Sky Q review: Everything you need to know

Update: Sky has just announced that popular streaming service Spotify has now been added to its Sky Q TV system, allowing customers to stream music via Spotify’s free and paid-for streaming packages. Sky Q already supports Bluetooth and Apple AirPlay streaming, but the addition of Spotify streaming adds a welcome extra dimension.

Sky originally announced Spotify a month ago, along with a raft of other improvements, including the integration of Netflix, the addition of UI enhancements and HDR support and a new kids mode. 

You can read our full Sky Q review below:

The Sky Q TV system has been around for some time now and despite some quirks, it’s still the best system on the market for fans of traditional TV, Premier League football and soon, Netflix.

The broadcaster has done a deal with the streaming behemoth to bring all of Netflix’s shows and films to the platform, making it easy to switch between live Sky TV, catch-up services and Netflix all in one place. It will also make it easier to find Netflix shows to watch thanks to Sky’s Voice search, and the app will launch on Now TV boxes and the new Now TV Stick soon. 

We love Sky Q because it’s flexible, speedy and easy to use and has more 4K content than its rivals. It isn’t the cheapest way to get 4K TV, especially if you’re not a sports fan, but it is a great all-rounder; even Virgin Media’s much-improved V6 box can’t compete with Sky Q’s blend of multiroom convenience, mesh networking, the ability to record multiple channels simultaneously and 4K content.

I’ve been using the system for nearly two years now, so it’s fair to say I know the ins and outs of the system, and one of the most impressive things about it is that, while far from perfect, Sky Q remains as responsive and easy to operative as ever. The other thing I love about it is the way it’s constantly evolving, adding new features and improving as time goes by. That’s why this review isn’t quite like others you’ll find on the website.

Below you’ll find a summary of the latest new features, followed by a list of the key features. However, if you’d like to jump straight into the deep and detailed Sky Q review, you can do so over on Page 2.

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Sky Q review

Sky Q is continuing the development of its impressive premium TV platform by adding even more features in early 2018.

The latest additions see Spotify and Netflix added to the service, either via apps or inclusion as part of Sky’s TV packages. Spotify’s integration has already gone live, with Netflis and other improvements to follow.

The platform itself is becoming more personalised, too. You’ll soon get more tailored content, based on your household’s viewing habits and Sky Q’s Voice search will get an upgrade to support this, meaning you’ll be able to ask for recommendations such as “show movies for me”.

This builds on the voice control features added in October last year which made it possible to navigate directly to channels – by saying “BBC One” or “Sky Atlantic” for instance – play back recorded content and even control playback by holding down the microphone button and saying “play”, “pause” or “skip ten minutes”.

Elsewhere, Sky is adding a new, wide-screen, user interface and is doubling the amount of Ultra HD content to bring the service up 1,000 hours of UHD content on Sky. Plus, a new Kids mode will help parents control what their children watch, and a Sky Q app will launch for Smart TVs and third-party devices.

The latest updates should reach all Sky Q users by the end of Q2.

Sky Q review: Voice search

These new features come on the back of the introduction of voice search, which appeared earlier this year. By pressing and holding down the microphone button on the right-hand edge of the touch remote control, users are able to search both broadcast and on-demand content by simply speaking a search term – a big improvement on typing words out character by character with the fiddly remote touchpad.

By pressing and holding down the microphone button on the right-hand edge of the touch remote control, users can search both broadcast and on-demand content by simply speaking a search term – a big improvement on typing words out character by character with the fiddly remote touchpad.

Voice search isn’t available on Sky Q mini boxes because they don’t support the Bluetooth touch remote and you have to have an active internet connection for it to work, but it’s surprisingly effective. I’ve taken to using it in preference even to skipping through the TV guide because it works so well, but I’ve typically kept my searches to basic programme and film titles.

It’s a real boon to be able to say a movie title because it quickly lets you know if that film is available on Sky and if you need to move your search on to Netflix or Amazon. It’s also a handy tool for quickly searching through your recorded programmes.

