Pros
- Democratic approach to content discovery
- Accessible interface
- Dolby Vision and Atmos support
- Stable streaming performance
Cons
- Costs add up with add-ons
- Additional pucks eat up more bandwidth
- Interface is a little sluggish at times
The Sky Stream puck is the easiest way to get all the entertainment that Sky offers into your home. Having previously been an accessory to the Glass TV, it’s also available as a standalone streamer.
It is a small, simple device with a HDMI output, Ethernet for hardwired connection to a router and terrestrial connection that can offer Freeview HD in case the internet goes down. Sky is a closed system and this device doesn’t offer the same level of connectivity options as an Android or Fire TV device can do, so if you’re more interested in customisation or adding external products to a streamer like headphones or a keyboard, you may want to look elsewhere.
The Entertainment OS interface is one of the best we’ve used on a streamer. Unlike Fire TV, this is a much more democratic interface, more interested in aggregating content from all services rather than putting any one ahead of another. Discovery has been improved with a few rejigs of the interface. Playlist itself has been tweaked with the most recent episodes or series that you’ve added appearing first. We found these to be all sensible updates, though if we could change anything it’d be to have the Continue Watching rail higher up. In terms of using the interface, we found Sky Glass quicker whether scrolling through the menus or loading apps.
App selection isn’t anywhere near as large as Fire TV, Apple, Google or Roku, though we could make the argument that it’s quality over quantity. Nevertheless, all the big hitters are present when it comes to video options, though sport and music options could be buffed up with more options.
Sky Stream supports HDR10, HLG and Dolby Vision HDR formats, leaving HDR10+ behind. That means TVs that support HDR10+ won’t be able to get the most of their picture performance, but for everyone else the Stream puck puts in a very good performance with HD and 4K HDR content, though this is dependent on how good your TV is. There are high levels of detail and sharpness where required, satisfying clarity and strong colours with HDR content. No problems were had in terms of stuttering or freezing images.
On the audio front the Stream puck supports Dolby Atmos, but this is only available if you subscribe to the UHD package. We did notice some audio distortion with some programmes every now and then, though not to the point where it became a pressing issue. In terms of streaming music from the device we found the Fire TV Cube to be a clearer, sharper sounding device, though the Stream does sound livelier and gets stuck into low frequencies with more aplomb.
Reviewer: Kob Monney
Full Review: Sky Stream
