Sky Stream Puck Box

Sky Stream Puck joins Sky's line-up of ways to watch their premium TV service, alongside Sky Glass and the more traditional Sky Q.

Like Sky Glass, Sky Puck uses Sky's new streaming platform to deliver Sky TV entirely over a broadband connection, so customers no longer need to install a satellite dish or even an aerial.

Overall, Sky Stream Puck is a long-awaited service, that not only opens up Sky to more customers, but it's increased flexibility and cloud storage help modernise Sky TV too.

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At a glance

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What's new with Sky Stream Puck?

Sky Stream Puck has modernised Sky TV, making Sky's premium TV services available to a wider range of customers for the first time by doing away with the satellite dish.

Sky Stream became available as a standalone service in October 2022, when Sky Stream Puck boxes were sold on their own for the first time. Previously, Sky Puck boxes were limited to Sky Glass customers as multiroom add-ons.

As Sky continue to move away from a satellite-based service, prices for Sky TV and premium add-ons are also becoming cheaper with Sky Stream in comparison to Sky Q. Current prices for Sky Entertainment on Stream are as much as £8 cheaper per month than with Sky Q.

Plus, the ease of installation, with a next day delivery time, is likely to attract new customers who can't or don't want to install a dish, as well as potentially convert some that would have otherwise opted for Sky Q.

The main selling point for Sky Stream however is its flexibility. Allowing customers to choose 31-day rolling terms on the main service, as well as on premium TV packs like Sky Sports and Sky Cinema, which hasn't been an option with Sky Q.

We also love the Playlist feature which allows customers to bring together chosen programming from Sky as well as third-party apps like Netflix and Disney+. Playlist has unlimited cloud storage, although it doesn't record programs indefinitely like a Sky Q box.

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Is Sky Stream Puck right for me?

Sky latest's Stream Puck Box is a great choice for anyone who wants to watch Sky's premium entertainment channels, subscribe to Sky Sports or Sky Cinema packs, and access a wide range of on-demand apps.

The most notable feature about the new Puck Box is that it opens up Sky TV to many more people who either couldn't or didn't want to install a satellite dish.

Sky Stream Puck is also more suited to those on a budget, as the initial dish-free option of Sky Glass comes with either a hefty price tag or long repayment plan. Sky Puck is currently available with no upfront costs, so customers only need to budget for the monthly Sky TV plan itself.

Sky Stream Puck is best for people who:

• Want to watch premium and exclusive Sky TV content
• Can't or don't want to install a satellite dish
• Have a broadband speed of at least 25Mb per second
• Want the widest range of support for on-demand apps
• Want greater flexibility over the content they subscribe to

While Sky Stream Puck doesn't support the new Sky Live camera, it's the best choice for households who want to try out Sky TV, with an easy and low-cost setup for the same range of premium Sky content as well as a wide range of additional on-demand apps.

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Sky Stream packages

Sky Stream is available via two main package options with the Puck box:

1. 18-month minimum term, with the lowest monthly price and free setup
2. 31-day rolling monthly term, costs more each month and also has a setup fee

Other than cost however, there are no other differences between the 18-month contract option and the 31-day contract option.

In fact, even if a customer takes Sky Stream Puck on an 18-month minimum term, they can still choose any of the TV pack add-ons on 31-day terms if they want to.

It's worth being aware of course, if a customer does take the 18-month plan, there will be early leaving penalties if they want to exit the contract early. For this reason, paying slightly more for greater flexibility makes Sky Stream Puck's 31-day option attractive.

Compared with standard Sky Q TV, Sky Stream Puck now costs less per month, whichever option a customer chooses. Right now, Sky Q costs £31 per month with Netflix, which makes it clear Sky is tempting customers towards their newer streaming platform.

Like Sky Q however, customers can still personalise their Sky Stream TV experience with additional add-ons including Sky Cinema, Sky Sports, TNT Sports, Sky Kids, and a range of on-demand apps including Disney+, Apple TV+, Amazon Prime Video, and Hayu, which we look at in more detail below.

Sky Stream TV and Broadband

Sky Stream can also be bundled with Sky broadband for additional savings.

The actual amount saved varies depending on current offers, but for example at the time of writing, customers can save £12 per month with a bundle, compared to taking Sky Stream and Sky Superfast Broadband separately.

Here is the latest pricing for Sky Stream TV and broadband:

Customers can also bundle Sky Stream with faster broadband plans, like Sky's Ultrafast Broadband above, which is also discounted in a TV bundle.