Simple title searches, however, only scratch the surface of Sky Q’s voice search capabilities, since the tool can also search using more advanced phrases, such as “all movies starring Colin Farrell” or “movies directed by M. Night Shyamalan”. It will also search famous movie quotes, although I can’t think of many films I know quotes from that I can’t remember the name of. Either way, voice search is an incredibly useful tool.

Sky Q vs Virgin Media TV V6 box

Virgin Media is one of Sky’s biggest competitors in the premium TV space and it has recently updated its hardware offering after having been left in the dust last year by Sky Q. Is the new Virgin Media TV V6 box any good, though?

We haven’t yet had the chance to experience the TV V6 on a day to day basis, but we have had a lengthy play with the new system and can report that it’s a big improvement on the outgoing TiVO box.

It’s much faster than the TiVO, which has become gradually slower and slower over the years to the point that it’s now painfully slow. However, the headline feature is its ability to record up to six channels simultaneously while you watch a seventh live, where Sky Q can “only” record up four channels while you watch a fifth.

The TV V6 won’t hold this advantage for very long, though, with an upcoming upgrade for Sky Q promising to level things up between the two systems at some point in 2017. And the TV V6 box can’t compete on multiroom or Wi-Fi features – if you want to add an extra room, you have to have it cabled in by an engineer; with Sky Q you can simply buy an extra mini box and put it wherever you can get a decent Wi-Fi signal.

You can find out more about the Virgin Media TV V6 box in my hands-on review.

Sky Q review: At a glance

1. What is Sky Q?

If you get the full Sky Q package, including Sky Broadband, you get pretty much everything you’d ever need to watch TV – except a TV and laptop. Sky Q’s top-end package comes with a Sky Q 2TB box and two Sky Q Mini boxes and you can watch live TV simultaneously on all three. Because they talk to each other over Wi-Fi, you’ll be able to stop watching something on one device and continue watching it on another.

2. Sky Q lets you watch recorded programmes offline

Sky Q’s tablet app lets you transfer content – whether that be recorded or downloaded catch-up TV, movies or box sets – to the tablet for viewing offline, on the train, for instance, or when you go on holiday. Pretty awesome.

3. There’s a Sky Q app for watching on your tablet AND your smartphone

The Sky Q app lets you watch live TV on up to two tablets or smartphones simultaneously, pausing, recording and rewinding, just like you can on the main TV and Mini boxes. You can also transfer downloaded or recorded programmes to your tablets so you can watch them offline. Later this year, a Sky Q app is launching for the Smart TVs and third-party devices.

4. Sky Q will improve your Wi-Fi coverage

Sky Q’s network of TV boxes also act as wireless repeaters spreading the signal around your house, and the result is Wi-Fi that’s much stronger. The picture below shows the signal strength in the kitchen before and after Sky Q (blue is weak, green is good).

5. Sky Q has an awesome user interface

Sky Q’s menus have been redesigned and they’re very intuitive to use. Take Sky Q’s Recordings menu example: it’s now much simpler to navigate, while there’s also a new “My Q” section. Here, series and movies you’ve been watching are recently grouped together, so you easily pick up and carry on where you left off. And the UI on the Sky Q app is pretty much the same too.

6. How much does Sky Q cost? 

Sky Q was incredibly expensive when it first launched, but it’s now a much more affordable proposition. For new customers, Sky Q costs £20 per month plus a £15 setup fee for the 1TB box or £60 for the 2TB box. Multiroom is £12 per month extra on top of that and you get a free Sky Q Mini box included as well. For a multiroom setup as good as Sky Q, those prices are very tempting indeed, although remember that if you want to watch sports or Sky’s movie channels that will cost up to £36 extra per month.

