SET-TOP BOXES
These ingenious little boxes open the door to a seemingly infinite world of great-looking (and sounding) TV content
Sky Q
From £29/month
Sky Q has been around long enough now for many of us to think of it as nothing out of the ordinary. So it’s as well to be reminded that there’s nothing ordinary about it – even if you do have to fork out to enjoy its many pleasure.
There are four Sky Q boxes, and the broadband hub. The main box is the Sky Q 1TB, which is the default box given to anyone taking out a new Sky Q subscription. There is also a Sky Q 2TB box, but this will set you back an extra £99. Both of these boxes handle 4K Ultra HD content. A non-4k Sky Q 1TB box is also available for those who are happy watching in HD, while the Sky Q Mini is for bedrooms and second rooms, and piggy-backs off your main Q box.
You will also need to factor in paying for the content you want to watch. There are all sorts of bundles on offer, led by the flagship Sky Sports and Sky Cinema packages, but now also bolstered by the inclusion of Netflix and Spotify. All of this costs a significant amount of money.
There’s no denying that it’s expensive, but Sky Q is also the best TV service available in the UK by a long way. The breadth and depth of content remains Sky’s strongest selling point, but the interface and ‘fluid viewing’ experience, as Sky calls it, is almost as important.
The regularly updated interface is fast, good-looking, intuitive and gets you to the content you want quickly. Sky’s curated content continues to improve too, offering up personalised programmes and films based on your viewing habits in an effort to keep pace with the experience offered by streaming services such as Netflix, Disney Plus and Amazon Prime Video.
The amount of 4K content has vastly improved since launch and some of that content now comes with Dolby Atmos sound, too. HDR has also been available since last year and has improved those sharp, detailed pictures even more.
Sky Q remains the ultimate set-top box – for quality and features – and the portal to a TV service fit for the 21st century. So, for the sixth year running, it walks away with a Product of the Year Award in this category.