Sky Glass Gen 2 announced – but that’s not all

When Sky introduced Sky Glass back in 2021, it was a big deal. Not because it offered the best display or the nicest design, but because it provided a different way of buying a TV. Like a phone contract, there were flexible monthly payments, making a new TV more accessible to those that didn’t want to put a lump sum on a credit card.

But that wasn’t the only reason Sky Glass was exciting. It also had Sky TV built in, allowing you to access the company’s wide range of content over the internet rather than requiring a satellite dish. At the time, that was huge news. Now we have Sky Stream too of course so it’s less groundbreaking these days, but in 2021, it was a big revelation.

Fast forward to today and there’s a new Sky Glass in town – actually there are sort of two. Sky Glass Gen 2 has a brighter 4K HDR display, enhanced audio and a couple of improvements – but Sky also announced Sky Glass Air, which will arrive later this year as a cheaper option. Back to Sky Glass Gen 2 though. What’s it like and how is it different to the original Sky Glass? We were at the launch event to find out.

Sky Glass Gen 2 vs Sky Glass differences

It’s fair to say that the original Sky Glass was never praised for superb picture quality. If you wanted the best TV out there in terms of display, you needed to be looking at LG, Samsung, Sony and Panasonic to find that.

But Sky Glass did offer great sound quality thanks to its built-in soundbar and there were some nice features too. Night Mode reduced louder sounds in a similar way to Sonos soundbars; I’ve always appreciated the speech enhancement feature for making it easier to hear what people are saying; and the Sky Sports Low Latency feature reduces broadcast delay by around 22 seconds. All these are on board Sky Glass Gen 2 of course.

But Sky Glass Gen 2 has a seven-speaker Dolby Atmos sound system built-in that has been re-engineered to offer richer 360-degree cinematic sound, along with richer bass and improved clarity. For context, the original Sky Glass has six speakers.

Alongside the enhancement in sound, Sky has also improved the display of Glass Gen 2. The 4K Quantum Dot display is said to be brighter with new advanced HDR and precision contrast enhancement technology to make the blacks blacker and whites brighter. There is also a wider viewing angle compared to the original Sky Glass, and the display is said to be more accurate too. 

When it comes to the user interface – this isn’t any different to what you will see on the current Sky Glass or Sky Stream – they share the same OS. That is now called Sky OS in a name change from Entertainment OS, but that will apply to the original Sky Glass and Sky Stream too. It’s simple to navigate but voice control is the easiest way to find what you might want on Sky Glass. The Gen 2 mode has built-in microphones too so saying “Hello Sky” followed by what you want to watch will make your life easier.

Sky has made a couple of software adjustments to Sky Glass Gen 2 however, in that the new TV will know what is on and automatically optimise the picture and sound accordingly. The picture modes – which were all offered on the original Sky Glass – have all been updated too in order to improve accuracy. The modes include Entertainment, Movies, Music, Auto, Vivid, Extra Vivid and Sport.

Design-wise, not a huge amount has changed compared to the original Sky Glass. Both generations are thicker than other TVs on the market, and the built-in, colour-matched soundbar still remains at the bottom of the display. Size options are the same for Sky Glass Gen 2 as Sky Glass with a 43-inch model, 55-inch model and 65-inch model, but there are new colours, with Volcanic Grey, Arctic Silver and Atlantic Blue replacing the original Sky Glass’ Ocean Blue, Ceramic White, Racing Green, Dusky Pink, and Anthracite Black options.

Sky Glass Gen 2 and Sky Glass Air price and availability

Sky Glass Gen 2 is available to buy for £14 a month for the 43-inch, £19 a month for the 55-inch, and £24 a month for the 65-inch model, starting 12 February. You can get it on sky.com. Remember you will need to pay for a Sky package separately, which starts at £15 a month for the Sky Essential TV package, which includes Netflix.

Sky Glass Air will launch later this year. Sky hasn’t detailed exactly when as yet but we will update this once we know more. What we do know is that it will come in three sizes, three colours, including a Sea Green that Sky’s Global Chief Product Officer, Fraser Stirling, was very excited about, and it too will launch on the Sky OS platform.