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7. Sky Q now supports 4K and a variety of new features

As of 21 July, Sky Q was updated to bring in a selection of new features designed to make the service easier to use. Now it automatically downloads the next episode in a series so it’s ready to watch instantly, along with auto-playing episodes once a previous one has finished – à la Netflix.

Other features focus on content curation and presentation, with the service’s Top Picks improved with more on-demand suggestions. There’s a new Sports homepage, too, plus improvements to Series Record making it easier to set up from the Mini Guide at the bottom of the screen. There’s also added PIN protection for 18-rated YouTube video clips.

Perhaps the most useful change, however, is a small user-interface improvement that makes it much easier to skip forward to a certain part of the programme you’re watching. Previously, you could only fast-forward; now, Sky Q allows you to press pause and then swipe-and-hold on the touchpad to move to a specific time in the recording.

Ultra HD 4K programming has also arrived on Sky Q too, bringing with it 124 Premier League games and more than 70 films to 4K. That means you can watch Spectre, The Revenant and The Martian in glorious 4K and see actors faces unlike ever before.

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It took two Sky engineers more than three hours to install Sky Q at my house. Mounting a dish to the outside of the house, running the cable and then setting up, installing and upgrading the firmware on three TV boxes and one booster is no simple task, and it’s a sign, if you weren’t already aware, that the first major upgrade to Sky’s premium TV system in more than a decade is more than a humdrum upgrade – it’s a radical overhaul, a complete rethink of the way its TV system works. Prepare to adjust your set.

More than that, however, Sky Q is also a measure of how seriously Sky is taking the threat to its traditional broadcast TV business from streaming TV. Services such as Netflix and YouTube, and low-cost hardware such as the Chromecast 2 and Amazon Fire TV Stick, are dragging a new generation of TV watchers away from traditional providers. Sky Q is the broadcaster’s way of reclaiming the high ground, and it does so in a quite spectacular manner.

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Sky Q review: What is it and how does it work?

What makes Sky Q such a significant upgrade, and such a major departure from anything that has gone before, is that it’s a total reworking of the way broadcast and satellite TV works.

Instead of a single box that sits underneath the TV in your living room that might (if it feels like it) communicate with the app on your phone or tablet, Sky Q has been designed from the ground up as a multiroom system.

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Buy the full package, including Sky Broadband, and you’ll get a Sky Q 2TB box and two Sky Q Mini boxes. You’ll be able to watch live TV simultaneously on all three of these, and because they talk to each other over Wi-Fi, you’ll be able to stop watching something on one box and continue watching it on another.

That’s not all, however. Sky has released a Sky Q app that lets you watch live TV on up to two tablets simultaneously, pausing, recording and rewinding, just like you can on the main TV and Mini boxes and, as an extra trick, you can also transfer downloaded or recorded programmes to your tablets so you can watch them offline.

That’s quite a list of capabilities, so how does Sky Q pull it off?

Sky Q review: The boxes

At the heart of every Sky Q system sits a Sky Q 2TB (formerly Sky Q Silver) or standard Sky Q 1TB box. Externally, these don’t look particularly exciting. Yes, it’s nice that they’re considerably smaller and slimmer than the old Sky+ HD boxes, but otherwise, there’s no indication that they’re anything more than just a slightly redesigned set-top box.

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They connect to your TV and satellite dish in exactly the same way as before, and they’ll sit, just like your old Sky+ HD box, below the big TV in your lounge.

Under the skin, however, the boxes are very different. The Sky Q 2TB box packs an enormous hard disk for storing recorded programmes and downloaded catch-up TV, and has not two, or even three, but a huge 12 tuners, plus the ability to show 4K content. The regular box has a 1TB hard disk and eight tuners and is limited to 1080p. Both are Wi-Fi and Bluetooth enabled.

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So what on earth does Sky Q need all those tuners for? It’s because the main box, be that the 2TB or standard model, is used as the system’s central conduit for both the TV signal and storage. The Sky Q Mini boxes simply hang off it, streaming live footage and recorded and downloaded content via Wi-Fi.

