Sky Glass review: Glass half full or half empty?
Verdict
Consider Heaven Glass for what it is rather than what it's not (or what the marketing may lead yous to believe) and in that location's a good experience to be had. Information technology'southward non a TV for all people, though, a bit pricey for what it is, and the moving picture quality rather undermines its ambitious content plans.
Pros
- Great content library
- Better sound than TVs at its price
- Stylish looks
- Playlist is a cool idea
Cons
- Not for anybody
- HDR operation is underwhelming
- Subscriptions can build up in cost
- Needs plenty of bandwidth for all the features
Key Features
- Heaven Stream puck Transfers the Glass interface to some other screen in the home
- Sound Congenital-in Dolby Atmos speaker system
- HDR support HLG, HDR10 and Dolby Vision
Introduction
Sky Drinking glass arrives on a moving ridge of hype equally the British broadcaster'southward first Idiot box looks to shake up the marketplace.
It's a Idiot box designed for like shooting fish in a barrel digestion, smoothing out the rough edges of the TV buying experience by taking care of picture, sound, and content without need for additional soundbars, ready-top boxes or streaming sticks.
And at the center of it all is Sky's interface, offering all the content you might demand in one place. This is likely the Idiot box many accept been waiting for – Sky without the dish. It'due south a gamble but Sky has never been shy on betting big.
Cost and availability
Sky Glass can be purchased directly from Sky in 43-, 55- and 65-inch options. The Television set can be bought outright (£649, £849 and £1049); or on a monthly basis in 24- and 48-month instalments. Prices start as depression every bit £13/month on a 48-calendar month contract for the small size.
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In terms of add-ons, in that location are plenty. Choose from the Ultra HDR and Atmos package to Sky Sports, Sky Movie theater, multi-room, the Heaven Stream puck and more. Though the costs rise upwards even more if you do. You lot can read more about the packages here.
Design
- Big and heavy
- Minimalist looks
- Several colour options
Viewed from head-on Sky Glass looks elegant. With its minimalist stand, thin bezel trim, anodised cease, and acoustic mesh speaker grille, information technology has an understated, classy appearance.
Viewed from an bending and the illusion shifts. The Glass is a hefty unit with a depth of four.77cm. The 55-inch model weighs 28kg if yous include the stand, and then it'south a relief that installation is performed past the courier service. Shift it on your ain and you might put your back out. A solid surface to plant this on is a must.
Irrespective of its dimensions, it has attracted admiring glances from members of the Trusted Reviews' team. The review sample is (disappointingly) the black Anthracite version, only Sky Drinking glass brings colour to a living room with a choice of Ocean bluish, Ceramic white, Racing green and Dusky pink to friction match your décor.
The speaker grille area can be customised with magnetised attachments, and Heaven says special editions are in the offing (let's hope for a "winter is coming" version).
On the right-hand side are two buttons, ane for disabling the TV'southward far-field microphones and another for power. Bandage your eyes to the top and in that location's a perforated acoustic grille to disperse the sound from the upfiring speakers, while around the rear there'southward a stanchion to proceed the TV upright. If you want to wall-mount, give Heaven a call and they'll do it for you.
Interface
- Playlist collates saved content
- Easy to use interface
- Sky's vocalism control solution
The interface is what makes Glass a unique suggestion, accumulation all that Heaven has to offering aslope content from other providers.
It uses the same rail system as Sky Q for navigation – and there is a lot of content. The top rails offers quick access to recently used apps, inputs and spotlighted content in 'tiptop picks'. Beneath is a rail divided into TV Shows, Movies, Sport, Kids, International, Audio and Music, News and Fitness. You can browse these sections to observe content and scan TV guides specific to each 1. The breadth of content impresses, every bit does the manner it's been knitted together in a coherent, easy to decipher manner.
Most Sky Q apps make their fashion over, and while the number of apps is fewer than other Idiot box smart portals, there's something to exist said nearly quality over quantity. Apple TV+ has been added and NBCUniversal's Peacock has launched, adding to the options.
