Sky customers get audio upgrade as all-in-one Soundbox and Dolby Atmos revealed

Are you one of those people who shell out a significant amount each month to subscribe to movie channels only to watch with tinny, thin sound emitted from a flatscreen telly? For shame. But don't worry, Sky is making it easy for you to upgrade your audio game by releasing the Sky Soundbox – an all-in-one speaker with a tempting price for current customers.

When Sky Q was launched in 2016 it set new picture quality standards with its Ultra HD content. Now, audio gets an upgrade with the Soundbox offering an easy entry to home cinema-quality audio as well as Dolby Atmos coming to the service.

The Soundbox, created by audio company Devialet, is a single speaker unit sitting larger than a soundbar to help customers boost their viewing experience and will be priced at £249 for Sky Q Mulitscreen customers or £299 for regular customers.

Non-Sky customers aren't left out though, who can buy the speaker for £799 – highlighting the heavy discount for subscribers.

For customers the Soundbox is competitively priced against rival soundbars or single-unit speaker systems such as the Sonos Playbase (£699) or Bose Solo 5 soundbar – but without it, it's a little pricey.

Inside the Soundbox there are six 3in woofers and three 2in full-range speakers promising to offer 360-degree sound by reflecting audio off the walls in the home for far more depth than that offered by standard TV speakers. Sky Q customers will also benefit from exclusive sound modes specifically tuned to automatically change depending on what you're watching.

One feature viewers will appreciate is the ability to dynamically adjust its volume from dialogue to action scenes, constantly analysing incoming audio and turning it up or down automatically so you don't have to sit with your thumb hovering over the volume button each time you watch the Dark Knight.

If you're thinking all this new audio power might end up disturbing the neighbours or allow the kids to get volume happy, Sky has thought of that too. Three sound modes are available including 'Late Night' and 'Kids', which either decrease bass and up the treble, or let parents lock the maximum volume level.

Sky Dolby Atmos

Should you already have a home cinema set up then there's even more good news from Sky as it announced it is rolling out Dolby Atmos – next-generation audio that envelops viewers in a sphere of sound, rather than coming from fixed 5.1/7.1 points.

Once only found in high-tech cinemas it is now coming to living rooms. BT has already been offering it and this summer via a free software update Sky will too, giving movies and sports (124 live Premier League games will be in Atmos) one of the biggest and no-doubt most impressive updates the service has seen.