Sky’s NOW Finally Gets 4K Streaming – At A Premium Price

After years of waiting, Sky’s NOW streaming service is finally stepping into the Ultra HD / 4K era with its new “Ultra Boost” tier, addressing one of the platform’s most glaring shortcomings.

While NOW has long offered a flexible way to access Sky’s premium content without a satellite dish or long-term contract, it has trailed behind competitors when it comes to picture quality.

Now, NOW is finally catching up with the likes of Netflix, Disney+, and even its own sibling, Sky Stream, where 4K is almost the norm. 

As of this writing, NOW has opted for a soft launch approach with this upgrade. The option to purchase Ultra Boost is already available on their website, and some existing customers have received offers to upgrade, despite the lack of an “official” announcement.

Furthermore, this new, optional upgrade comes at a premium (£9/month), and there are a few popular devices it’s not compatible with.

Here’s everything you need to know about NOW Ultra Boost.

NOW, formerly known as NOW TV, is Sky’s standalone streaming service that offers flexible access to Sky’s content without the need for a long-term contract or satellite dish.

Launched in 2012, NOW has become a popular option for viewers looking to access Sky’s premium content on a more flexible basis.

The service offers three main content packages:

• Entertainment Membership (£9.99/month): Provides access to Sky’s TV channels, including Sky Atlantic, and a variety of TV shows and box sets.
• Cinema Membership (£9.99/month): Offers the full Sky Cinema experience, including new releases and a vast back-catalogue of films.
• Sports Membership (£34.99/month): Provides access to all Sky Sports channels (including the upcoming Sky Sports+), covering a wide range of sports including Premier League football, F1, cricket, and more.

NOW is available on a wide range of devices, including smart TVs, streaming sticks, game consoles, and mobile devices.

The Existing NOW Boost

Prior to the introduction of Ultra Boost, NOW offered a standard Boost add-on priced at £6 per month.

This add-on (which is still available), aimed to enhance the viewing experience with several features:

1. Full HD (1080p) streaming quality, up from the standard 720p
2. Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound
3. Ad-free viewing for on-demand content
4. Ability to stream on up to 2 devices simultaneously (this has been downgraded from the original 3)
5. Sky Sports channels stream at 50 frames per second

However, the standard Boost had limitations, particularly in terms of device compatibility.

Notably, it didn’t support Full HD on popular devices such as PCs, Macs, iOS and Android mobile devices, and certain streaming devices, and – it didn’t support 4K.

Introducing NOW Boost Ultra

This week, NOW has finally taken the leap towards 4K, with the introduction of its new Ultra Boost tier, priced at £9 per month.

The Ultra tier builds upon the features of the standard Boost and finally brings NOW more in line with its competitors in terms of streaming quality (not to mention Sky’s own Stream device, which is also based on streaming – and already supports 4K).

Streaming Quality Leap

The most notable improvement with Ultra Boost is the jump to 4K Ultra HD HDR streaming. This represents a much-needed upgrade from the Full HD 1080p offered by standard Boost, and an even more dramatic improvement over NOW’s basic 720p streaming.

The addition of HDR (High Dynamic Range) further enhances the visual experience by offering a wider range of colours and improved contrast, making bright areas brighter and dark areas darker for a more vivid and realistic picture.

Ultra Boost supports various HDR formats, including HLG, HDR10, and HDR10+, ensuring compatibility with a wide range of 4K TVs – although some popular devices are not supported (see below).

Audio Enhancements

In terms of audio, Ultra Boost takes another step forward by offering Dolby Atmos support, instead of the Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound provided by standard Boost. 

Sounds can be precisely placed and moved in three-dimensional space, including overhead, providing a more realistic and enveloping audio environment.

This feature is particularly beneficial for sports events, action movies, and nature documentaries, where the sense of space and movement can greatly enhance the viewing experience.

And, this is another feature that’s already supported on Sky’s Stream box, as well as on Sky Glass – so NOW is finally catching up.

Expanded Simultaneous Streaming

Ultra Boost also improves on the multi-user front, allowing streaming on up to three devices simultaneously, up from two with standard Boost (and just one device without Boost).

Ad-Free Viewing

Like standard Boost, Ultra Boost offers ad-free viewing for on-demand content across Cinema, Entertainment, and Sports memberships.

However, it’s important to note that live channels will still include adverts and viewers will continue to see promotional trailers, even on the on-demand content.

4K Content Availability

With Ultra Boost, NOW is introducing 4K content to its platform for the first time.