In that location'south plenty to observe and flicking through the various rails with the remote is swift enough. If you don't desire to utilize your digits, in that location's built-in vocalization command. Initially vox control was flaky, acting like a surly teenager with its lack of responsiveness. It'south become more receptive in the weeks since the TV first came out the box.
Search results take also improved. In the start, a search for John Wick also conjured upwardly Escape Route, Danny and Passenger to London. A few weeks later and John Wick and John Wick: Chapter ii are the but results. Given the nature of the platform, expect constant usability updates going frontward.
Voice commands via the remote's near-field mic don't crave the 'Hello Sky' prompt, and in general, vocalization command gets yous to where you want to go or to what you're looking for. At a loss for what to sentinel? Say "What should I scout?" and you're served rows of recommended content.
The remote itself is a bang-up affair with a rubbery texture for a grippy hold and backlit buttons for use in the night. It attracts fingerprints and smudges, but they're easily wiped off.
Sky refers to its Playlist characteristic as 'cloud DVR', only I suspect this has the potential to mislead. In that location'south no tuner like yous'd discover in a Sky Q box, so in this context information technology acts more like bookmarks of saved content. Playlist collates all the content you've watched, are watching and plan to sentry, and it's a great way to keep track of your favourite shows and films.
You lot can't add content directly from apps such as Netflix, though. A search must be performed, and y'all can add there, or if you happen to run across something y'all desire then a press of the '+ button on the remote adds information technology to your Playlist. It's nice and like shooting fish in a barrel to do.
Merely there are rights bug. For case, Match of the Day or MotoGP Championship tin be added as a series, just once an episode hits its death date it disappears into the digital ether. From that perspective at that place's an air of impermanence, as content is only at that place for as long as it's allowed to be.
Add together a Telly series to Playlist and it'll string together all the seasons, regardless of the apps it's spread over. Or at to the lowest degree that'southward what Sky says. I added the CW's Arrow series to Playlist and up popped serial 7 and 8 (via Sky Max). However, it'south not available to stream elsewhere, only to buy, then the first half dozen series don't popular upward. Potentially the Sky Store could fill up this gap.
There are no individual profiles, and so the habitation page refreshes content vi times a day. If a child watches in the morning, and a parent at nighttime, it'll reflect those times in the programming served up.
The recent progress Sky has fabricated in accessibility features crosses over to Glass, incorporating the High Dissimilarity interface, Sound clarification and highlighting of content in the TV Guide for easier recognition.
Features
- Non gaming orientated
- Enhanced feel for instant wake-upwardly
- Stream puck copies interface to other screens
At that place are things that Sky Glass is, and things that it'southward not – and it's non a gaming TV. With no game mode, latency is a measly 66ms. And with no Motorcar Low Latency Mode, 4K/120fps or Variable Refresh Rate, Sky Glass isn't looking to play in that gaming sandpit.
The three HDMI inputs back up the HDMI 2.one spec, with HDMI 2 the eARC port for laissez passer-through of higher quality audio to an external audio organisation. As Sky Glass has a born Atmos audio organisation, yous could leave it at that.
Other connections include (curiously) USB-C, Ethernet, and a DTT DVB-T/T2 aeriform. That offers basic Freeview and acts every bit a fill-in in instance the Cyberspace goes downwardly. There's Bluetooth 5.0 (for the remote) and Wi-Fi 6 onboard. Sky Glass requires a minimum speed of 10Mb/s.
During start-up yous're given a option of Default or Enhanced experiences. Enhanced activates voice control and the instant wake-up features, and so the Idiot box tin exist turned on via vocalization or past shuffling past, though the latter characteristic is not the most consistent in behaviour.
More than times than I can count I've walked past and nada has happened. Other times I've absentmindedly walked past to find information technology'southward woken upward. Waking it with your voice is more consequent and since launch has become quicker in the time it takes to boot.
I wasn't supplied with the Sky Stream puck that transfers the Glass interface to another screen in the house. Though it works independently of Glass, information technology can't be bought separately. As it uses around 10Mb/s of Wi-Fi bandwidth, those with lower speeds volition want to requite that some idea.
