Roku Streaming Stick+ or Now TV

[Anonymous User]

Hi guys
I've binned my Sky Sports sub and have just got a 3 months or Sky Sports on Now TV for £20 a month. I notice that they now do have a proper HD option of accessing Sky Sports with an extra £3 a month (Now TV Boost) but it's only on certain devices.

Has anyone tried Sky Sports on both a Now TV 4k box or the Roku Streaming Stick+ and able to give feedback on comparison? Or on other 1080p Sky content on those devices? I would guess that the Roku is the better box, but I wonder if Sky intentionally make sure the Now TV gives a better picture for Sky content....?

Are there any benefits for getting the Now TV box over the Roku? Is all of the same Sky Sports content available through Now TV on both devices? 
Thanks!

[schnapps]

Hi @Anonymous User 

I actually own both the NowTV 4K Smart Box and the Roku Stick Plus and using the NowTV App with the HD Boost with Sports or Cinema there is no noticeable difference in picture performance between either device and the picture quality looks pretty good to me especially Sports at 50fps playback with the Boost.

The Roku Stick Plus has an external wifi antenna which does a pretty decent job (much better than the NowTV Stick) but there is no substitute for Ethernet which the NowTV 4K box has plus wifi.

If you are not interested in Amazon Prime Video or the extra Apps on the Roku Stick Plus, then get the NowTV 4K Smart box which are getting scarce to find now.

Best price i can find for the NowTV 4K Smart Box is £25 with the bundled passes from B&M Stores (not sure about stock levels).

[schnapps]

Hi @Anonymous User 

Forgot to mention all eleven Sky Sports channels are available on both the NowTV 4K Box and the Roku Stick Plus.

The NowTV 4K box also has the live 30 minute pause feature when watching the live channels (including live sports) which might be useful (i don't usually use live pause myself apart from an emergency toilet break).

[Saint1976]

@Anonymous User BT Sport is now available through NowTV equipment but not on the Roku.

With BT also offering monthly passes (without a contract) and content in 4k it's another option to consider the Now TV 4k box.

[Anonymous User]

Thanks guys, that's great information, sounds like the Now TV box would be better for me then. I'd forgotten about the Roku being non-ethernet, so that's a big plus for the Now TV box, plus the 30 min rewind would be useful for pausing on occasions (I have an attention demanding three year old!) and having BT Sport on it would mean I could use that instead of having to cast from my tablet to a Chromecast for BT Sport. 

I just want to check; the latest 4k Now TV box is the black one with gawdy pink on it isnt it? Like in this link? https://www.amazon.co.uk/including-Passes-amazing-entertainment-contract/dp/B07GFQVZLP

They don't seem to sell it directly from Now TV, I'll have to look around online. 

[schnapps]

Hi @Anonymous User

Yep the box with the pink NowTV logo on the top of the casing in the link you have posted is the NowTV 4K Smart Box.

They are harder to find nowadays and the prices are now relatively high due to they are not manufactured any more. 

B&M Store is the cheapest I can find if you have a local store where you live and have any stock or if you are going to buy online shop around.

It's a shame that NowTV stopped selling this box, because in my opinion it was the best in their product range of the devices they offered. 

An inbuilt Freeview tuner would have been the icing on the cake, but sadly NowTV omitted Freeview with the 4K Smart Box. 

[Anonymous User]

Great, thanks. Yeah, looks like they're hard to find online. Our nearest B&M is Bognor, about half an hour away, but not sure when I'd get there so think I'll just have to bite the bulet and pay the inflated price. I have saved by ditching Sky though, and this'll give me the option to get Sky sports through Now TV as and when I need it so I guess....!

Thanks for the help guys, really good and specific advice, you don't often get the responses you want these days! 🙂

[Anonymous User]

Have to say I'm really impressed with the picture quality of Sky Sports on the Now TV box with Boost, as good as the Sky Q picture I had before (on my 60" 1080p telly). 

Two quick questions if anyone knows..... what is the micro SD slot for? And is there any way to get the remote to control my Sonos Playbar? The remote wants to control the Samsung TV but as the sound on that is disabled it'd be handy to have it to the Sonos instead? 

[Anonymous User]

The NOW TV remote cannot be set to control the SONOS directly, but it can control your TV, and that includes your TV volume...

So if you have setup your TV remote to control your SONOS volume, which is very simple, then yes the NOW TV remote can be set to control your TV volume which will in turn control the SONOS.

That is how mine works, my TV speakers are disabled my NOW TV remote and my TV remote control my Playbase volume...

sTeVE