In comparison to Sky Q and broadband bundles, Sky Stream bundles are cheaper, with discounts on both the TV and broadband plans. For example, at the time of writing, Sky Q TV + Superfast Broadband is £9 more expensive per month than with Sky Stream.

Sky Stream TV customers can choose from any of Sky's broadband packages, including their Superfast, Ultrafast, and Gigafast broadband speeds. You can check availability for Sky broadband at your postcode on our Sky deals page.

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Sky Puck Box

Sky Puck allows customers to stream Sky TV over an Internet connection for the first time, without the need for either a satellite dish or an expensive Sky Glass TV set.

Sky's new Puck box is currently free to new customers, although it usually costs £39.95 upfront.

Originally, the Puck box was used to expand Sky Glass into a multiroom service, allowing customers to purchase additional 'pucks' they could place in extra rooms around the home.

Now however, Sky have released Sky Stream Puck as a standalone subscription service to rival Virgin Media's own recently launched Stream service.

The Sky Puck box is a small device, measuring just 10cm x 10cm x 1cm approximately. It has a built-in WiFi receiver to connect to a wireless router, a HDMI port to connect to a TV, and its own power supply. It's a very similar device to Virgin Media's Stream box.

Sky Puck supports Dolby Atmos sound and Ultra HD in 2160p, with a maximum resolution of 3840 x 2160 at 50 frames per second. This is the same as Sky Q, so for customers who want the best viewing quality, Sky Puck is able to offer the same UHD experience.

Sky Puck also supports HDR, but it's worth bearing in mind this requires a HDR compatible TV set in HLG format.

The specifications of the Sky Puck are:

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What content is on Sky Stream?

The Sky Stream TV base package includes 150 channels. This is probably the biggest difference between Sky Stream and Sky Q, as those plans come with 300 TV channels.

However, that said, a lot of the missing channels are free-to-air Freesat channels, and Sky Stream still covers all of the main Sky entertainment channels you'd expect to see, as well as a decent range of free-to-air channels on Freeview.

Sky Stream includes channels such as:

The most notable channels that are missing on Sky Stream TV that are available on Sky Q include:

However, it's worth noting that channels like Premier Sports, LFCTV, MUTV, and Racing TV are all paid subscription services that would cost extra on Sky Q anyway. It's just that, on Sky Stream Puck they're not available to be added at all.

Sky TV Packs

Sky Stream TV customers can choose from a number of premium TV packs to add to their service.

As with the main package, TV packs are available on both 18-month or 31-day minimum terms, with the longer contract option offering lower prices.

An interesting aspect of Sky Stream that differs from Sky Q, is that even if a customer signs up to Sky Stream on an 18-month contract, they can choose to take Sky Sports or Sky Cinema packs on either 18-month or 31-day terms.

This adds an extra layer of flexibility to Sky Stream that makes it more attractive than the standard Sky Q service.

TNT Sports is the other notable difference, with the pack only available on a 31-day term on Sky Stream, whereas it's only available on an 18-month term with Sky Q.

Sky Kids and UHD packs are only available with 31-day rolling terms on either Sky Stream or Sky Q. However, adding Ultra HD to Sky Stream is less than half the price at just £4 per month, compared to £12 with Sky Q. This is largely down to most of the Sky Stream content coming in HD as standard, whereas Sky Q is typically SD.

It's also cheaper for Sky Stream customers to upgrade their Netflix plan from the included Standard with Ads, to ad-free, or UHD options. On Sky Q, the ad-free Netflix Standard costs an additional £10 per month, with the UHD Premium subscription priced at £15 per month.

On-demand apps

Sky Stream Puck offers the same on-demand apps available on Sky Glass and the Sky Q box. These include:

Many of the apps require their own subscriptions, however Sky Stream customers get Netflix and Discovery+ basic included for free. While Paramount+ is included for Sky Stream customers who take the Sky Cinema pack.

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Sky Stream Puck vs Sky Q

While Sky Stream Puck and Sky's standard Sky Q TV service are very similar, and more or less the same service via a different delivery method, there are some notable differences between the two.

The main differences between Sky Stream and Sky Q include:

• Sky Entertainment is cheaper on Stream than with Sky Q
• Sky Stream offers more flexibility than Sky Q
• Sky Stream content is typically in 1080p HD as standard, whereas Sky Q is SD, and Ultra HD content is less than half the price on Stream than with Sky Q
• Netflix plan upgrades are cheaper on Sky Stream
• Sky Stream has unlimited recordings with cloud storage in the Playlist, although they may not be available indefinitely as they would be on the Sky Q box
• Sky Q has more free-to-air channels with Freesat than Sky Stream which uses Freeview

Sky Stream offers HD as standard, where Sky Q customers have to pay

One of the biggest benefits to Sky Stream over Sky Q is that content comes in full 1080p HD as standard, while Sky Q is still typically shown in SD.