Flick quality
- Underwhelming HDR performance
- Lacks brightness
- Lacklustre viewing angles
Film quality from Sky Glass is no disaster – it's simply fine – only for £849 information technology's not unreasonable to expect meliorate.
The HDR operation suffers from a lack of brightness, the 55-inch model measures at a top luminance of 430 nits. That's not quite at the level needed to realise the potential of HDR. Highlights – the brightest part of the image – are dimly rendered whether in HDR10 or Dolby Vision.
While watching A 4K Dolby Vision presentation of John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, the scene where Wick faces off against two shinobi assassins depicts contrast that's mildly described and a moving picture somewhat 2-dimensional in scope. Watching Netflix, even the lights in the groundwork of Seinfeld's stand-up sets seem to lack luminosity.
Dolby Vision Vivid mode ekes out more brightness, while the Night contour provides ameliorate blacks. Merely even with Dolby Vision, when Wick visits Angelica Huston's The Director, there's visible blooming.
More effulgence can be found past turning off the light sensor, but it's disappointing to resort to that. I'm non all that convinced by Sky'south Intelligent Zonal Technology' local dimming system as it seems to have lilliputian impact. Apparently, it's been updated to be more aggressive, but there's not much effulgence to emphasise dissimilarity.
For a Quantum Dot panel, in that location's a surprising lack of punchiness, saturation and expressiveness to HDR colours. When Luv visits Wallace in Blade Runner 2049, the orangish glow of his chamber is wanly described, the color gradations lack finesse. Fine tuning is required to get more than out of the image.
A watch of Spurs against United in 4K HLG HDR, and though colours are firmer and more than naturally conveyed than the Hard disk drive presentation, the whites of the Spurs' player shirts lacked the gleam and effulgence I'd await. Heaven has released an update to boost HLG brightness, merely overall, in that location'due south a reserved feel to this Television receiver's HDR skills.
A strength of LCD TVs is night detail and Sky Glass handles that attribute well enough for a revealing picture, though this is more apparent with brighter images. Confronted with a dim image, such every bit when Starforce infiltrate the planet Torfa in Captain Marvel, and the lack of brightness makes earthworks out detail harder.
Blackness uniformity is fine, fugitive a washed-out appearance and ascribing a decent level of depth. However, with every chip of praise at that place'southward a caveat. Viewing angles are average and information technology doesn't accept a big shift off-axis to reveal washed out colours and blooming.
HD streaming is decent, simply like the story of Sky Glass' picture, it's upwards and down. At times abrupt and clear plenty to pick out fine detail, in others it produces a softness to faces, also as hardness and shininess to edges that distracts. Reducing sharpness helps but finding a middle ground is tricky. Motion treatment isn't the most adept either, with a slight blurriness noticeable even when people turn their heads.
There'south a great bargain of great content on Heaven Glass, but its picture performance doesn't wring the best out of it.
Sound quality
- Decent, punchy bass for a TV
- Polite impression of pinnacle channels
- A soundbar would offer better focus
The audio system derives more enjoyment. The first sample had a faulty woofer that caused distortion with the mildest of depression-end frequencies only the replacement was free from issues.
Sky Glass' 215W Dolby Atmos system is made up of 6 speakers: three that fire towards the listener, 2 that fire up and a woofer for the low frequencies. It's an improvement over TVs in its toll subclass, putting in a solid, weighty, and spacious presentation. Is information technology better than a budget soundbar? No, but this 2.1 system will suffice for the less demanding.
Vocals are emphasised, though not quite naturally, particularly when two voices speak at one time. Pump upwardly the book and voices have a sharp sense of tone but avoid sibilance. The effect of the Heighten Speech Quality setting is most evident on Sky content, with voices more prominent but the naturalness of the delivery a picayune stifled.
The sound system tin can register the difference between voices though, the bassy register of Dave Bautista's Sapper Morton in Blade Runner 2049 clearly distinctive to that of Ryan Gosling's Grand.
