Sky Stream review | Good Housekeeping

The first thing to note is that unlike Sky Q and Sky HD, you don’t need an aerial for Sky Stream, nor a satellite dish. Instead you can access all the fabulous drama shows Sky offers, alongside Sky Sports, Sky Cinema and terrestrial TV like BBC, ITV and Channel 4, on any TV that has access to wifi.

It means you not only have much more flexibility when it comes to TV placement, but the Sky Stream box itself is also significantly more discreet than other settop boxes like Sky Q, while offering support for 4K HDR and Dolby Atmos.

The Sky Stream interface — or Electronic Program Guide (EPG) — is the same as Sky Glass and very easy to navigate, with everything in one place. And when I say everything, I don’t just mean Sky’s content and channels, but streaming services too. That includes the likes of Disney+, Netflix and Prime Video, as well as catchup apps like BBC iPlayer and All4.

Recommendations appear at the top, which are really handy if you’re stuck in the ‘what shall we watch’ trap, and these are followed by the TV Guide rail and timebased recommendations — like “Afterschool TV” — as you move down the screen.

Below that is Continue Watching, which pulls in any shows you have started on Sky’s channels, as well as streaming apps like Netflix, making it quick and easy to find and finish off the Grand Designs or the Bridgerton episode you started downstairs.

You can’t delete shows from it, which is a little irritating. While not a deal breaker, I’d like to be able to remove a show or film from the rail if I don’t like it rather than have to start five other shows before it disappears from that view.

Beyond Continue Watching, there are a range of other recommendation rails, such as “Top 10 this week” and a rail for streaming apps, so it really is easy to find a range of content to watch. Meanwhile, if you’re looking for something specific, the search function is very good, especially voice search using the remote.

The only other thing to note on the Sky Stream EPG is that whatever you’re watching won’t stop streaming immediately, even when you press the Home button. It means if you move off something because you don’t like it, you’ll need to pick something else quickly to stop it playing.

Again, this is not a deal breaker, just something to keep in mind if you turn a programme off because the language isn’t suitable and there are little ears around, for example.

Sky Stream: Packages and costs

I’ve waxed lyrical about Sky’s content so far and that’s because that’s really why you invest in Sky Stream. If you just want to watch Netflix, it would be a lot cheaper to buy an Amazon Fire TV Stick or similar and be done with it. The range of content available through Sky Stream of course depends on what you pay for, with various packages on offer, but the content is some of the best out there.

You can opt for just the Entertainment option and that alone gives you access to some excellent shows, from channels including Sky Originals, Sky Atlantic, Sky Max, Sky Comedy, and Sky Documentaries, as well as Discovery+, National Geographic and Freeview channels.

Sky Sports and Sky Cinema are also options too of course, and while they push the monthly price up quite significantly, Sky Sports is one of the reasons Sky is so well known. It had access to more Premier League live games than any other TV platform for the 2023/24 season, while Sky Cinema offers some great blockbusters from the comfort of your own home and without someone munching popcorn in your ear.

Unlike Sky Q, you can’t record any of the shows on Sky Stream, but with pretty much everything available on demand to stream, you don’t really need to these days. Live TV, meanwhile, is also streamed rather than broadcast via an aerial or satellite dish, but you can pause it in case you need to shake the chips in the air fryer or pop to the toilet.

Good Housekeeping’s verdict on Sky Stream

Sky Stream has a couple of quirks — some people report issues with the box not turning on immediately and wifi Fi connection taking a few seconds to kick in, but I haven’t experienced either in the year I’ve had it.

There’s also the cost, not being able to delete shows from the Continue Watching rail, and not being able to record, but none of those stop Sky Stream being an excellent TV platform.

The convenience of being able to stream all that incredible content with just a WiFi connection, alongside all channels and streaming services being in one place and an easytouse interface makes Sky Stream a service I highly recommend and have no intention of replacing in my own home anytime soon.

Britta O’Boyle has been a technology journalist since 2003. She’s covered everything from phones, tablets and fitness devices, to smart home, and beauty tech. You’ll find her name on reviews, explainers, roundups and expert tips, covering Apple, Google, Samsung, Sonos, Dyson and many more. 

She’s always tried to take a more simplified approach to products, focusing on what she thinks actually matters in use, rather than getting caught up in the jargon. She was one of the first journalists in the world to try Apple’s Vision Pro headset, she’s gone behind the scenes at Peloton and she can give you more than 40 fun facts about Mac. 

Britta has a First Class Honours degree in Fashion Journalism from the University of the Arts London and prior to a 10year stint as deputy editor of Pocketlint from 2013 to 2023, she wrote about interiors for 3 years, covering the rise in technology in the home.

As a freelance journalist, she cofounded The Disconnekt and she’s EditoratLarge for The Ambient. You’ll also find her byline on several prestigious titles including The Telegraph, British GQ, The Express, The Mirror, TechRadar, T3, Stuff, TechAdvisor, Trusted Reviews, Expert Reviews, Wareable and iMore. 

She’s also been a guest on several radio stations, including BBC Radio, Siren FM and Academy FM, discussing features to implement on devices to keep children safer online. You’ll never find her without her Apple Watch on (usually alongside another fitness tracker she’s testing), aiming to complete her rings so she can justify the extra bar of chocolate. When she’s not recording the dog walk as an Outdoor Walk, she’s trying to keep up with her two young children.