Here’s a quick breakdown of what the 2TB box’s 12 tuners are used for. The first tuner provides the channel you’re watching right now on your main TV. That’s simple enough. On top of that, on your main box Sky shows you a live picture-in-picture on the now-and-next guide at the bottom of the screen. It also lets you record five other programs at the same time (or six if you enable the feature in settings).

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The secondary Sky Q Mini boxes occupy another two. The Sky Q 2TB box supports two of these, so two tuners are reserved for boxes in other rooms. That takes us to nine. Add on another two for tablets/smartphones, and we’ve hit eleven.

The last tuner can be classified under the UI umbrella: it’s a data channel that receives all the pictures, electronic programme guide (EPG) and so on for the fancy new UI (see below). And that’s your lot.

The standard Sky box is a simpler version, allowing the recording of three channels instead of four, and the connection of one Mini box and one tablet.

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Sky Q review: Wi-Fi

Sky Q’s advanced TV technology isn’t the only reason you should consider Sky Q. It can also do wonders for your Wi-Fi, and the reason for this is that each of the boxes installed as part of the Sky Q system is able to talk to the others. In doing so it establishes a mesh wireless network, with each box also acting as a wireless access point, spreading your wireless network far and wide.

Here’s a topographical schematic of the network the Sky Q engineers set up in my house:[gallery:35]

In effect this means you get a strong wireless signal across your house and, as the boxes synchronise their wireless settings, your laptops, phones and tablets should hop from one to another seamlessly, with no loss of signal.

The great thing is it works brilliantly. Before Sky Q went in, wireless signal strength in my kitchen was tenuous unless I was using the beefiest wireless router I could find. Afterwards, there was a strong, reliable signal everywhere; just look at the signal-to-noise signal strength heat maps below (yellow is the strongest signal; dark blue the weakest).

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Before Sky Q you can see a big blue smudge in the kitchen downstairs and the back bedroom; afterwards, it’s yellow and green everywhere.

There are some things to be aware of here, however. Although Sky Q’s mesh networking is great, it’s still afflicted by the same things as normal wireless. Wireless tech is far from perfect, and the same goes for Sky Q’s wireless. Thick stone walls, metal, water, microwaves and mirrors all reduce range and, by association, the speed at which you can connect.

So, if you have a big area to cover, Sky may need to install boosters (as it did at my house), adding to the electronic clutter in your home. Eventually, its engineers will also be able to use Powerline networking for communication between the various boxes, but this feature isn’t available at launch. Also note that it won’t be backwards-compatible with any Powerline networking kit you already own. Sky’s solution is proprietary.

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Something else to be aware of is that, since each box in Sky Q’s mesh network is acting as a wireless repeater, your maximum throughput will be reduced the further you get from the Sky Q Hub, which is where the system connects to the internet. By maximum throughput, I’m not talking about your internet speed here, but the highest speed at which the network can transmit data internally.

In fact, each box along the chain halves the potential maximum throughput. So in the same room as your Sky Q Hub you might get 40MB/sec over 802.11ac wireless, but this will fall to 20MB/sec if you’re hooked up via a nearby TV box, and if there’s a Sky Q Booster in between the Sky Q Hub and the TV box – as in my kitchen – that falls further to 10MB/sec.

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In real-world terms, however, I found that even with a booster in the chain, this level of connectivity was more than enough to stream three 1080p channels to three devices simultaneously. And impressively, while doing this I was still able to achieve a usable internet connection speed of 14Mbits/sec from a laptop in the same location.

The final factor to take into account is that you need Sky Broadband to get the full benefit. Although the Sky Q boxes will work with third-party broadband providers, you won’t get the mesh networking or the same level of coverage across your home, which is disappointing.

