Tested NOWTV Smart Stick

Ditch the dish and start streaming Sky

£15 / stuff.tv/nowtvstick Q Not fussed about 4K, but have a sporty itch that Freeview just won’t scratch? Sky and hardware partner Roku have combined forces for a diminutive £15 dongle: the cheapest streaming stick in the UK right now, and an excellent alternative to a satellite dish.

Q The stick is no bigger than a USB drive, so it should have no trouble squeezing into your TV’S HDMI socket. There’s a microusb port on the end for power; this needs connecting to your TV, or to the wall via the bundled adaptor. You’ll also need Wi-fi to get connected.

Q Finding a particular TV show or film is so much easier when you have voice search. Hold down a button on the Smart Stick’s remote, speak into it, and have your results instantly revealed on screen. It can’t work out what’s on live TV, though.

Q There are 11 entertainment channels, 10 sports channels, 11 movie channels, and six kids’ channels available – but only if you pay for the respective NOWTV passes. There are also around 50 downloadable apps. Big hitters like Youtube and Vevo are present, but there’s no Netflix or Amazon.

Q Sky still restricts streaming quality to 720p. It doesn’t look amazing on a Full HD TV, so anyone with a 4K set will really notice the drop in quality. 1080p streaming is on the way, but won’t arrive before the tail end of the year.

Tech specs

Max resolution 1080p (NOWTV content streams at 720p) Connectivity HDMI, microusb for power Dimensions 84x20x12.6mm, 20g

QHand solo Once you’re plugged in, setup is as easy as turning on your TV, tapping in your Wi-fi password and logging in to NOWTV. The force awakens The new streamlined remote is a step up from the basic one bundled with the NOWTV Smart Box – it gains...