- Sky has announced its new Sky Glass Gen 2 and Sky Glass Air TVs
- Sky Glass Gen 2 upgrades screen and soundbar
- Sky Glass Air is cheaper but won't launch until "later" in 2025
Sky has announced the new version of its Sky Glass 4K TV, appropriately called the Sky Glass Gen 2. Like the original, it’s a 4K TV with HDR and a built-in Dolby Atmos sound system, but with upgrades to basically every part of the TV, naturally.
The soundbar consists of seven drivers, arranged in left, centre and right channels, with a dual subwoofer system. There’s a fabric mesh covering that looks pretty nice. It’s a more powerful system than the original, designed to really “pack a punch” according to Sky.
The screen is upgraded with “way more LEDs” in a full array backlight with a higher number of local dimming zones, though Sky notably isn’t calling it mini-LED. Sky says you’ll get a big brightness improvement, and much wider viewing angles than the original.
Quantum dots are used to help ensure rich colours and that it stays bright. It’ll be available in 43-inch, 55-inch and 65-inch sizes. Sky Glass Gen 2 will be available in three colors: Atlantic Blue, Volcanic Grey (aka black) and Arctic Silver (aka white).
It can be wall-mounted or used on its stand, and the stand is geared for tool-less installation – Sky emphasised that it wants everything to be fast and easy here, ranging from it being a whole smart TV and sound system that only needs on cable, over to how easy it should be to set up in the first place.
One other feature to note is that the Sky Glass Gen 2 does have HDMI eARC if you want to connect to larger surround sound system and bypass the built-in soundbar. It also three HDMI inputs overall – Sky says most of its customers don't even use all of those, let along a fourth.
The screen is still a 60Hz screen, so these HDMI ports don't include HDMI 2.1 features other than the one eARC port. Sky didn't have a specific reason as to why this TV remained 60Hz when budget competition, including the Hisense U7N and TCL C805 offer 120Hz refresh rates to complete with the best gaming TVs.
The new Sky Glass Gen 2 is available from February 12 via Sky, and is coming to Currys later in February.
It costs the same as the first Sky Glass, with the same interest-free payment options, meaning you can pay over 24 or 48 months.
The 43-inch model will cost £14 per month, the 55-inch version £19 per month, while the 65-inch model will set you back £24 per month (these prices are all across the 48-month period). Sky claims this is a 30% saving over equivalent TV and soundbar combo.
If you already have a Sky Glass and are in the middle of your payment contract, there's no option to upgrade to the new model mid-contract. The original Sky Glass will be supported with Sky OS upgrades for for foreseeable future; Sky says it's not near the end of its life.
Something in the Air
That’s not the only TV Sky is launching this year, though. The company also announced Sky Glass Air, which is remains a little mysterious right now. It’s promised to be cheaper than the Sky Glass Gen 2, it’s thinner, and lacks the chunky built-in sound system.
It’ll launch “later” in 2025, but I have no specific price or date right now, though Sky said that it was aiming to hit a sweet spot of under £600. I do know that it will have a 4K HDR screen with quantum dot colour, and that it will come in the same 43-inch, 55-inch and 65-inch sizes as Sky Glass Gen 2.
Sky Glass Air will come in three colours as well, but they’ll be Cotton White, Carbon Grey (aka black) and Sea Green. Both of these TVs will run the renamed Sky OS software, which is the updated version of the software running on the original Sky Glass and Sky Stream.
There wasn’t much information about new features to expect at this time, although Sky said it’s managed to reduce the delay on streaming 4K HDR Dolby Atmos sport by 22 seconds, reducing the likelihood that you’ll hear about a goal from your neighbours or WhatsApp before you see it.
Sky also announced a new Gigafast+ home internet hub, which it was will be its fastest-ever home network connection.
This is a breaking story and we'll be updating it with more information as soon as we get it...
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