This is why I think Sky Glass is finally worth considering with Gen 2

Two people have to lift Sky Glass into my home (full disclosure, I had the old one so they take that away as well as the packaging for the new one).  

Whereas most 55in TVs can be lifted by one person at a push, Sky Glass definitely can’t.

Although slightly lighter than the original model, it’s heavy due to its integrated Dolby Atmos sound system which has been made even beefier with two new opposing bass drivers for this, the second generation model.

Sky Glass is available in the UK and Ireland at present. Its parent company Comcast owns Xfinity in the US and it has a similar offering.

A new version of the streaming TV (no dish, remember) has been expected for a while, but it doesn’t quite take the form we thought it might. Sky Glass is unashamedly a mid-range TV. We thought a second version might go upmarket and have a Mini LED display like some TVs but we were very wrong – Sky seems very happy to fill a market that’s below your average Stuff reader.

Sky is also set to launch an even cheaper TV later in 2025. Called Sky Glass Air, it removes the Dolby Atmos soundbar and doesn’t have the brighter display that the Gen 2 has. We don’t yet know pricing.

A commendable aspect of Gen 2 is that the pricing is staying the same as with Sky Glass Gen 1. So you can pay £699, £949 or £1149 for the various sizes upfront or you can choose to pay monthly for £14, £19 or £24 per month for 48 months (you can do 24 months if you prefer). Your Sky package is on top of this, so make sure you consider that.

Design: similar on the surface but with some modifications

Gen 2 looks very similar to the original due to the integrated soundbar under the screen. One physical change this time around I’m pleased to see is that there’s a different stand which is lighter and slots into the bottom of the display rather than screwing onto the back. You can still wall mount though. Sky has also now added hand holds so it can more easily be picked up.

As well as my blue 55in model, Sky Glass Gen 2 is also available in silver and grey and in 43 and 65in sizes. You get a colour-matched remote. Everything is so simple to set up and I just needed to plug the power lead in to get started.

Once I’d connected to the Wi-Fi, it easily found my Sky Account and all my services were immediately available. It’s a very easy startup process; for those of us used to oodles of cables between TVs, set-top boxes, games consolses and Blu-ray players it’s a breath of fresh air to simplify my setup.

Display: much better and brighter but still not for gamers

Sky says that most of its customers just want a simple solution and they aren’t too concerned by LCD vs Mini LED. So Sky doesn’t seem that interested at present in producing a more premium model in terms of display specification. So the 4K Quantum Dot display is still 60hz for example, whereas a lot of TVs are 120Hz. As a result, this isn’t a TV we can recommend for gaming.

From watching lots of different types of content (and especially movies and sport), it’s clear that the display has been much improved this time around. It’s much brighter and more vibrant than the original Sky Glass display, which could seem quite washed out at times. There is much better contrast and everything just looks way better. The problem is that it lags behind Mini LED rivals such as the Hisense U7N and the Amazon Omni Fire TV Mini LED I looked at last issue even if these TVs are more expensive that Sky’s. And then there’s that aforementioned low refresh rate. But despite such compromises it still makes the Sky Glass Gen 2 package much more appealing than it was before.

Audio: already superb, now upgraded

On the audio side, Sky Glass has always brought a really premium experience to the fore with Dolby Atmos, now with two extra bass drivers. It was hard to compare this with the older model as it was understandably swapped, but the key thing is that I still found it excellent for audio. Sky says that only 20% of people use additional audio gear with their TV, meaning that the overwhelming majority (80%) of people are “only getting half of the experience”. Aside from Bowers & Wilkins’ forays into Philips OLED TVs, this is some of the best integrated TV audio we’ve heard.

Software: Sky OS is ever-improving

The Sky Glass interface has been updated lots since launch. It was called Entertainment OS but Sky has now renamed it Sky OS. It’s comprehensive but it is still one of the best interfaces out there and the same as that on the excellent Sky Stream. Sky has iterated on its software a lot since launch and it’s now a robust system providing your internet connection is up to snuff.

Remember that SkyOS doesn’t record as such; instead you add programmes you like to a feature called Playlist. This works much, much better than it used to in my opinion, but it still depends very much when programmes are available on catchup. If something has disappeared from the relevant catchup service (or isn’t yet available) then it’s just a disappointing experience. However, this has become rare and credit to Sky for improving this aspect of Sky Glass a lot. There is inevitably some lag with live TV, but it has been improved – Sky has improved latency on Sky Sports, especially through a feature called Live Sync.

Sky Glass Gen 2 verdict

As I suspected, this TV isn’t for anyone who is particular about the TV tech they’re buying – it’s a mid-range, standard TV that acts as a gateway to Sky’s premium content (some packages with an integrated Netflix) for those who don’t mind being locked into a long-term deal. Plus if you have a TV already or want a higher-end one, Sky Stream will give you the same software experience. Sky Glass Gen 2 is a very welcome improvement on the original effort.

Sky Glass Gen 2 tech specs