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Sky Q review: The user interface

Sky hasn’t left it only at awesome new hardware, though. Another tick in Sky Q’s “good things” column is the new user interface, which Sky has completely redesigned. Gone is the horizontally scrolling, blocky and basic grid of dark and light blue, to be replaced with a much more modern grid featuring smooth animations and glamorous, glossy graphics.

It’s now organised in vertical panels, with categories on the left and details on the right, in a bid to make it more intuitive to use. And Sky hasn’t just redesigned the front end. It’s also put a serious amount of thought and planning into the way everything is organised.

The Recordings menu, for example, is now much simpler to navigate, with stuff that’s been recently recorded automatically appearing at the top by default, with an alphabetical listing available for getting to specific programmes.

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Likewise, the new “My Q” section of the menu system groups series and movies together that you’ve been watching recently, allowing you to pick up and carry on where you left off, without having to dig too deep into the menu system. Another nice touch is the presence of the aforementioned picture-in-picture views on the “now and next” context menu.

[gallery:36]Elsewhere, there’s an Online Video section for access to YouTube and Vevo, and a Music menu. The latter groups together Sky’s audio content and features, with sub-sections for Radio, Sky Arts and Vevo. A My Music entry, meanwhile, allows you to connect your mobile devices for wireless playback through the box via Bluetooth or Apple Airplay.

Then there’s the Sidebar menu, accessed using a dedicated button on the remote, which hosts a number of apps that display items alongside the TV programme or movie you’re currently watching. For now, you get Sky News and Sky Sports News headlines, plus the ability to show a selection of your own photos, the weather and help menus.

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Sky Q review: The app

The mobile app runs on Android and iOS tablets and smartphones, and it turns them into an extension of your Sky Q system.

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Sensibly, the app’s UI looks similar to the interface on the TV boxes, and it works in a familiar way across tablet and smartphone, allowing you to access a range of themed categories, watch live (even remotely), recorded and catch-up TV, and pause and rewind what you’re watching.

It all works rather brilliantly, but you need to be aware that due to licensing restrictions, not all content is available to download and transfer, most notably live Premiership Football and BBC programmes.

Sky says it’s working on making the latter happen, and in the meantime you can simply download the programmes you want to watch on the BBC iPlayer app, but it’s an irritating bump along the road nonetheless.

Almost a year on from first launch that hasn’t been fixed, but one major problem that has been remedied is that that app finally has a remote record facility. It’s a bit buried away, but once you’ve got into the programme descriptions, you simply tap the “three dots” button and choose between series and one-off recording options. The restrictions on transfer and streaming for BBC iPlayer and sports content still apply, but it’s good to have everything integrated in the one app.

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Sky Q review: The remote controls

The new remote could also do with some serious rethinking. In some ways it’s great: it’s a Bluetooth remote, so it should work through most hi-fi cabinet doors and you won’t need to point it directly at the Sky Q box as you do with standard infrared remote controls.

Another great feature is that if you lose it somewhere in the living room, you can press the backlit Q button in the centre of the main Sky Q box and the remote will sound a high-pitched beep. Brilliant.

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If only Sky had left it at that.

Instead, Sky has attempted to completely rethink the traditional remote control, with patchy results. The key problem here is the new, concave touchpad that sits towards the top of the handset.

This is used to navigate the new menus with an up/down or left/right swipe, and a hold at the end of each gesture to keep scrolling, while items are selected with the physical click of the touchpad. There’s also a touch-sensitive track above the touchpad used for scrubbing back and forth through recordings, plus back, home and the Sidebar menu button below.

I didn’t get on with it at all when I first had the system installed and I’m still not a fan now. It isn’t a nightmare, but I feel the act of dragging and swiping my thumb on the pad is an unnecessary and fiddly action that would more easily be achieved with a simpler, button-based system. My biggest bugbear, however, is that it’s simply far too easy to brush the forward and rewind controls accidentally and then spend the next handful of seconds in panic, trying to hit rectify your mistake. 

