Sky Q is as good as television gets, but you have to pay plenty for the privilege.
Sky Q : Read more
Sky Q : Read more
Sky Q
- Thread starter What Hi-Fi?
- Start date
Friesiansam
Well-known member
Paul_L
Member
SkyQ is great in theory but in practice the sound over HDMI constantly drops out (worst on downloads, recordings and streaming). Sky engineer's are completely incapable of rectifying this issue and seem to have an attitude that it doesn't exist (read all the various online forums, including Sky's own, and you'll see how severe the issue is!).
Sky helpdesk can only suggest connecting via optical not HDMI - fine for good old 5.1 sound but OPTICAL DOES NOT SUPPORT DOLBY ATMOS!!
When I tried explaining that I'd upgraded to a 4k TV, and spent £2k on an Atmos sound system and that's why I'd upgraded to SkyQ, they simply could not understand the difference between Atmos and DolbyD.
Customer service over this has been shocking - 3 months in to my upgrade and mot enjoyed a single movie yet without repeated sound dropout (anything from a split second upto 2-3 seconds at a time). This is not a broadcast / download issue as can rewind and replay and sound is there for that moment, so clearly an issue with HDMI circuitry or software.
Very poor show from Sky!
Sky helpdesk can only suggest connecting via optical not HDMI - fine for good old 5.1 sound but OPTICAL DOES NOT SUPPORT DOLBY ATMOS!!
When I tried explaining that I'd upgraded to a 4k TV, and spent £2k on an Atmos sound system and that's why I'd upgraded to SkyQ, they simply could not understand the difference between Atmos and DolbyD.
Customer service over this has been shocking - 3 months in to my upgrade and mot enjoyed a single movie yet without repeated sound dropout (anything from a split second upto 2-3 seconds at a time). This is not a broadcast / download issue as can rewind and replay and sound is there for that moment, so clearly an issue with HDMI circuitry or software.
Very poor show from Sky!
Sliced Bread
Well-known member
We dropped Sky years ago and honestly haven’t missed it. There is so much out there that it’s just not necessary to have a box broadcasting repeats and the occcssional good show.
Instead we use Netflix, Prime abs Freeview which has LOADS of high quality programs and it still undercuts Sky on price enormously.
Instead we use Netflix, Prime abs Freeview which has LOADS of high quality programs and it still undercuts Sky on price enormously.
SparkyOnTv
Member
Five stars?!? Really?! As good as television gets?!? Bullsh*t. You clearly didn't live with the box for any length of time or compare it to other services in terms of picture and sound quality. The box in its current form is not fit for purpose. Sound drop-outs, unusable apps due to buffering, awful picture quality, the list goes on. You're a mug if you think Sky's service is worth paying for.
DELBOY14
Well-known member
Never had a problem, SkyQ 2TB, AV amp Pioneer SC-LX59, 7.1.4 Dolby Atmos speaker set up, Musical Fidelity M3si driving front speakers through the AV amp.
Make sure your HDMI cable is good for 18Gbs and from a quality manufacture like like Chord. If your steaming you need to look at your Ethernet cables, and the download data and load it under test as here is more likely the fault. borrow a 4K player and film and see if it happen with those connected, narrow down the components one at a time including cables.
If Sky had these problems everyone would have it, most have no problem.
North2South
Member
The extremely favourable review of Sky Q suggests to me an almost ideal setup. Individuals who have purchased Sky Q clearly report a less favourable situation and several other forums have negative reports about the reliability of the system.
The Review states that "the wi-fi network itself determines how well the system streams content around your home " and my experience, along with many others, is that the reception by the mini-box is particularly sensitive to interference, resulting in pixilation, or complete drop-out of the stream, including the sound. This interference (source unknown) became so bad we would loose the Sky stream every day for several minutes at a time throughout the day, but at random times. Sky's solution was to hardwire the system, which defeats the idea behind Sky Q, but my own solution was to swap the location of the main box and the mini-box, in relation to the router, and this has helped. However, be wary as the Sky Engineer wouldn't reinstall the terrestrial TV connections they had undone and we had to pay an external engineer to do this (Sky have recently settled a complaint about this by paying the engineer's cost).
