What is the best Sky Q deal for me? Here’s how to enjoy Sky Q with the best possible deal, with an in-depth breakdown of Sky’s packages and what you get with each.
Already almost a year old, Sky Q well and truly updates pay TV for the post-Netflix age. As well as making it easy to access linear broadcast TV and catch-up content through one box, like many services do these days, one of the aces up Sky Q’s sleeve is it’s ability to let you take whatever it is you were watching with you to another room, where you can pick up where you left off on your tablet (iOS and Android only, for now). Or, if you’ve got a Sky Q Mini streaming box set up elsewhere in the home, you can keep watching on another TV.
You can even access recordings and Sky Store purchases made on the main box through other devices in the Sky Q ecosystem for later viewing, finally doing away with family squabbles over the remote (not to mention costly multiroom subscriptions).
As to which Sky Q deal is the best for you, that depends on what you want to get out of a Sky TV subscription, whether you’re an upgrading customer and (ultimately) how much you’re willing to pay.
What is the cheapest Sky Q bundle and what’s the difference between the different bundles?
The cheapest Sky Q deal on paper is the Original Sky Q Bundle, the entry-level deal which costs £22 per month and comes with the either the basic Sky Q Box or the Sky Q Silver Box. However, you’ll need to pay £12 per month extra if you want multiroom streaming, which is one of the best features of Sky Q – bringing the total up to £34 per month.
The Original Bundle nets you 270 channels in all, while the Variety Bundle (£10 per month more) gives you over 30 more channels, plus access to Sky’s catalogue of kids shows. These can be watched through the Sky Q box or via the Sky Kids app.
Finally there’s the Box Sets Bundle (an extra £16 per month compared with the Original Bundle) which gives you over 350 channels in all, plus full access to Sky’s on-demand TV streaming and those kids shows.
How much extra does a Sky Q subscription cost with Sky Cinema or Sky Sports access?
If you want to enjoy on-demand movie access or live sports, you can pay a bit more on top of your chosen bundle cost for a Sky Cinema or Sky Sports subscription.
Sky Cinema costs £18 extra per month and gives you over 1000 on-demand movies to stream (with a new one added each day). You also get 11 movie channels in HD, if you’d rather watch using your dish instead of via the internet.
Sky Sports costs £27.50 extra per month and gives you 8 Sky Sports channels, featuring lots of live Premier League action each season.
How much does the Sky Q box cost?
Prices for the hardware vary, depending on whether or not you’re taking Sky Broadband, Sky Sports or Sky Movies with Sky Q.
Assuming you’re not, plus you’re only interested in getting Sky Q for the entertainment channels and you’re not fussed about broadband from Sky (maybe you’re lucky enough to live somewhere served by Hyperoptic or Virgin Media and you can’t get superfast broadband from your nearest BT cabinet), the one-off prices for the basic Sky Q Bundle are as follows:
- Sky Q 1TB Box: £15 set-up fee
- Sky Q 2TB Box: £60 set-up fee
These costs are for new Sky customers.
I’ve got a 4K TV and I want Sky Sports and Sky Movies in 4K
If you want to join the 4K revolution, you’ll need to get a Sky Q 2TB set-top box. This allows you to access and enjoy Sky’s broadcast 4K content at 50fps – so make sure your TV can handle 4K video at this frame rate before you splash out.
I live in a busy house and want the best Sky Q deal for my family or flatmates
Sky Q comes with a number of options for homes with multiple potential viewers.
The basic 1TB Sky Q Box features eight tuners, which can let you record up to three programmes at once while watching a fourth via the box itself, all while supporting one live stream to an iOS or Android tablet and another stream to a Sky Q Mini set-top box – that’s a total of up to three separate screens.
Sky Q hands on: 50fps 4K confirmed and those 12 tuners explainedThe higher-end 2TB Sky Q set-top box supports up to four simultaneous recordings plus two live streams to tablets and another two live streams to Sky Q Mini boxes – or five separate screens in total.
Any Sky Q Bundle comes with a Sky Q Mini box included with that set-up price; additional Mini boxes cost £99.
Depending on how many tablets are floating around in your home, an extra Sky Q Mini box might be a good shout for smaller families, regardless of which of the packages you sign up for.
Check out our Sky Q tips and tricks guide for more info on this excellent home streaming and entertainment service.
Read next: What new Sky Q features are coming in 2017?
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