Sky has lifted the lid on a new Glass Gen 2 TV, nearly three years after launching the original, an LED TV with Sky built-in and accessed via a broadband connection, thus removing the need for a satellite dish.
And there is plenty to get excited about with the new set, as you can read in our TV and AV editor's opening impressions of Sky Glass Gen 2 from his hands-on experience at the TV’s launch event.
The short version is that, while it doesn’t have a Mini LED, let alone OLED, panel, the set does appear to be a big step up on the entertainment giant’s first offering.
First off, there have been “optimisations” to its local dimming powers, designed to improve black levels, contrast and the Glass Gen 2’s general picture quality. But, more importantly, Sky has completely reworked the set’s speaker setup, loading it with a new 3.1.2 speaker configuration it claims will “remove the need for a dedicated soundbar”.
If, like me, your immediate reaction to that was a cathartic sigh and overt sense of déjà vu, there’s a reason for that. Numerous companies including Philips, Panasonic and more have been making similar claims for years. The only difference here is that Sky has loaded a speakerbar setup onto a cheaper TV than normal, with the new Glass Gen 2 set to retail for as little as £14 per month on a subscription model.
We haven’t tested the sound-system properly yet, so I can’t comment on quality. But after testing plenty of TVs with similar setups for more than a decade, I’m still yet to find one that beats a competent soundbar, let alone speaker package. There are a multitude of reasons for this, but the biggest comes down to the inherent compromises brought about by modern TVs’ dimensions; there’s only so much air that can be moved in such a slim space…
Which is why, while all this was going on, I had the synapses in my aging brain briefly flash back into life and remind me of another key bit of Sky tech I would love to see resurrected: the Sky Soundbox.
This was a short-lived soundbar that Sky built in partnership with French hi-fi brand Devialet, and which we originally reviewed in 2019. The idea was to offer buyers a cohesive soundbar that could elevate any Sky customer's home audio.
It didn’t quite achieve sonic home-cinema greatness, scoring a four-star rating when we reviewed it due to its slight lack of bass definition and the omission of Dolby Atmos audio support; but I still think the idea makes perfect sense, especially with a product such as Sky Glass.
For me, Glass’s appeal is simple: it’s an easy to understand subscription service that takes care of all your home entertainment needs. You pay your money to Sky and for that you get your streaming subscription (content) and hardware needs delivered in one neat package. And while I like the fact that Sky wants to keep it “affordable enough” for normal people, I can’t help but think it needs a more premium tier for more serious home cinema aficionados.
As I said in a previous opinion piece, on why Sky should offer an OLED Glass tier, there are plenty who can’t afford the up-front cost of a top-end TV and soundbar, who might still want something more premium than what Sky currently offers at a hardware level.
A part of this fictional tier for Glass should be a premium sound system that can match the best in the business. And, with a hardware spruce and some needed modernisations, including Dolby Atmos support, a new Soundbox could be that system.
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