Sky Q is a digital television service from Sky that offers UltraHD 4K channels and multi-room functionality. It is Sky’s latest-generation television service.

It was launched in February 2016  in the UK and Ireland, to much fanfare. As well as being Sky’s most advanced television service, it also their most expensive.

So what exactly is it and how does it differ from Sky+?

What is Sky Q?

Sky Q offers a more comprehensive and feature-rich alternative to the existing Sky+ box. It boasts a wide range of new features, including Fluid Viewing, the facility to record up to four programmes simultaneously – an huge improvement on Sky+ box’s maximum of two programmes – and the ability to stream music from an AirPlay, You Tube or a Bluetooth device. Viewers can also watch live and recorded content on a tablet. In addition to the integration of new applications, there is a visually pleasing new user interface and a touch-sensitive remote control.

Related: What is a Sky Booster and what does it do?

Fluid Viewing

Sky’s buzzword is ‘Fluid Viewing’, which is based around the concept that the customer can now watch whatever they want, wherever they want and whenever they want, seamlessly. The box seeks to move away from the concept that the main TV box is focal point of the service and gives the customer more freedom to choose how and where they can watch television. With Sky Q, customers can watch programmes on up to five different devices or screens, including tablets.

Subscribers can start watching a programme on one screen, then pause, move to another room, and continue where they left off on a different screen, whenever is convenient. That late night documentary that you were simply too tired to sit through can be continued via streaming from a tablet device on the morning commute for example. The talk show that you recorded in the lounge in the afternoon can be watched later on a tablet in the kitchen as you cook dinner. Fluid Viewing gives the customer vastly improved viewing autonomy and control.

What Else Is New?

Sky Q offers three new TV boxes and a new broadband hub. Sky 4K TV – the ultra-high definition programme offering will be available on Sky Q in August, but will only be accessible to the premium Sky Q Silver box subscribers. The new box comes with a whopping 2TB capacity. The standard Sky Q Box will serve most people’s needs, and the Sky Q Mini is idea for smaller rooms, such as bedrooms and studies. There’s certainly plenty to explore in Sky Q’s new offering.

Current Sky customers will not be able to integrate Sky Q with existing products, but the cost of the new equipment is considerably less than for new customers. Sky Q is not cheap, but it does offer unrivalled control and flexibility. It will transform the way customers watch TV programs and demand is already high. To find out more about Sky Q and what it does, contact Sky.