Sky UK Launches New Broadband-based Sky Glass Gen 2 TV Sets
Customers of Sky’s broadband-based pay TV streaming service and devices may be interested to learn that the company has today introduced the first of their next generation Sky Glass Gen 2 televisions, which features an even brighter 4K HDR screen and an enhanced seven-speaker Dolby Atmos® sound system built in. This will be followed by SkyGlass Air “later this year“.
Sky are continuing their gradual efforts to move away from satellite-based TV services, and the new Sky Glass Gen 2 TVs will clearly play their part in that. The TVs, which come with Sky’s streaming chops (Sky OS) already built-in, will be available to buy from tomorrow, starting from just £14 per month via Sky.com, Sky’s stores, Sky call centres and Currys.co.uk.
The pay TV giant will offer three sizes of Sky Glass Gen 2 TVs to choose from – 43″, 55″ and 65″, as well as three updated colours, Volcanic Grey, Arctic Silver and Atlantic Blue. Cosmetically, they’re a modest refinement on Sky’s original design, albeit with a brighter 4K Quantum Dot display and enhanced Dolby Atmos® sound via seven speakers (including a soundbar and dual subwoofer built-in).
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The new TV stand is also designed to be easier than before, with two prongs that the TV slides onto, no screws or tools needed. Alternatively, people can choose to add the new bespoke wall mount, that tilts, swivels and sits completely flush against the wall. It is also compatible with universal TV mounts for anyone who already has their own.
Fraser Stirling, Sky’s Global Chief Product Officer, said:
“We built Sky Glass as a brilliantly simple way for people to watch TV, making it easier to find the things they love from Sky and streaming apps. The new Sky Glass Gen 2 gives people our best TV experience yet, with a brighter picture and even more cinematic sound, and with flexible ways to buy it, it’s more affordable than ever to get Sky TV.”
Customers can pay for the new Sky Glass like a mobile phone, either all in one go, or spread the cost with interest-free monthly payments from as little at £14 per month for the 43” model, £19 a month for the 55”, or £24 a month for the 65”. They can also choose the length of TV subscription they want, with a 24-month TV subscription offering the best price, or a 31-day rolling contract for more flexibility.
Take note that Sky’s new Essential TV content pack starts at just £15 a month for new customers. Alternatively, there’s the premium Sky Ultimate TV plan, from £22 a month – this includes everything in Sky Essential TV, plus even more channels such as Sky Max, Sky Comedy, Sky Documentaries, Sky Crime, Sky History, Sky Showcase and many more.
However, Sky’s announcement has also teased another new TV set – Sky Glass Air, which will launch later this year. Sky Glass Air will also have a 4K Quantum Dot HDR screen, plus global dimming and contrast enhancements that automatically brightens the screen for a clearer, more vivid picture. As well as only 2.0 stereo speakers with Dolby Audio.
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Just like Sky Glass Gen 2, Sky Glass Air will run Sky OS, with all its features, including far-field voice and superior content aggregation. It will come in three “stylish colours“, Carbon Grey, Cotton White and Sea Green, and three sizes, 43”, 55” and 65”, with pricing to follow later. This essentially sounds like a slimmed down version of the Gen 2, albeit without the soundbar and a seemingly thinner profile that should make it cheaper, we think.
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook, BlueSky, Threads.net and Linkedin.
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Any news on the upgrade path for existing Glass customers?
I remember during the original launch back in 2021 they stated customers would be able to upgrade to new models just like you can with mobile phones.
@Jack “… Any news on the upgrade path for existing Glass customers?
I remember during the original launch back in 2021 they stated customers would be able to upgrade to new models just like you can with mobile phones…”
There is NO upgrade path.
Choices are having 2 Glass TVs or recycling the first one.
Personally I would prefer that TVs didn’t come with smart functionality but did come with 6 HDMI ports so smart functionality could be cheaply upgraded over time (e.g. by upgrading to the latest Firestick frequently).
You can get HDMI switch boxes relatively cheap, not ideal but better than nothing.
Personally, I’d have liked a compromise such as the modules you see in commercial grade stuff, as I do know people who insist on having an AIO smart TV, even if it’s worse overall.
But let’s be realistic, they just either want you to use their smart features and buy a new set as it’s more profitable long term.
Is that so you can be a cheapskate and avoid paying sky like everyone else?
@Fed up of pirates
Believe it or not, but I avoid my TV’s built in smart features, pay for Sky and still need extra HDMI ports than what my TV provides e.g. Sky, Shield TV, Xbox, PS5, PC, etc.
@Fed up of pirates, no it’s because when you buy any kind of smart TV after a while it invariably stops getting updates and eventually becomes obsolete, having a dumb TV with plenty inputs allows you a cheap and easy upgrade path by replacing external devices such as firestick or Sky Stream Puck. It’s going to be a lot easier (and cheaper) to upgrade Sky Stream Pucks than replace the whole Sky Glass TV.
My Tv has Roku built in, being Roku I expect most apps will work on it for a few years, certainly for the life of the set. I can understand what you are saying for TV sets that use manufacture’s own OS as they can drop support for them at any time.
