Firstly I decided to give Sky another chance after calculating the latest offer fixed for 2 years is on par with a DIY solution regarding costs.
My experience with Sky customer services has always been positive even through the bad times of streaming 2 years ago. Recently the support given to my mum 88 years old was exemplary so speak as I find. Sky also closed my NOW account no penalty as I was in a 6 month contract, done within minutes no fuss.
This time a 55" Gen 2 and a Puck with the LG OLED. May get additional Pucks in time.
Initial observation after using Apple TV these past two years is the processing speed is slow painfully so in opening some apps.
The UI quality is a bit out of focus low quality images used for the poster cards again matching with Apple which has a crisp UI that you can personally adjust the output from 4K SDR to Dolby Atmos with many options in between.
The sound although better than many flat screens of today is not a blow away experience the advertising suggests but again I've been used to Apple Homepods which provide a real feeling of surround sound with a beautiful base rumble that does not rattle the ornaments.
On full fibre here with WiFi coverage throughout at excellent levels with a mesh system, the house is hard wired but have gone for WiFi to test the system. So far no lag, no stuttering, no drop outs it just works so that is an improvement on the last experience.
The Puck is the Puck, low quality kit but so far is doing the job though the remote was not working but Sky sent a replacement in 24 hours.
The Gen2 is much improved regarding picture quality after playing around I've customised for my viewing and it looks very good. Some reviews suggested that blacks were washed out and more graphite but I've not found that to be the case and neither have I experienced ghosting that is suggested an issue by some reviewers. The sound is mediocre but satisfactory in a bedroom TV.
AD Skipping was one of the reasons I moved to NOW as there are just no ADS with seamless viewing. I was offered 2 years free AD Skipping and UHD and at times when you may miss the AD skip function whilst you are not looking at the screen it does work pretty well but keep your remote close at hand.
Voice is still hit n miss I mean come on asking for The Home of Guinness is not Glow Up 😂. Yes I am Welsh but really 🤔. On that I see Netflix is the same in having to search for actors or Producers etc to add content to the Playlist, not always but often.
And now Playlist and Continue Watching 😳
Two years ago this was a mess but so far playlist has worked as it should and continue watching is behaving itself too with it being relatively easy to remove content from CW that you no longer want via fast forwarding the last episode but come on Sky it is about time a function is added to simply remove CW content. How many users request this and still no action!
As for turn it off turn it on unplug make a cuppa clean out the gutters and fingers crossed I've not had to do this once for Puck or TV so far🤞🏻this used to be at least a daily requirement.
Finally for quality, performance and sound Apple TV is outstanding but Sky does have the edge in a near seamless all in one package for the UK. Yes some apps missing like Talking Pictures, BFI, Acorn and theatre apps too, these would be nice to have but not the end of the world.
On the sidelines the Sky Go app is lacking with no integration to your account for playlist management sadly this I miss as Apple is fully integrated with all devices so adding a film or program to your playlist when suggested by a mate when away from home is something on the very nice to have list.
Don't let me down Sky my Apple TV is still alive and pining but we have 31 days at this party and time will tell 😉
