Sky Q boxes being discontinued?

[THX1138]

Hi All

Has anyone heard any rumours of the Sky Q boxes being discontinued in the near future in favour of Sky Stream and Sky Glass?

I know that new customers to Sky can no longer get the Sky Q option and instead have to take ether Sky Stream or Sky Glass, but Sky Q is still being offered to existing Sky customers at the moment.

If I decide to make the jump from Sky+HD to Sky Q, can I specifically specify to receive the ‘Sky Q 2TB UHD’ box?

Many thanks

KR

[Daniel0210]

@THX1138 

Sky Q is still available for new customers albeit Sky will try to point customers in the direction of Glass or Stream. Satellite TV ie; Sky Q will be available until the end of the decade. 

[caesarome]

Sky will have a dish based service until at least 2029:

https://rxtvinfo.com/2024/sky-extends-satellite-tv-service-until-2029/

[TimmyBGood]

@THX1138 

Discussed at length in other threads.  Essentially, without a broadcast satellite, satellite television is just a wee bit tricky...

[THX1138]

@caesarome @Daniel0210 

Thanks both for the reassurance that I don’t need to panic rush into dumping the Sky+HD box for the Sky Q box.

I’ve just had my Sky satellite gear renewed (new hybrid LNB, new zone 2 dish and a new wide-band cable run) in preparation for moving over to Sky Q in the future.

Regards the placing of a Sky Q order, can you stipulate the (Sky Q 2TB UHD) box when ordering?

KR

[stereohaven]

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@THX1138 wrote:

Regards the placing of a Sky Q order, can you stipulate the (Sky Q 2TB UHD) box when ordering?

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You cannot, the standard appears to be a 1TB, but you might get lucky.

Edited to add: Unless you manage to order on the phone, then you can at least ask. There is no mechanism to ask when you follow an online journey.

[Chodley]

You should get a UHD HDR capable box though.

[THX1138]

Hmm, sounds very hit and miss.

As I already have a 2TB Sky+HD box that is already at 80% capacity and a 4K TV, anything less than a 2TB UHD Sky Q box would be a big issue.

Maybe a friendly chat to the good folks at Sky tech support, rather than the usual haphazard Sky contact centre experience, may be the way forward.

KR

[TimmyBGood]

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@THX1138 wrote:

Hmm, sounds very hit and miss.

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That's because the 1TB UHD/HDR box released in November 2019 was supposed to replace the previous 1TB non-UHD/HDR and 2TB UHD (both non-HDR and HDR) distinction which went back to early 2016 when Q was launched.

[nigea99]

@THX1138 

You may have already seen my notes but just in case you haven't you may, also, wish to read some notes I have made for people considering switching from SKY +/HD to SKY Q

SKY +/HD to SKY Q 

[THX1138]

@nigea99 many tahnsk for the info link.

From reading around, getting the correct Sky Q box for your needs is not just a simple matter of choosing a given box model specification based on its part number, as each box models part number also includes a specification variance based on its serial number, which the part number will not be aware of.

The hardware variances – based on serial number, appear to be the real lottery as to what gets sent to you by the Sky warehouse. You could end up with a really old stock box found at the back of a storeroom!

So, I could specify a ‘Sky Q 2TB’ box and be completely randomly sent ether option 1 or 2 below as both have exactly the same part number, but have differing serial numbers:

1. Sky Q 2TB UHD box
2. Sky Q 2TB UHD/HDR box

As it’s the serial number of the box – not its model name and part number, that dictates if it has the added HDR capability, there is no way the warehouse will be able to differentiate these two model variances from one another.

I think the only way to deal with this lottery is hope the box that gets delivered to you the first time is the right one and if not, immediately reject it and have Sky run the ordering lotto again and again and again, until you get the specification you need…

“Sky Believe in better” – I sure wish that Sky would also believe in better!

[nigea99]

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@THX1138 wrote:

@nigea99 many tahnsk for the info link.

From reading around, getting the correct Sky Q box for your needs is not just a simple matter of choosing a given box model specification based on its part number, as each box models part number also includes a specification variance based on its serial number, which the part number will not be aware of.