Effects are steered beyond the screen well, creating a soundfield that spreads beyond the Television set's iv corners. In The scene in Tenet where The Protagonist is interrogated in a train m as the trains creak past the width of the soundstage is effectively extended.
Loftier frequencies have clarity (if non overall sharpness), and bass is punchy though lacks real low-terminate authority, with bear upon sounds (punches, gunshots) softly described. Notwithstanding, it's better than near TVs fifty-fifty attempt to do.
And with Atmos there's a alpine achieve to the Drinking glass' sound in Blade Runner 2049 as Spinner cars and futuristic advertisements sit in a higher place and around the TV. An Atmos soundbar would evoke meliorate definition, simply compared to other TVs effectually its price, this is an improvement.
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Annals to purchase at Sky
Should you lot purchase it?
For Sky customers who want a simplified Idiot box experience, Sky Drinking glass distils the TV feel into a streamlined course in a way that hasn't been attempted. And it succeeds in some means just not in all of them.
If you are later on best moving-picture show and audio If you want the best motion picture and sound, so Sky Glass isn't – and never really was – aimed at you.
Final Thoughts
In terms of streamlining the TV experience, there'south plenty to laud about Heaven Glass. Information technology has its faults, just no one has attempted this before, which makes information technology catchy to judge.
But at that place's a sense that Sky Drinking glass is not quite where it needs to be. This is not trying to exist an OLED or premium QLED, merely Drinking glass' moving-picture show doesn't derive the best from the content Sky has assembled. And while it's not a premium Television set, add everything up and the subscription model incurs a premium price.
Heaven Glass doesn't ultimately succeed (notwithstanding) on its goal of unifying content, picture, and audio, but it'south an admirable first attempt. Updates will improve its current state, and with that in mind, it may exist best to await.
How we exam
Nosotros examination every televisions we review thoroughly over an extended flow of time. We use industry standard tests to compare features properly. We'll always tell you lot what we observe. We never, ever, accept money to review a production.
Discover out more about how we exam in our ethics policy.
Tested over several weeks
Tested with Hd, 4K and HDR content
Used as the main TV for review period
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FAQs
What Internet speed is required for Heaven Glass?
Sky says a minimum of 10Mb/s is required for the Glass TV. Minimum download speed for UHD is 25Mb/s.
How much does Sky Glass cost?
At its cheapest option, the 43-inch Sky Glass Television receiver plus the Sky Ultimate TV package costs £39/month.
Trusted Reviews test data
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HDMI (2.1)
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HDR
Types of HDR
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Jargon buster
QLED
QLED stands for Breakthrough-dot Calorie-free Emitting Diode. It's a brandish technology that uses small particles (chosen Quantum Dots) made upwards of slightly different sizes that produce different wavelengths (colours) when light is shone through them. This filter helps to emit a brighter and wider gamut of colours than a conventional LED Television set is capable of.
Dolby Vision
Dolby Vision is a variant of HDR, adding a layer of dynamic metadata to the cadre HDR bespeak. This dynamic metadata carries scene-past-scene (or frame-past-frame) instructions from content creators on how a Goggle box should present the images to improve everything from brightness to dissimilarity, detailing and color reproduction.
4K Ultra HD Television
4K (or Ultra Hard disk drive) refers to the resolution of a TV's display, which equates to the number of horizontal and vertical pixels that it can display. 4K TVs have a resolution of 3840 10 2160 (8.three million pixels), which is iv times that of a Total Hard disk drive TV. With more pixels, you get a sharper, clearer motion picture than is possible from an equivalent sized 1080p display.
Dolby Atmos
Dolby Atmos is an object-based sound format. It expands on 5.1 and 7.1 soundtracks by calculation overhead channels. Sounds are referred to as "sound objects", of which there can be upward to 128 sound channels, and these 'objects' can be accurately positioned within a 3D soundscape. This allows soundtracks that support the technology to place sounds in a higher place and around the listener with compatible kit.
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