This includes four live UHD sports channels: Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports F1, and two ad-hoc channels (Sky Sports UHD 1 & 2).

These channels will be particularly appealing to sports fans, offering premier events like football matches and car races in 4K quality.

Beyond sports, Ultra Boost also promises selected shows and movies in UHD (4K) HDR.

The selection will likely be similar to the one found on Sky Glass and Stream – so most of Sky’s original shows, popular movies, and newer, high-profile TV shows.

Once you’ve got Ultra Boost, if a show or movie is available in UHD you’ll be able to see the UHD and Dolby Atmos symbols next to it:

However, these symbols will only show up if you’re watching on a compatible device. A show or movie may be available in UHD, but if your device can only support HD, you’ll see the HD symbol and it will play at 1080p.

NOW Boost Ultra Device Compatibility

While Ultra Boost offers impressive features, its availability is somewhat limited by device compatibility.

Support for smart TVs is primarily limited to newer models from major brands. For example, selected LG and Samsung 4K models from 2018 onwards are supported, as are Sony Android TVs from 2020 and later, but older models were left behind (as of this writing).

In terms of streaming devices, compatibility varies. The Fire TV Cube supports 4K for both live and on-demand content, while devices like the Fire TV 4K and 4K Max only support 4K for on-demand viewing, even though they’re quite new.

Roku’s 4K boxes and the 4K Chromecasts are also supported.

However, some popular devices are not compatible with Ultra Boost.

These include the Nvidia Shield TV Pro, BT TV, EE TV and YouView’s boxes, and – as before – PCs, Macs and smartphones are also not supported.

Even NOW’s own discontinued 4K Smart Box, which is based on an old Roku model, doesn’t support the new Boost Ultra add-on.

To enjoy Ultra Boost, viewers will need a 4K UHD TV that supports HLG, HDR10, or HDR10+, with an HDMI port that supports HDCP 2.2.

A high-speed internet connection is also required, with NOW recommending a minimum speed of 30Mbps per streaming device for Ultra Boost.

For those looking to take advantage of the Dolby Atmos audio, a compatible speaker system or soundbar is necessary.

How To Get NOW Boost

For those interested in upgrading their NOW experience with either standard Boost or the new Ultra Boost, the process is simple:

Existing NOW Members:
If you’re already a NOW member, you can add Boost or Ultra Boost to your subscription.

Simply sign in to the NOW Membership area of your account and look for the “Viewing experience” section. Here, you’ll find options to upgrade to either Boost or Ultra Boost.

New NOW Subscribers:
If you’re new to NOW, you’ll need to first choose a membership package on the NOW website.

During the checkout process, you may see an option to add Boost or Ultra Boost, or start a free trial (some of NOW’s memberships come with a free 7-day or 30-day trial of Boost – but for now, these free trials are for the HD Boost option).

If the Boost option doesn’t appear during checkout, you can always add it later through your account settings once you’ve created your account.

It’s worth noting that Boost and Ultra Boost are not available with the Sports Mobile Membership (which is no longer sold, but some subscribers may still be on it).

Interestingly, some existing NOW Boost subscribers, such as my friend Andy Webb from Be Clever With Your Cash, were automatically upgraded from the normal Boost to Ultra at no extra cost, but only for a limited time (after which the regular £9/month will return).

This appears to be part of NOW’s soft launch strategy, allowing select customers to experience the new features before deciding whether to continue with the upgrade.

How NOW Stacks Up Against Competitors

The introduction of Ultra Boost finally brings NOW more in line with its competitors in the UK streaming market, albeit at a premium price point.

Netflix’s top-tier plan, which includes 4K HDR streaming, is priced at £17.99 per month. This standalone subscription includes all Netflix content, without adverts, and supports up to four simultaneous streams.

Disney+ offers its Premium tier, which includes 4K UHD and HDR content, for £10.99 per month or £109.90 annually. This tier also supports four concurrent streams and includes all Disney+ content.

Amazon’s Prime Video includes 4K content as part of its standard Prime subscription (£8.99 per month or £95 annually), though it recently introduced an ad-supported tier that doesn’t include Dolby Vision or Atmos support.

NOW’s approach of offering Ultra Boost as an add-on to existing subscriptions means that the total cost for 4K content could be significantly higher, depending on which NOW memberships a user subscribes to.

For instance, a user wanting 4K Cinema content would need to pay £9.99 for the Cinema membership plus £9 for Ultra Boost, totalling £18.99 per month – though NOW regularly offers discounts on its memberships (which sometimes require a 6-month contract).

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