Sky Stream is now available to buy in the UK
Sky Stream, the streaming box that gives you Sky without the dish, has gone on sale in the UK.
Shoppers can head to sky.com to place their orders. All you need is a decent wi-fi connection (10Mbps or faster, according to Sky). Orders received by 9pm Monday to Friday or by 3pm Sunday will be despatched on a next day delivery service.
Sky Stream, which launched last month, promises "most of the Sky Glass experience" (Live ReStart, voice controls and playlists).
The plug 'n' play 4K HDR media streamer is "free" when you sign up to a Sky package. The cheapest option – Sky Entertainment & Netflix Basic – costs £26 a month with an 18-month contract, or £29 a month with a rolling 31-day contract.
Sky charges a £39.95 set-up fee (reduced to £20 if you sign up to an 18-month contract) but you won't need to book an engineer – the device plugs into any HDMI socket, just like other popular 4K dongles (Google TV with Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K, etc).
Customers can splash out on a host of add-on packs including: Sky Sports (from £25/month), Sky Cinema (from £11/month), BT Sport (from £30/month), Sky Kids (£6/month) and UHD & Dolby Atmos (£6/month).
Upgrading from Netflix Basic (SD) to Standard (HD) will cost you an extra £4 a month but it's worth noting that Netflix has announced that it intends to boost video resolution for Basic users from 480p to 720p HD from November.
Sky Stream also offers paid access to the "best content" from apps such as Apple TV+, Amazon Prime, Disney Plus, BBC iPlayer, ITV Hub, All4, YouTube, Discovery+ and Peacock.
Want Sky Stream on up to five televisions throughout your home? You'll need the £12 a month Whole Home add-on. Your first additional puck is free, but any more will be charged at £39.95 each.
It'll be interesting to see how Sky Stream stacks up to rivals such as the Award-winning Apple TV 4K. Stay tuned and we'll bring a full and frank review of Sky Stream...
MORE:
Read our Sky Glass review
16 of the best Dolby Atmos movie scenes to test your home cinema sound
The best 4K movies and TV shows to watch and where to watch them