So, if you plan to install Sky Q, check the quality of your current WiFi signal around the room you want the mini-box to be installed in and be wary of the presence of white goods, concrete floors and external 5GHz sources (e.g. other Sky installations).
The Review states that "the wi-fi network itself determines how well the system streams content around your home " and my experience, along with many others, is that the reception by the mini-box is particularly sensitive to interference, resulting in pixilation, or complete drop-out of the stream, including the sound. This interference (source unknown) became so bad we would loose the Sky stream every day for several minutes at a time throughout the day, but at random times. Sky's solution was to hardwire the system, which defeats the idea behind Sky Q, but my own solution was to swap the location of the main box and the mini-box, in relation to the router, and this has helped. However, be wary as the Sky Engineer wouldn't reinstall the terrestrial TV connections they had undone and we had to pay an external engineer to do this (Sky have recently settled a complaint about this by paying the engineer's cost).
So, if you plan to install Sky Q, check the quality of your current WiFi signal around the room you want the mini-box to be installed in and be wary of the presence of white goods, concrete floors and external 5GHz sources (e.g. other Sky installations).
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Rodney _trotter
Well-known member
I just checked out Sky Q review on Trust Pilot. OMG!!! Over1700 reviews of which 86% are 1 star. There are numerous complaints of reliability and other issues. How can What Hifi give this 5 stars yet the British paying public overwhelmingly give this one star? How can the what hifi review be so wrong and out of touch?
erbasically
Well-known member
To be fair very few reviews on Trustpilot are of the actual Sky Q box. I particularly liked the one-star review for the "cheap homemade style loosely described movies". The Sky Q system does have some irritating design quirks and many people have had issues with sound dropouts so maybe the review should have mentioned those aspects in the interest of balance.
Rodney _trotter
Well-known member
Hello erbasically,
This was the link I was directed to from a Google search on “trust pilot sky q”.
SKY is rated "Bad" with 1.2 / 5 on Trustpilot
Do you agree with SKY's TrustScore? Voice your opinion today and hear what 4,109 customers have already said.
www.trustpilot.com
this link appears to just be for Sky Q hardware (with approx 1700 reviews rather than the 7000+ if you just Google “trust pilot sky”).
It amazing how many of the reviews on that link critique the design of sky q vs the old sky hd. Many begging for sky hd back. Some really unhappy reviews / experiences.
Mentioning as there seem to be two threads on Trust Pilot, one for sky in general and the one I have tioned specifically for sky Q.
erbasically
Well-known member
Hello Rodney _trotter,Hello erbasically,
This was the link I was directed to from a Google search on “trust pilot sky q”.
SKY is rated "Bad" with 1.2 / 5 on Trustpilot
Do you agree with SKY's TrustScore? Voice your opinion today and hear what 4,109 customers have already said.
this link appears to just be for Sky Q hardware (with approx 1700 reviews rather than the 7000+ if you just Google “trust pilot sky”).
It amazing how many of the reviews on that link critique the design of sky q vs the old sky hd. Many begging for sky hd back. Some really unhappy reviews / experiences.
Mentioning as there seem to be two threads on Trust Pilot, one for sky in general and the one I have tioned specifically for sky Q.