Even if I used Sky, there is no way I would buy a TV that is linked to one service, you stop subscribing to sky, and you are more or less left with a big doorstop.
Any word on the Sky Stream pucks? Would there be a Gen2 model to compliment the Gen2 TV’s?
The pucks came a fair bit after the launch of Sky Glass, so they’re still quite young. Maybe give it another 1-2 years. But Sky will almost certainly launch an updated Gen 2 Sky Stream puck or similar box eventually.
I wish Stream had a local DVR, even if it’s an add-on like a USB HDD.
There are times when relying on streaming just isn’t good enough e.g. internet goes down, at least there’s an archive of stuff.
It’s one of the main reasons I’m going to stick to Q unless they make it ridiculously expensive, which does concern me when my contract renewal is up in a few months.
“an even brighter 4K HDR screen” Is that an admission that their interpretation of HDR is different (much dimmer) than other streaming services ?
I made the mistake of believing the marketing about the new QLED Amazon Fire TV , connecting the Sky Puck and the 4K HDR was so dark; on research the TV only had 450nits, changed to a Panasonic OLED with 1000 nits, and well, problem solved
Almost bought one of these a couple of years back, until I witness one at a friends home. The colours seemed a little dull (whereas on some other TVs you need to turn the saturation down). Also the sound didn’t seem great compared with other Dolby Atmos devices I already own and use!
‘The pucks came a fair bit after the launch of Sky Glass, so they’re still quite young. Maybe give it another 1-2 years. But Sky will almost certainly launch an updated Gen 2 Sky Stream puck or similar box eventually’. As a ‘standalone’ option, the Stream pucks became available around a year after the launch of Sky Glass, but the very same puck device was available to those taking multi room at the launch of Glass, thus, the spec of the puck is as old as the v1 Glass TV.
I am still using Sky Q and was hoping you a refreshed/updated version of the Stream puck…might switch to Stream once a new puck eventually launches (unless I have cancelled Sky completely by then, as the monthly price is starting to get ridiculous)
You are right, the cost of sky is now becoming prohibitive. UHD is far from Ultra and certainly not worth the extra.
Would be nice if they sorted out the Gen 1 to sync issues before launching this model, several months of a known issue and recent update made it even worse
https://helpforum.sky.com/t5/Sky-Glass-Live/Speech-out-of-sync-on-Sky-glass/m-p/4907882/emcs_t/S2h8ZW1haWx8dG9waWNfc3Vic2NyaXB0aW9ufE03MEtKMVdDMzdEQTJTfDQ5MDc4ODJ8U1VCU0NSSVBUSU9OU3xoSw#M158478
Yeah, it’s been really discouraging from getting another Sky TV ever. 1,200 euros for TV and over 50 euros per month for the streaming, and it is a mess. I am on Sky Sport UHD but still opted to waste money on a DAZN subscription to be able to watch the NFL without the sound going chronically out of sync.
No support for 120hz and hdmi 2.1 is a big no from me.
£700 for a 43″ model in 2025. That is crazy pricing. For a little more you could get an OLED TV. I bought my brand new 43″ Phillips Ambilight in 2019 for £400 and it is perfect in every way. I would never pay £700 for a Sky Branded TV that will be obsolete in 2 years when Gen3 comes out. This should have been offered at half the price given you are stuck paying extortionate Sky subscription prices.
No briefing from Sky about their next router? I’m hearing it is basically a Comcast XER10 and no support for FTTC. Possibly the launch will coincide with CityFibre packages
I think Sky would have made more money creating an app that works on any tv than these glass brand tv’s.
They do, it is called Now TV, which is better in some ways to Sky as you are not stuck in a contract. They are not going to have a sky app as they want control. The only reason they launched Now TV was to compete with the streaming services that were springing up.
I have not had sky for years, since the days of standard sky boxes and that was only for 12 months, they did offer me a sky+ box when I cancelled.
I doubt very much if I will have Sky again,
Yes I use Now TV, I only want the sports & there’s nearly always a deal on offer when you go to cancel and if they don’t make you an offer cancel anyway, they usually make an offer just before or after the service stops, plus 4K is available which I am still getting at a discount. Available on a Samsung TVs and Amazon firesticks plus many other devices.
I guess this is why sky want to raise my prices by almost 16% in April…
Then maybe you tell them to shove it, if more people did that they may not be so quick to rise prices.
But people will keep it so they can watch their beloved football and keep paying high prices and moan about it.
If you use NowTV instead. Everytime you say you will cancel online, they offer it for half price for 3 months if you agree to stay. I have paid half price for 4 years now. I am not sure why anyone uses Sky when they offer NowTV for significantly cheaper.
the Sky Q purchase option has also quietly disappeared from the main sky site too….
Yea just look in Incognito mode to try and pose as a new customer, yop it’s gone so guess Sky’s satellite TV service is now legacy and will be gradually phased out over the next few years
For now at least, the page is still live:
https://www.sky.com/tv/sky-q
Can also be reached via Google.
I remember when Sky Glass first released and seem to remember an upgrade path being muted. I bought Sky Glass v1 and the first 6 months of owning it was problematic to say the least. I do note now however that the upgrade path first mentioned has now disappeared.