Sky Glass Gen 2 vs Sky Glass Air: which TV should you buy?

Sky’s Glass concept remains refreshingly simple – a TV with the full Sky streaming experience built in, no satellite dish required, and no need for a separate soundbar.

If that sounds good to you, you’ve got two options to consider.

The Sky Glass Gen 2 sits as the more premium option, complete with full-array local dimming and an integrated Dolby Atmos sound system.

In the opposite corner, we have the newer Sky Glass Air, which trims back the hardware in pursuit of a dramatically lower price, while retaining the same Sky OS platform.

Both earned a respectable four-star rating in their respective reviews. But which one should you buy? We break down everything you need to know below.

Oh, and before we jump into the details, some context – our Sky Glass Gen 2 review sample was the 55-inch model, while the Sky Glass Air we tested was the 65-inch version. While our review sample sizes were different, elements such as the sound, performance, picture quality, and features can still be compared between the two.

Sky Glass Gen 2 vs Sky Glass Air: price

Sky Glass Gen 2 starts at £699 for the 43-inch version, £949 for the 55-inch model we reviewed, and £1199 for the 65-inch option. As with all Sky Glass sets, you can spread the hardware cost over 24 or 48 months, with a £20 upfront fee on pay-monthly plans.

That only covers the TV itself, mind. You’ll also need a Sky TV subscription, starting at £15 per month, and 4K plus Dolby Atmos costs an additional £6 per month. Add sport, movies, or other extras, and the monthly total can climb quickly.

As for the Sky Glass Air, it heavily undercuts its Gen 2 sibling. At the time of writing, the 65-inch model we reviewed costs £481 upfront or £9.50 per month over 48 months, again with a £20 upfront fee. Smaller sizes go even lower.

As with the Gen 2, those prices require a Sky subscription, so the real-world monthly spend depends on your package. Even so, from a hardware perspective, the Air is significantly cheaper.

If your priority is the lowest-cost entry into the Sky-toting TV ecosystem, the Air’s pricing is certainly the more persuasive of the two.

** Winner: Sky Glass Air **

Sky Glass Gen 2 vs Sky Glass Air: design

Sky Glass Gen 2 retains the bold, monolithic aesthetic of the original model, but improves it with a much more practical stand that simply slots into the chassis.

The lower portion houses an integrated Dolby Atmos soundbar, featuring drivers that fire diagonally from the ends, a centre speaker, an upgraded subwoofer, and two up-firing drivers mounted within the top edge.

It's chunky, but purposefully so – this is an all-in-one system designed to remove the need for extra boxes.

Sky Glass Air takes a cleaner, more conventional approach. It’s slimmer at the edges but thicker towards the bottom, where its stereo speakers reside. It lacks the sculptural presence of Gen 2’s soundbar, but still looks smarter than most budget sets.

It’s available in Carbon Grey, Cotton White, and Sea Green, with the eye-catching lighter finishes being particularly effective at disguising its low price. One caveat, though, is that the screen sits low on its wide base, which may complicate soundbar placement depending on your setup.

Ultimately, the look depends on your taste. The Gen 2 feels more purpose-built as a self-contained entertainment centre, but the Air is no eyesore by any means, and arguably more discreet.

** Winner: Draw **

Sky Glass Gen 2 vs Sky Glass Air: features

Both TVs run Sky OS, meaning you get the same deeply integrated content experience, strong content discovery, voice control, and app support. Everything streams over Wi-Fi, and there’s no traditional hard drive recording – content is cloud-based.

Under the hood, though, there are some notable differences.

The Sky Glass Gen 2 uses a Quantum Dot LCD panel with full-array local dimming, and our 55-inch sample featured 104 dimming zones. It supports HDR10, HLG, Dolby Vision, and Dolby Atmos audio.

Sky Glass Air also uses a Quantum Dot LCD panel, but its direct LED backlight has no independent dimming zones. It supports HDR10, HLG, and Dolby Vision, but not Dolby Atmos, and its audio system is a 2.0 stereo configuration with 15W per channel.

Both sets have three HDMI ports and support ALLM, but neither offers 4K/120Hz or VRR, which is something that demanding gamers will certainly want to take into account.

Neither allows manual selection of the low-latency gaming mode, either, which could frustrate gamers using devices without ALLM.

Overall, the Gen 2’s extra hardware, local dimming, and Atmos support give it an edge, but both deliver the same core Sky experience and share the same gaming limitations.

** Winner: Sky Glass Gen 2 **

Sky Glass Gen 2 vs Sky Glass Air: picture quality

Sky Glass Gen 2 delivers a bright, dynamic, and engaging image for an all-in-one TV. Watching Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One in Dolby Vision, highlights pop convincingly, colours look natural and warm, and there is a strong sense of depth.

With Civil War on 4K Blu-ray, the picture remains striking and vibrant, though the slight tendency to exaggerate reds becomes more apparent.

In Blade Runner 2049, the set shows impressive shadow detail and strong highlight contrast, but also reveals its most notable limitation – when scenes fade to black, the screen settles at dark grey rather than true black.

Despite that raised black floor, contrast in mixed-brightness scenes is still impressive, and the overall presentation is cinematic and immersive.

As should be expected, given the lack of local dimming, the Sky Glass Air can’t match the Gen 2’s contrast authority. Dark scenes look greyer, and faint corner clouding can occasionally be visible. Viewing angles are also more limited.

However, its performance is remarkably strong for the price. In Extra Vivid mode, HDR images are bright and colourful, with sharp detail and respectable shadow retention.

Dolby Vision content in particular strikes a pleasing balance of brightness and colour straight out of the box. With darker material, leaving some ambient light in the room helps mask the more limited black depth.

Gen 2 offers stronger contrast and a more cinematic feel overall, but the Air remains highly watchable and impressively balanced for the money.

** Winner: Sky Glass Gen 2 **

Sky Glass Gen 2 vs Sky Glass Air: sound quality

Sky Glass Gen 2 integrates what Sky describes as a Dolby Atmos soundbar, with drivers firing diagonally from the ends and two up-firing units mounted in the top edge.

In Blade Runner 2049, effects move convincingly across the soundstage, and there is good projection into the room.

Bass depth is lighter than you might expect, given the apparent dual subwoofer presence, and enabling the Bass Boost setting is advisable to add weight to voices and low frequencies.

It still can’t compete with the best soundbars, but for an integrated system, it is spacious, detailed, and immersive.

Sky Glass Air’s stereo system is simpler but surprisingly capable.

In It, the opening piano extends beyond the physical boundaries of the TV, and dialogue remains well anchored to the screen. It can go impressively loud without distortion, and bass has respectable impact for such an affordable set, though occasional sibilance creeps into dialogue.

Overall, the Gen 2 delivers greater scale and height, but the Air’s audio performance again exceeds expectations for the money.

** Winner: Sky Glass Gen 2 **

Sky Glass Gen 2 vs Sky Glass Air: verdict

Both the Sky Glass Gen 2 and Sky Glass Air are four-star performers, and both succeed in delivering Sky’s integrated TV vision.

The Glass Air is more affordable, yet produces a balanced, vibrant picture and capable sound, alongside the full Sky OS experience. If budget is your overriding concern, it is an extremely compelling option.

The Glass Gen 2, though, justifies its higher price with stronger contrast, a brighter and more cinematic presentation overall, and a more immersive Atmos-capable sound system. Its raised black floor and minor quirks prevent it from being perfect, but it remains the more complete package.

If you can stretch to it, the Gen 2 is the better overall TV. If you can’t, the Air is far from a compromise.

** Overall Winner: Sky Glass Gen 2 **