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And while it is possible to use the touchpad-free remote control that comes with the Sky Mini box instead, you’ll lose the handy Bluetooth and location features, and it won’t work through media cabinet doors either; the standard remote control is IR only.

Sky Q review: Using the system

So there are some issues with Sky Q. And despite a good start, I’ve found over time that it isn’t the most stable of systems either. It crashes on a weekly basis requiring a restart to get going again, and I’ve lost important recordings and had others interrupted as a result, but the important thing is that Sky keeps improving the system, and that the fundamentals are all in place.

What shines brightly above all else for me, however, is the sheer flexibility of Sky Q. Sure, there are some annoyances, but largely, if you can think of something you’d like your TV system to do, Sky Q can do it.

Want to record as much TV as you’re physically capable of watching? Check. Want to take those recordings on holiday or the commute with you? Check. Want your extra boxes to spread the reach of your Wi-Fi network? Check. How about streaming using your boxes as Bluetooth receivers for playing music from your phone? Check.

The list goes on and on, with the only significant absence being the lack of Google Cast compatibility. Even then the box supports the Dial protocol, so you can “throw” YouTube content across to it, and also Apple AirPlay, so you can stream pretty much any audio you care to mention directly from an iPhone or iPad.

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It’s also dead easy to get to grips with and use. Setting aside the ergonomic issues with the touch remote control for a moment, it’s a system that’s almost instantly understandable and quick to navigate. Even your gran should be able to get going without too much trouble.

There are, however, some flaws, the most significant of which is that the Sky Mini boxes don’t appear to perform particularly well under marginal wireless network strength conditions. While I’ve had no problem with wireless reception via tablets, laptops and smartphones, the Sky Mini box that resides on my kitchen table frequently suffers dropouts in TV signal. At first, I experienced such regular interruptions that I had to call in a Sky engineer, who was unable to resolve the problem. In the end, I fixed this by moving the booster box closer to the Sky Q Hub router, which fixed most of the issues.

That hasn’t been the only problem, however. I’ve had also had an issue with firmware updates getting out of sync on the kitchen box, which rendered it completely unusable until (at the suggestion of Sky’s technical support) I’d manually updated via the settings menu. Does this mean you shouldn’t take the plunge? Absolutely not, just be aware that you may have teething troubles to sort out in your first few weeks with the system.

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Sky Q price: How much does it really cost?

Despite the niggles, though, Sky Q is amazing. The big question is, how much does it cost? The answer to this is that it’s always changing.

Currently, the good news is that prices are steadily progressing in a downwards direction. The biggest change since launch is that Sky is no longer selling Sky+ boxes, and that has lead to cheaper prices all round.

In fact, prices now start at a measly £20 per month (plus £15 setup fee) for the single 1TB box without multiroom on the basic TV package. This is very reasonable indeed, and if you pay £12 per month extra, you get that Sky Q Mini box thrown in for free.

Note, however, that the 1TB box doesn’t support the same range of features as the Sky Q 2TB. It “only” has eight tuners, allowing users to record three TV programmes simultaneously, it doesn’t support 4k output and you can connect just one Sky Q Mini box and stream to one tablet or smartphone.

You may want to consider, then, upgrading to the Sky Q 2TB box. This has all the features of the new system and costs exactly the same amount per month; the only difference is that you pay £60 instead of £15 up front.

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Remember, though, there is a silver lining here: the service agreement. Since Sky owns all the equipment, should anything go wrong with any of your kit (and bear in mind that there is a lot of it), Sky will fix it, free of charge, for the lifetime of your contract. That’s got to be something worth having.

