Minimum requirements and supported devices
Before going into the details of this guide and find out how Sky Q works, let me illustrate what the minimum requirements and supported devices from the service.
To use Sky Q you don't need to have a lightning-fast internet connection, as most of the content is transferred via the satellite connection. However, for a good use of the service you need to have an Internet connection with a speed of at least 2 Mbps in download.
As for the devices, your TV must be equipped with one or more HDMI inputs and you must have a wireless router to ensure the connection between the various Sky Q devices, which takes place via Wi-Fi connection: the main device (called Sky Q Platinium), in fact, is connected to the TV and the dish, while the secondary devices (Sky Q Mini) are connected to the TV and the Wi-Fi connection.
You should know that you can connect up to four Sky Q Minis, thus ensuring that up to five TVs can watch content. Using the application for smartphones and tablets with a version of Android equal to or greater than 4.1 and with iPhone / iPad equipped with iOS 8.1 and later, you can increase the number of screens on which to view Sky Q. You can enable up to two mobile devices, but for the moment, a maximum of three screens are allowed to view simultaneously.
Sky Q prices
If you are wondering what the Sky Q prices, you must know that the activation has a cost of 199 € and in addition to the intervention of the technician at home, it includes one Sky Q Platinium, the primary device for accessing your subscription content, and one Sky Q Mini, which allows you to replicate content on a second TV.
With Sky Q it is possible to watch the contents of your subscription up to four TVs, acquiring additional Sky Q Mini: the price of a single device is 69 €. Furthermore, to take advantage of Sky Q you have to incur a recurring cost equal to 21,40 euro / month or 12,40 euro / month if you have been a Sky customer for more than 6 years. To learn more and know the payment methods accepted by the pay TV note, you can read my guide on how to pay for Sky.
Also, I point out that since 9th October 2019 you can see Netflix su Sky Q choosing from various offers. Subscribers to the package Family of Sky may apply for the plan Entertainment Plus that for 9,99 euro / month, offers the vision of Netflix in HD on two devices at the same time; alternatively, customers of Sky Q Platinum can watch Netflix in 4K / HDR on 4 devices at the same time by paying for the same 9,99 euro / month, while those who do not have the Sky Entertainment package can activate the package Famiglia + Netflix HD on two devices a 15,39 euro / month. More info here.
How to activate Sky Q
activate Sky Q you must request the intervention of a technician, who will adapt the satellite system to enable the Sky Q functions and, if you are not yet equipped, install the dish and the appropriate equipment.
You can request the intervention of the technician and the switch to Sky Q independently through the section do-it-yourself of the Sky website, which you can access using your Sky ID. Then go to the pay TV site and click on the button Login at the top right, enter your details in the fields Username or indirect email e Password and presses the button Log in. If you don't have a Sky ID yet, press the button instead Not registered? Create your Sky ID now and follow the registration procedure.
Now, access the section do-it-yourselfclick sulla voce Promotions e pulsing sul pulsating Discover relative to the box Sky Q. If, on the other hand, you are not yet a Sky customer, press the button Enter Sky present on the main page of the pay TV site, locate one of the offers with Sky Q included and click on the button Enter Sky, then change your subscription with the services and packages of your interest and press the button Continue. To complete the subscription request, enter your personal data, choose a payment method between Bank account, Credit card o American Express, enter the data and that's it.
Alternatively, you can request the activation of Sky Q by calling the number 199.100.500 and speaking with a Sky operator. The cost of the call is 0,15 euro / min from a fixed network, while from a mobile phone it is linked to the operator used. To find out more, you can read my guide on how to get Sky Q.
How to use Sky Q
Using Sky Q it is really simple thanks to an extremely intuitive home screen and a touch screen remote control that communicates with the Sky Q base via Bluetooth and, therefore, without a direct infrared connection as in previous Sky remote controls.
After turning on the device, you can view the Sky Q homepage, from which you can quickly access all the contents of the Sky catalog, by pressing on one of the available items.
- TV Guide: to view the Sky programming. It has very intuitive graphics with the ability to filter channels by type of content, such as Entertainment, Sport, Cinema, News etc.