While it's possible to upgrade Sky Q to HD it costs an extra £8 per month, and Ultra HD content costs £12, while Stream customers only have to pay £4.

With most modern TV sets supporting HD, it makes Sky Stream a clear winner for better viewing quality on a larger screen for less money.

Sky Q has more channels than Sky Stream

Sky Stream has 150 channels, whereas Sky Q comes with over 300. While there aren't too many major channels missing, Sky Stream doesn't have GREAT! Movies, POP, Tiny Pop, LaLiga TV, FreeSports, SportStuff, and a number of paid sport channels like MUTV, Premier Sports and Racing TV. There are also a number of International, International News, and Religious channels missing.

The reason for this however is where Sky Q offers free-to-air content over Freesat, Sky Stream uses Freeview, which has less channels overall.

Sky Stream offers a lot more flexibility than Sky Q

While it costs a few pounds extra each month, Sky Stream customers can choose 31-day rolling terms on the main service, as well as on TV packs like Sky Sports, Sky Cinema, and BT Sport, which are only available on 18-month minimum contracts with Sky Q.

Netflix plan upgrades are cheaper on Sky Stream

Sky Stream includes Netflix Standard with Ads, and upgrades to Standard and Premium (Ultra HD) plans are cheaper on Sky Stream.

Sky Stream customers also don't have a HD pack option, which means more of Sky's content is in HD as standard, which Sky Q customers have to pay more for. And the Ultra HD pack is much cheaper with Sky Stream at just £4 per month, compared to £12 per month with Sky Q.

Sky Stream has unlimited recordings with cloud storage in the Playlist

Sky Q customers get 1TB of storage in the Sky Q box for recordings. Sky Stream on the other hand relies on the cloud, offering customers a Playlist where they can add live and on-demand programs from both Sky and third-party apps to watch later. Sky even say the Playlist cloud storage on Sky Stream is unlimited.

One caveat to watch out for though, if a programme added to the Playlist is removed by the app it was added from, it'll be removed from Playlist too. This is one area where Sky Q boxes are slightly better, as they have indefinite recordings that are only removed when the customer chooses.

Disney+

Disney+ is available on Sky Q at the point of sign up. It's still available on Sky Stream but customers will have to sign up and then navigate to the Sky Marketplace to add the Disney+ app. This is one of the more minor differences.

Pricing differences

Finally, while Sky Stream is priced very similarly to Sky Q, there are some pricing differences, although much of this is due to variations in current offers, so it's worth comparing the latest prices of Sky TV on our deals page.

At the time of writing however, Sky Stream is generally cheaper than Sky Q, including when bundled with Sky broadband, where further discounts are available. Sky Stream also has a lower setup fee - currently free, compared to £20 with Sky Q.

Sky have made clear they're moving their focus to delivering content over broadband with their new streaming platform. As such, pricing on Sky Stream is likely to remain cheaper than with Sky Q as the provider aims to move customers to the new service.

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Sky Stream Extras

Sky Stream TV comes with a range of extras including cloud recordings with Playlist, Sky Go, ad-skipping, and a multiroom service called Whole Home.

Playlist

Playlist is Sky Stream's alternative to the Sky Q box's ability to record TV. Yet, while Sky Q customers are limited to the box's 1TB storage capacity, Sky say Playlist cloud recordings are unlimited.

Effectively, it's possible for Sky Stream customers to add live TV programmes, along with Sky on-demand and third party on-demand programmes to their Playlist. Creating a completely customised viewing experience that can be accessed at any time.

However, one problem with Playlist is that 'recordings' are time limited to their availability on the app they were saved from. Anything added to Playlist could get removed if it's no longer available on the on-demand app it was saved from. This is unlike Sky Q recordings, where a user could record a program and keep it on their box for as long as they wished.

Whole Home

Sky Stream's multiroom option is called Whole Home and costs from £10 a month. For this, customers get the first additional puck box for free and the ability to watch Sky TV in multiple rooms.

Customers can add up to three pucks to a Whole Home subscription, with each additional puck box costing £39.95 each.

Whole Home is available on a 31-day rolling contract, so it can be cancelled easily, yet additional pucks purchased will no longer work without it.

