps all seem fantastic however the second you push play the display screen goes clean with the TV saying there is no such thing as a enter detected.
This was a significant downside for me when utilizing Sky Stream with my Philips Hue Sync Field, which technically helps Dolby Imaginative and prescient passthrough. I’ve since killed the Sync Field from my setup and had no 4K app crashes, however bear in mind this situation does exist with a spread of TVs too, so possibly examine what your TV is able to, by way of the newest UHD requirements, earlier than shopping for.

One other bug I discovered is that after the field enters auto sleep, if you push the facility button you get the load up graphic however then simply does an infinite ‘Please wait’ and you need to flip the puck on and off once more.
I discovered that turning off HDMI Management and In a single day Energy Saving settings sorted this.
Packages obtainable
The Complete Dwelling subscription (£12 month-to-month) technically covers as much as six Stream pucks and three Glass televisions however there’s a presently a 4 field restrict and also you’ll must pay round £35 per field (though you by no means personal them). However it’s good you don’t must pay per display screen month-to-month.
What you’ll have to pay for, month-to-month, is the vary of channels and apps you need. Stuff like Sky Sports activities and Sky Cinema is an additional premium on prime of the common Leisure bundle and, other than Netflix, you’ll nonetheless must have separate agreements with the opposite premium streaming providers.
Packages vary massively relying on what you need, as was and nonetheless is the case with Sky Q and all Sky programs that got here earlier than it.
These costs are continually altering and Sky does an enormous vary of bundles that throw in stuff like broadband and cellular contracts into the combination so your finest guess is to check out the newest offers right here.
Like Sky Q, you’ll pay additional for 4K and Dolby Atmos (£6 a month) and, this one is a bit cheeky I believe: it’s additionally an additional £5 a month to get ad-skipping thrown in too.
On Netflix, it’s simple sufficient to simply merge your present Netflix account to a Sky Leisure bundle, however if you’d like 4K on Netflix, you’ll must pay the additional £8 a month to get to Netflix’s prime tier.
Closing ideas
Sky Stream is the longer term, there’s little question about that, and whereas I used to be anxious about being considerably of an early adopter, the large points with Glass all appear to be sorted after a few years available in the market and the Stream pucks are fairly strong. They’re not good and there are some software program and UI points that want addressing however the high quality of the bundle as a complete is spectacular. I ditched the dish and I urge you to do the identical.
How we take a look at
After we publish our evaluations, you’ll be able to relaxation assured that they’re the results of “residing with” long run assessments.
Streaming bins normally stay inside a sensible dwelling ecosystem, or a spread of merchandise that – supposedly – all work in concord. Subsequently, it’s not possible to make use of a related gadget for per week and ship a verdict.
As a result of we’re testing package all day, on a regular basis, we all know what issues and the way a selected gadget compares to options that you may additionally be contemplating.
Our evaluations are complete, goal and honest and, after all, we’re by no means paid on to evaluate a tool.
Learn our evaluate course of to study extra.
FAQS
Does Sky Stream help 4K Dolby Imaginative and prescient?
Sure, you’ll get UHD Dolby Imaginative and prescient via apps like Apple TV, Prime and Netflix.
Do you need to have Sky Broadband with Sky Stream?
No, you should utilize an broadband ISP you need – however you’ll want not less than a 10Mbps pace, with 25-30Mbps beneficial for 4K streaming.
Are you able to improve from Sky Q to Sky Stream?
Switching from Sky Q or Sky+ to Sky Stream is simple. Your present Sky Q service will stay energetic till you activate Sky Stream and also you’ll get a 30 day testing interval to verify it really works for you.