Sky Q price: At a glance

	Sky Q 1TB box	Sky Q 2TB box
Original bundle	£20/month	£20/month
Hard disk size	1TB	2TB
Number of tuners	Eight (record three, watch one, plus support for one Mini and one Tablet)	12 (record four, watch one, plus two Mini boxes and two tablets)
Multiscreen and device playback
Multiscreen	£12/month	£12/month
Sky Q Mini boxes	One included	One included; additional boxes, £99
Tablet playback and download.	Watch streamed content and download to one tablet	Watch streamed content and download to two tablets at the same time
Extras
Sky Sports	£27.50/month	£27.50/month
Sky Cinema	£18/month	£18/month
Sports/Movies discount	£36/month for both	£36/month for both
Fees
Installation fee	£15	£60
Total cost, fully loaded	£66/month (plus £15 installation)	£66/month (plus £60 for installation)
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Remember as well, when you upgrade from standard Sky to Sky Q, you won’t be able to take your existing recordings with you, and you won’t be able to transplant your viewing card from your new box back to the old one to watch those recordings, either, since your card can only be paired with one piece of hardware at a time.

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Sky Q review: Verdict

That is obviously a hurdle for Sky Q, but the steadily falling prices are sure to make Sky Q appealing to more potential customers of premium TV offerings than ever, which is great news for everyone concerned.

And the bonus is that Sky Q is a technical marvel. The flexibility to record so many programmes at once, take those recordings anywhere and watch on multiple boxes around the home is a huge step forward, not to mention the difference mesh networking will make to the usability of your home Wi-Fi, and 4K.

It gives Sky Q a huge lead over the competition when it comes to the premium TV contenders and it’s a lead I believe it will hold for some time to come. If you’re looking to move over from Virgin or BT I urge you in strongest of terms to consider switching. You most definitely will not regret it.

READ THIS NEXT: 9 YouTube apps to supercharge your online video watching

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Sky Q vs Virgin Media TiVo: Premium TV’s two big hitters compared

Sky Q is now the most advanced system on offer from any of the big multiplay TV companies. It delivers a complete redesign of the Sky TV UI and lets users transfer recordings to tablets and remote boxes; it’s the Rolls-Royce of premium TV systems. But like a Roller, it comes at a high price.

Virgin Media’s TiVo might be a bit long in the tooth now – I first reviewed it five years ago, which tells you how slowly things move in this sector – but it’s still the most advanced digital video recorder (DVR) on offer from Sky’s rivals.

Here, I’m going to compare the two systems to find out which is best, and help you make an informed decision as to which company to go with for your main TV bundle.

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Sky Q vs Virgin Media TiVo: Ultra HD vs 1080p

Possibly the biggest difference between Virgin Media’s offering and Sky Q is that the TiVo only goes up to 1080p. That probably won’t bother you just yet – after all, there isn’t much content available in 4K/Ultra HD right now – but in a few years’ time, you’ll probably have a shiny new TV and, at the rate prices are currently falling, it will almost certainly be 4K.

You’ll want to future-proof yourself, then, and the Sky Q 2TB (careful, though: the cheaper standard box only does 1080p) is the perfect way to do it.

Sky Q vs Virgin Media TiVo: More tuners

For years, the Virgin Media TiVo has offered more tuners than not only Sky+ HD but also most third-party Freeview DVRs. It has three, allowing viewers to watch one TV show and record two others simultaneously, or record on three channels while watching on-demand TV or a recorded programme.

After years of lagging behind, however, Sky is back, its Sky Q streaking into a massive lead over Virgin. Even the standard 1080p Sky Q box offers a massive eight tuners, allowing you to watch TV in two rooms (via the optional £99 Sky Q Mini box), stream live TV to one tablet and record on three channels – all at the same time.

The Sky Q 2TB box takes things even further, offering a huge 12 tuners for streaming to three TVs, two tablets and recording on four channels simultaneously. That’s a pretty clear win for Sky Q.

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Sky Q vs Virgin Media TiVo: More storage

It stands to reason that if you’re going to record that much TV you’re going to want more storage, and the Sky Q 2TB box delivers that. It has 2TB of storage to the TiVo’s maximum 1TB, although again it should be noted that the standard Q box has only 1TB.