One caveat to Whole Home is the Netflix subscription must be upgraded in order for customers to watch Netflix on additional screens, as the Basic included plan only covers one screen.

Sky Go

Sky Go is a mobile and tablet app that allows Sky TV customers to watch their programming on the go, when they're outside of the house, or even as a multiscreen option in the home too.

Sky Stream customers get the same access to Sky Go, and programming is based on a customer's chosen TV packs.

Ad-skipping

Ad-skip costs £5 per month and allows customers to fast forward ads in on-demand shows and apps like ITVX and All4. Live show ads can only be fast-forwarded if the programme has been paused for long enough.

Fast-forwarding is up to x30 speed, but customers can also use voice control to simply ask Sky to skip however many minutes, which is likely the easiest and fastest way to jump any ad-breaks.

Ad-skip is also available on a 31-day rolling contract, so customers can easily trial the service if they want to without a long commitment to spending extra.

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How does Sky Stream compare?

Sky Stream's most obvious rival for comparison is Virgin Media's new Stream service. It's also interesting to see how it compares alongside Sky's own NOW TV streaming service.

Sky Stream vs Virgin Media Stream

While Sky Stream is available as a standalone service without broadband, Virgin Media Stream is only available with Virgin Media broadband.

Here are two of the cheapest packages from Sky Stream and Virgin Stream:

Virgin Media Stream and broadband looks much cheaper than Sky Stream at first glances, but it's worth being aware it only includes 52 Freeview channels and customers need to add at least the Essential Entertainment and Netflix add-ons to get anywhere near the same level of service as with Sky Stream.

Essential Entertainment costs £15 per month and includes channels such as Sky Max, National Geographic, Discovery, Sky Showcase, and Eurosport. Netflix Standard with Ads on Virgin Stream also costs an extra £4.99 per month.

Added together then, a more direct comparison actually means Virgin Stream costs £45.99 per month, so it's more expensive than Sky Stream for a similar service.

Virgin Media's broadband package on the other hand is almost twice as fast, offering 132Mb average download speeds compared to Sky Superfast Broadband's 61Mb average speeds.

In terms of other premium add-ons, Sky Sports and Sky Cinema are usually both cheaper with Sky Stream. TNT Sports and the Kids pack, on the other hand, are cheaper with Virgin Media Stream. So, it may come down to individual viewing preferences to which service ends up cheaper.

TNT Sports and the Kids pack are cheaper with Virgin Media Stream. So, it may come down to individual viewing preferences to which service ends up cheaper.

Read more in our guide to Sky Stream vs Virgin Stream.

Sky Stream vs NOW TV

NOW TV was Sky's first online streaming platform, allowing people to stream premium Sky content online for a low price, without a long-term commitment.

NOW TV is a very paired down service however, that exclusively offers just Sky's premium channel packs including Sky Entertainment, Sky Cinema, and Sky Sports.

Here's how Sky Stream and NOW TV look side-by-side:

NOW TV and broadband is cheaper than an equivalent Sky Stream and broadband package, yet it's worth bearing in mind how different the services are.

Sky Stream comes with a range of extras, as well as the option to add third-party apps like Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video, TNT Sports, and others, which just isn't an option with NOW. In addition, while Sky Stream is more expensive in the example above, it does include Netflix which is worth £4.99, and this brings the cost of the two providers even closer.

Overall though, NOW is a great value for money way to access Sky's best content, but it really only suits those who want to watch a specific collection of channels. Read more on the differences between Sky and NOW.

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Verdict: Is Sky Stream Puck any good?

Sky Stream Puck is the streaming service from Sky everyone's been waiting for. With the rollout of gigabit broadband across the UK it makes sense for Sky to start moving their service from a dished based service to an online one.

Other than the ease of installation and setup, what we like most about Sky Stream is its flexibility. With the option of 31-day rolling contracts on the service itself as well as any premium TV packs, it allows people to dip in and out of Sky TV when they want.

The fact this flexibility is combined with all the standard extras that come with Sky TV, including Sky Go, and the Whole Home multiroom service, customers aren't missing out on anything for that extra flexibility either.

Sky Stream also stands up well price wise in comparison to Virgin Stream, although the most savings will be seen by customers who want either basic entertainment, Sky Sports, or Sky Cinema add-ons, rather than TNT Sports which is better priced with Virgin Media.

Overall, Sky Stream is a long-awaited service that's likely to be well received. Read more in our hands-on review of Sky Stream.