Sky’s Big TV Gamble: Can The Cheaper Glass Air Compete?

While Sky Glass Gen 2 is taking most of the attention these days, Sky has another surprise up its sleeve – Sky Glass Air, a cheaper version of their streaming TV that’s coming later this year. But does anyone actually need it?

At last week’s launch event, Sky revealed their vision for a more affordable TV that ditches the fancy soundbar while keeping the smarts. But in a market flooded with affordable 4K TVs, Sky’s new budget offering might face an uphill battle.

I had a chance to see the new model in action, and while there are some promising features, the price will probably make or break this new TV. For now – Here’s everything we know about Sky’s attempt to corner the budget TV market.

A Bit of Background

If you haven’t been following Sky’s rather dramatic transformation over the past few years, here’s a quick recap: Back in 2021, Sky decided to shake things up by launching their own TV set.

Sky Glass was basically their attempt to drag satellite TV into the streaming age – no dish required, no box under the TV, just one power cable and your WiFi connection.

It was a bold move, and I’ll admit I was pretty sceptical at first. But it seems to have worked – according to Sky, 90% of their new customers are now choosing either Glass or their Stream box instead of the traditional Sky Q setup (but, to be fair, Sky Q is now totally hidden on Sky’s website, and I assume it’s not being pushed in Sky Stores either).

Last week, Sky launched Glass Gen 2, which addresses some of the main complaints about the original – better picture quality (especially those troublesome blacks), improved sound from a new seven-speaker system, and various other refinements.

The upgrade was long overdue, coming more than three years after the original Glass hit the market. But at least they kept the same pricing, with the TV starting at £699 (or £14/month over 48 months) – see my full Glass vs Glass Gen 2 comparison.

What’s This Air Thing Then?

Sky Glass Air, which was also revealed last week but is expected to launch later this year, is essentially Glass’s cheaper cousin.

It’ll come in the same three sizes as regular Glass (43″, 55″ and 65″), but with one major difference – no built-in soundbar.

And despite the somewhat confusing “Air” name (which makes you think of those ultra-thin OLED displays), it’s not particularly slim.

In fact, when you mount it on a wall, it’ll actually stick out due to its bumpy back design (unlike Glass and Glass Gen 2, which have a flat back).

They’re launching it in three new colours – Carbon Grey, Cotton White and Sea Green – nothing particularly exciting, and because it’s slimmer than Glass Gen 2, the colours don’t stand out as much anyway.

Sky Glass Air: Under The Hood

Let’s talk about what you actually get. Air will run the same Sky OS system as regular Glass, which I’ve grown to like over the years.

It brings together all your streaming services (Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video, etc.) alongside Sky’s channels in one place, and the search actually works well most of the time – which is more than I can say for some other smart TV platforms.

On the technical side, Air comes with a 4K Quantum Dot HDR display with global dimming and contrast enhancement – which sounds promising on paper, though we’ll have to wait and see how it performs in the real world.

The sound system is more basic than regular Glass, with 2.0 stereo speakers and Dolby Audio – so you might want to budget for a soundbar if you care about audio quality.

The voice control is staying – just say “Hello Sky”, and you can search for shows, change channels, adjust volume and so on. Yes, that means your TV is always listening, but that’s pretty much the norm these days anyway.

One improvement over regular Glass – the ports are now on the side instead of being awkwardly placed flat against the back.

Anyone who’s ever tried to plug an HDMI cable into wall-mounted Glass will know what a pain that was (but the downside is that this is part of the back-bump that I mentioned).

Here’s where things get a bit tricky: Like all Sky Glass devices, Air uses the “Playlist” system instead of traditional recording.

Press the + button, and shows are added to a streaming playlist rather than being recorded locally. It’s fine for Netflix and other streaming apps, but for regular TV channels? Some people still prefer old-style recording.

Yes, Sky does some cloud recording behind the scenes, but not for every channel, and some shows might vanish from your Playlist after a while. It’s one of those things that sounds great in theory but can be frustrating in practice.

The Freeview situation is another potential headache. While Air will have an aerial socket like regular Glass, I assume it will continue to work only as a backup when your internet dies.

And with the streaming-based list of Freeview channels still being limited (with quite a few smaller Freeview channels not having a streaming version on Sky) – you’re missing out compared to the full aerial-based library that regular Freeview offers.

The Big Question – Price

Here’s the thing – Sky hasn’t announced the price yet, and that’s going to make or break this product.

Regular Glass Gen 2 starts at £699 (or £14/month over 48 months), and Sky justifies that premium price by pointing to the fancy Dolby Atmos soundbar built in.

But Air? Without that soundbar, it’s basically just another 4K TV with some smart features built in. And let’s be honest – you can pick up a decent 4K TV these days for not much money, slap a Sky Stream box on it (starting from £15/month), and get pretty much the same experience.

Unless Sky prices Air really aggressively, I’m struggling to see who it’s for. And that’s before we even get into questions about picture quality – will they use cheaper panels to hit lower price points?

We’ll have to wait and see – while remembering that the original Sky Glass was surprisingly popular.

Should You Care?

If you’re in the market for a new TV and like the idea of having Sky built in, it might be worth waiting to see how Air shapes up – especially if you’ve already got a decent sound system.

But remember – whichever Sky TV you choose, you’ll need an ongoing Sky subscription (starting from £15/month for the new Essential package) to make it worthwhile.

For most people, I reckon a regular TV paired with Sky Stream might make more sense – at least you can more easily swap it out for something else if you change your mind.

• Check Sky Stream Offers
• Check Sky Glass Offers

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