The hardware variances – based on serial number, appear to be the real lottery as to what gets sent to you by the Sky warehouse. You could end up with a really old stock box found at the back of a storeroom!

So, I could specify a ‘Sky Q 2TB’ box and be completely randomly sent ether option 1 or 2 below as both have exactly the same part number, but have differing serial numbers:

1. Sky Q 2TB UHD box
2. Sky Q 2TB UHD/HDR box

As it’s the serial number of the box – not its model name and part number, that dictates if it has the added HDR capability, there is no way the warehouse will be able to differentiate these two model variances from one another.

I think the only way to deal with this lottery is hope the box that gets delivered to you the first time is the right one and if not, immediately reject it and have Sky run the ordering lotto again and again and again, until you get the specification you need…

“Sky Believe in better” – I sure wish that Sky would also believe in better!

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@THX1138 

As you have gleaned the SKY systems just know them by type

1TB non UHD

2TB UHD (non HDR)

1TB & 2TB UHD/HDR

These are what you can discuss and agree to.

What you can't specify is what regulars here refer to as V2 & V3 2TB UHD/HDR boxes as SKY the systems do not differentiate these and for these it is down to what is available  - I think probably more are V2 boxes as I think most V3 boxes are 1TB rather than 2TB

[Chodley]

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@THX1138 wrote:

Hmm, sounds very hit and miss.

As I already have a 2TB Sky+HD box that is already at 80% capacity and a 4K TV, anything less than a 2TB UHD Sky Q box would be a big issue.

Maybe a friendly chat to the good folks at Sky tech support, rather than the usual haphazard Sky contact centre experience, may be the way forward.

KR

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You'll find the rights management these days stops your box filling up as stuff auto-expires itself.

[THX1138]

Many thanks @nigea99  I was unaware of the V2 and V3 situation.

@Chodley  can you protect recordings from being auto-expired?

Having a quick google, most conversations regarding the V2/V3 debate seems to be from 2024, so a bit out of date.

It would be interesting to know if the Sky warehouse has now depleted their surplus stock of ‘V2’ 2TB UHD/HDR boxes from 2024 and are now providing ‘V3’ boxes now that we are in mid-2025.

This may also be a reason for me to delay my move to Sky Q until such time as the old V2 boxes are no longer in stock as the V3 box has some interesting specs and much better user review.

KR

[nigea99]

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@THX1138 wrote:

Many thanks @nigea99  I was unaware of the V2 and V3 situation.

@Chodley  can you protect recordings from being auto-expired?

Having a quick google, most conversations regarding the V2/V3 debate seems to be from 2024, so a bit out of date.

It would be interesting to know if the Sky warehouse has now depleted their surplus stock of ‘V2’ 2TB UHD/HDR boxes from 2024 and are now providing ‘V3’ boxes now that we are in mid-2025.

This may also be a reason for me to delay my move to Sky Q until such time as the old V2 boxes are no longer in stock as the V3 box has some interesting specs and much better user review.

KR

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Sorry to confuse the V2 vs V3 - you cannot specify which one - which is why I mentioned them

Probably all 2TB boxes are now refurbished (maybe many 1TB also) so it really is hit & miss on which version of a 2TB HDR box people get.  Delaying would not increase the chance of getting a V3 box

The differences are not that great (minor  speed difference with the UI & iplayer in UHD) and those who try to 'force' getting a V3 would seem to often only do so with great stress & I do not recommend trying to do so

Many of us have a V2 box and find them fine.

Regarding deletion after expiration of rights, that is actually the same as on a SKY HD box & only affects downloaded content, generally not  recordings from live TV - you cannot stop this deletion - as it is a matter of rights.

TBH the deletion following loss of rights is not significantly common as most people delete once they have watched anyway - do not rely on this to free space

2TB is plenty and most people do cope with 1TB, the key is to delete once watched to make sure those you are not bothered about do free up space (you can undelete if needed provided new recordings have not overwitten them). For recordings you do want to keep there is a Keep function which will stop the auto deletion (but not on expired rights downloads as per above) 

There  a lock function to prevent accidental deletion (i.e. triggers a pin to access it)