That thread is pretty damning. I didn't find it before because it's associated with Sky Italia (sky.it) even though it's about the UK broadcaster, possibly because people wanted to create a new thread just for Sky Q. I do agree that the issues with Sky Q should have been ironed out by now and some of the design niggles are just silly. Why have three buttons that take you from standby to the home screen but none that go straight to live TV, for example? Issues like that and the sound drop-outs should be mentioned in reviews.
djh1697
Well-known member
I have had Sky Q for almost a year, none of the issues that people mention on here. I have a 4k Sony Bravia 55", and have no problems with 4k streams from Netflix, Prime, or Sky. I am more than happy with the service. It is certainly an improvement on the earlier HD box, and allows for self hard drive upgrades with out many hassles (if you are technically that way inclined)
PhillipHoss
Member
So if one has 4 of the still usable 2TB HD boxes (and able to record around 6 GB …. lots of series, mobiles and documentaries etc in the house and we want to have SKY and record in four rooms with Sky Q …. how is that accomplished with the one Sky Q 2TB box and two minis? It’s only 3 and just 1.7TB to use….
So, can one have two 2TB Sky Q boxes and minis? to have at least have 3.4GB also…
thank you…
So, can one have two 2TB Sky Q boxes and minis? to have at least have 3.4GB also…
thank you…
RCMatty
Member
how can you give the Sky Q box 5stars when the audio lip-sync is beyond a joke! The sound needs speeding up not slowing down.
Graham_Brazendale
Well-known member
Hi,
I just don't get the review, for a start the Sky GUI is awful, UHD is only transmitted live for sport.
So any, and frankly there is not as much UHD content available as the reviewer would have us believe, UHD has to be viewed as catchup.
As examples of the paucity of UHD content, the new Sky Atlantic series the Gilded Cage, made much of by Sky, is not available as UHD, nor is the Sky Arts Landscape artist of the year series, but it was available as UHD last year!
As to Netflix, Amazon Prime and Apple Original content is in my humble opinion much better watched via Apple TV.
My wife and I have a constant struggle to justify maintaining our Sky contract, as Sky is such poor value for money.
No I am sorry, but I feel the review was Sky viewed through extremely rose tinted spectacles!
I just don't get the review, for a start the Sky GUI is awful, UHD is only transmitted live for sport.
So any, and frankly there is not as much UHD content available as the reviewer would have us believe, UHD has to be viewed as catchup.
As examples of the paucity of UHD content, the new Sky Atlantic series the Gilded Cage, made much of by Sky, is not available as UHD, nor is the Sky Arts Landscape artist of the year series, but it was available as UHD last year!
As to Netflix, Amazon Prime and Apple Original content is in my humble opinion much better watched via Apple TV.
My wife and I have a constant struggle to justify maintaining our Sky contract, as Sky is such poor value for money.
No I am sorry, but I feel the review was Sky viewed through extremely rose tinted spectacles!
piotresce
Member
Friesiansam
Well-known member
Done with Sky now. In 15 days my contract ends and hello Freesat.
djh1697
Well-known member
Friesiansam
Well-known member
cobraBLACK
Well-known member
I've had Sky Q (single box) for a few month with no major issues. I don't use HDMI for sound though - optical to DAC to integrated amp.
The apps should be easier to get to - there's an apps button that only has shortcuts to Sky apps which can't be modified (?!). Also I had to do something pretty ridiculous to get the Sky Go app to communicate with my box but that's about it.
For those with networking issues, has anyone tested changing router settings? I had issues with some Sonos devices dropping out of the network so had to turn off auto-channel-switching on the router for example (Sonos tech support is much better than Sky's though).
The only major pain is they push you to the My Sky app for a lot but it hasn't worked for months - and they acknowledged the problem weeks ago.
The apps should be easier to get to - there's an apps button that only has shortcuts to Sky apps which can't be modified (?!). Also I had to do something pretty ridiculous to get the Sky Go app to communicate with my box but that's about it.
For those with networking issues, has anyone tested changing router settings? I had issues with some Sonos devices dropping out of the network so had to turn off auto-channel-switching on the router for example (Sonos tech support is much better than Sky's though).
The only major pain is they push you to the My Sky app for a lot but it hasn't worked for months - and they acknowledged the problem weeks ago.
cobraBLACK
Well-known member
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