- My Q: it is a dynamic screen that proposes contents based on the time and the user who is watching TV, based on the contents previously viewed.
- Recordings: is the section in which all the contents downloaded with the download function and the recordings on the hard disk of the Sky Q are available. All, you can view all available content while in the section Started programs, films, TV series etc. are visible. that have been started (but not finished) previously. In addition, other features are available: AZ to filter the contents in alphabetical order; Scheduled to view the list of scheduled recordings; In download with the queue of content being downloaded; Rented with the list of rented contents; Memory to manage and delete the contents and Eliminated which collects deleted files.
- Settings: to synchronize Sky Q and Sky Q mini, to access the configuration of the network and remote controls.
In the Sky Q main menu, you can also view your subscription's content categories, such as Entertainment, TV Series, Cinema, Sport and football, Doc e Lifestyle, Kids e Music, useful for finding an on-air channel or the on-demand content of your interest. Also, the option is available Primafila, the service that allows the rental of films and numerous other paid contents. You can learn more about how it works by reading my guide on how Sky Primafila works.
Among the completely renewed features compared to the previous Sky boxes is the function Research. You can find content easily by pressing the button magnifying glass present in the upper part of the remote control and by entering the first letter of the content to be searched: the system will automatically propose you all the contents related to the search present in the Sky catalog, both live and on demand or present on the decoder (recorded or downloaded).
Once you have identified the content to watch, press on its cover image to access the description card and press the ▶ ︎ key on your remote control to start playing it. If, on the other hand, you want to download the content, select the item Video quality, choose one of the options from High Definition e Standard definition via the directional arrows on the remote control and press on central button to confirm your choice and start the download. For TV series there is also the function to download all the episodes.
For live channels, however, you can take advantage of the function Register, visible next to the preview image of the content and can also be activated by pressing on red button R on the remote control while the channel is on air. With function Record seriesInstead, you can schedule the recording of all episodes of a TV series or all episodes of a TV program. To learn more, I leave you to my guide on how to record on Sky.
Finally, it will be useful to know that with Sky Q you have the Sky applications and the function Find remote control. By pressing the button of three dots present on your Sky Q remote control, you can view the list of available apps which, for the moment, are Sky Sports, Sky TG 24, Sky Weather 24, My Photos (useful for viewing the photos available on your mobile device on TV) e Sky Help.
If, on the other hand, you have lost your remote and cannot find it, press the button Q present on the front of the Sky Q Platinium: the remote control will emit an acoustic signal that will allow you to track it in a few seconds.
How to use Sky Q from smartphones and tablets
Sky Q customers can access the contents of their subscription also from smartphones and tablets, using the application Sky Go for Sky Q customers available for Android and iOS devices.
After downloading the app from the store of your device, make sure you are connected to the same Wi-Fi network to which your Sky Q devices are connected, follow the instructions shown on the screen and wait for the synchronization, after which you can access all the contents included in your subscription.
The interface and operation of Sky Q on mobile devices is similar to what is described in the previous paragraphs for the TV. Through the items available in the menu on the left you can access the viewing of over 40 live channels and thousands of content on demand, with the possibility of downloading for viewing even without an Internet connection.
Also, if your mobile device is connected to the same Wi-Fi network to which Sky Q at home is connected, you have access to the contents recorded by the TV. To view the list of available recordings, press the item Recordings and tap the ▶ ︎ button to start playing it. Even for recordings, you can take advantage of the download function to download the content locally and watch it offline.
You should know that among the most interesting features of Sky Q at your disposal is the automatic passage of viewing of a content from one device to another. Let's take a practical example: if you are watching a movie on TV and want to continue watching it on your tablet, just take your mobile device, start the Sky Go application for Sky Q customers, access the section Started and tap the ▶ ︎ button of the content of your interest to resume viewing it from the exact point where you left off. This functionality is also valid for a switch from smartphone / tablet to TV and from TV to TV.
You can use Sky Go for Sky Q customers even when you are away from home, using the app in unsynchronized mode and logging in with your Sky ID. By doing so, you will be able to access the channels and content included in your subscription.
How Sky Q works