It may seem an obvious win for the Sky Q 2TB box here, but given that you’re potentially going to be recording 4K programmes as well as 1080p content, 2TB suddenly doesn’t seem all that generous. And don’t forget, you have to leave some space free to temporarily store downloaded on-demand content.

You don’t have to do that with the TiVo, since all on-demand content is streamed directly over its dedicated data line, so the need for a huge amount of storage isn’t so chronic.

Sky Q vs Virgin Media TiVo: Apps and multi-room

Sky makes a lot of noise about Sky Q’s multiroom capabilities, but in reality, Virgin Media has been offering this function for some time. In fact, you can have a total of nine boxes for watching TV services with Virgin, although you do pay extra per month for the privilege.

It’s also possible to use the Virgin TV Anywhere app to watch certain channels on your tablet or laptop, although if you want to do this with Sky Sports, you have to download and use the separate Sky Sports app.

Sky Q doesn’t offer as many potential screens, but it is cleverer and much slicker. For starters, you can transfer recordings to the Q Sync tablet app and watch them later, offline, which you can’t do with the Virgin app.

If you have Sky Broadband, each extra box can act as a wireless access point, spreading the reach of your Wi-Fi network, and it’s also possible to link your devices to the Sky Q boxes directly via Bluetooth or Apple AirPlay.

Another downside you might want to consider with the Virgin multiroom system is that each box must be wired in separately, requiring an engineer visit.

Sky Q vs Virgin Media TiVo: Performance and user interface

Nearly five years after first being introduced by Virgin Media, the TiVo box is creaking at the seams. My own box is tremendously sluggish at times, as is the much newer box used by a relative; launching the TV Guide screen often takes many seconds, and getting around the various menus – especially for on-demand content – can be immensely frustrating.

Sky Q’s revamped UI is far superior. It’s slick and responsive, doesn’t take ages to load menus and, for now, it’s much more straightforward and easy to understand. Virgin’s menu system is a little clunkier, with many more hidden options. That makes it incredibly powerful, of course, and highly configurable, but not particularly pleasant to use.

Sky Q vs Virgin Media TiVo: Remote controls

I’ll lay my cards on the table, right here, right now: I don’t like the Sky Q remote control. Its clicky touchpad felt awkward to me when I tried it out – an unnecessary innovation in my view. I’d far rather have the older, button-based Sky remote.

But is it worse than the lumpen, anti-ergonomic Virgin Media TiVo remote? Not really. What’s more, the Sky Q remote control connects over Bluetooth, which has two key benefits. First, you don’t have to point it at the box, and second, you can (at last) hide that big black plastic box away behind the door of your media cabinet and still operate it.

Buy Sky Q now from Sky

Sky Q vs Virgin Media TiVo: Prices compared and overall verdict

All of which brings me to the final category for comparison: prices. This is a tricky one, since each service brings with it a different set of options and TV packages. It’s difficult to compare each on a like-for-like basis.

However, if you take the straight Sky Q 2TB bundle without Sky Sports, Broadband or Sky Movies, Sky Q does work out significantly more expensive.

For example, if you compare the closest TV bundle offered by Virgin Media and Sky, the equivalent Sky package works out only £6 more expensive. That’s the XL TV package, a 1TB TiVo box and a V HD box for £46 per month with a one-off £99 setup fee, versus the Sky Q 2TB with a Sky Q Mini box, and 300+ channels for £52 per month and a £299 setup fee. In the first year of your contract, Sky Q will have cost you £272 more.

It’s worth noting, however, that the price of Sky Q does come down significantly for anyone wanting Sky Sports, Sky Movies or Sky Broadband. If you opt for any of those, the setup fee drops to £99, bringing the prices more or less level.

In the end, it’s a marginal win for the TiVo on price, but only because of the TV-only setup fees. On most other fronts, Sky’s new TV system is easily a match for, or superior to, Virgin Media’s premium TV service.

Overall result: A win for Sky Q – it’s the new king of premium TV