Sky Glass Gen 2 Review: Brighter and better

Introduction

It’s been almost four years since the original Sky Glass was released, which in the TV world is an age.

The original Sky Glass took flak for its below-par picture but received kudos for its interface, encouraging TV watchers to gorge on content from any service.

With all the feedback Sky has taken from the Gen 1 model, Sky Glass Gen 2 TV looks like a step up in the right places. Is this latest version worth your money?

Price

Sky Glass Gen 2 went on sale February 12^th, 2025, and it costs the same as the original Glass TV.

Prices start at £14/month for the smallest screen, £19/month for the middle size and £24/month for the largest screen. You can choose the length of the contract with a 24-month contract offering the best value according to Sky, or pay off in rolling 31-day contracts.

Paying for the TV upfront is another option. That’ll cost £699 / £949 / £1199 for small, medium and big respectively. Sky Glass Gen 2 is also available to buy from Currys too.

Design

• Same look as before
• Weight has been reduced
• Three sizes available

I had my fingers crossed that Sky Glass 2 would be slimmer than the original and weigh less. We are one for two on that count.

Sky Glass 2 is much less heavy than the first model. This 65-inch screen I reviewed weighs a still hefty 30.3kg, but the original 55-inch screen was 28kg. Despite the diet it’s been on, the overall design is identical, so it has a relatively chunky depth of 47.7mm.

The stand has been redesigned to slot and clip into the TV. When the TV is first delivered, you can leave it to the couriers to assemble it or do it yourself.

For the 65-inch size I’d say you need two people to put it together as attaching the stand is harder than you think. We had to flip the TV over and slip the stand in, and once in place the stand didn’t feel the most secure. Brush past the TV and it wobbles slightly.

Sizes also come in 43-, and 55-inches with no size bigger than the 65-inch model. There are three updated colours to choose from in Volcanic Grey, Arctic Silver and Atlantic Blue.

Sky doesn’t (or hasn’t) mentioned anything about managing screen reflections. Sky Glass Gen 2 seems to handle them a little better due to its increased brightness but reflections still manage to make their appearance felt.

Viewing at wider angles are better with less of a drop off in colour and brightness; but creep a little further and colours become washed out and black levels change, while blooming becomes more noticeable.

Connectivity

• Three HDMI inputs
• AirPlay 2 support

Disappointingly there are only three HDMI inputs which I find stingy but this is a TV positioned to the mass market, and with a focus on streaming. If you buy the Sky Live camera, one of the HDMI and USB-C inputs will be eaten up by it.

HDMI 2 is the eARC input for connecting an external sound system, while there’s DTT DBV-T/T2 antennae as backup if your Wi-Fi goes down.

There are two USB inputs, including one that can be used for Common Interface+, along with an Ethernet port for a hardwired connection to your home hub. Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2 Low Energy and Apple AirPlay 2 cover the rest of the connectivity options.

User Experience

Sky’s Entertainment OS had been re-dubbed as Sky OS though it’s just a name change – everything else is pretty much the same as before.

There are the rails where you can find TV series and films, while Sky’s non-partisan approach to apps means that one isn’t promoted over any other. Warner Bros Discovery’s Max app will be integrated into Sky’s TV packages in early 2026, while Crunchyroll has also been added.

Both the ‘Continue Watching’ rail and Playlist have proven popular among customers, but aside from some visual retouching for the former, I can’t see any major differences. The interface is faster and more responsive – scrolling through the rails feels more fluid and there’s fewer instances of slowdown.

A benefit of Sky OS’ Continue Watching is access to UK catch-up apps such as iPlayer and Channel 4. That’s not available on Google TV or other TV interfaces.

The Playlist section has been updated, so as well as adding films and TV series, you can add actors and their films. You can also split Playlist into different profiles, so you can keep your favourite stuff siloed from others in the house.

Sky is still going with the ‘recording’ line for Playlist, though this ‘recording’ happens in the cloud rather than on a hard-drive. If a film or TV series moves from one app to another, Sky keeps track of it, but access will depend on whether you have a subscription to the service.

Voice control is reliable and performed either through saying ‘Hey Sky’ or pressing the mic button on the remote. It is a neat trick that you can fast forward or rewind or add a programme to you playlist – it’s the kind of functionality you don’t get with other TV brands.

The remote looks to be the same as before, and I have to say, I was hoping Sky would ditch the batteries and go for USB-C charging.

Features

• Enhanced sound system
• 60Hz panel
• ALLM for gamers

Sky Glass Gen 2 has a Quantum Dot LED screen (there’s no Mini LED support) and all Sky will allude to is that is has local dimming. I’ve counted over 100 zones on the 65-inch model, which should help produce stronger black levels and contrast than the original.

HDR support includes HDR10, HLG (for live broadcasts) and Dolby Vision. There’s no Dolby Vision IQ but you can choose between Bright and Dark versions in the settings.

New picture modes exits the introduction of Extra Vivid for bright viewing environments. It offers more punch and contrast. Though weirdly doesn’t seem as bright as the ‘normal’ Vivid mode.

On the audio side there’s Dolby Atmos and Dolby Digital+ support. The sound system has had its power output pushed up to 250W from 215W. Hopefully there’s more grunt under the hood with the TV’s built-in 3.1.2 Atmos supporting speaker system.

Sky Live is compatible with this new model but is available separately.

Gaming

If you were hoping for 4K/120Hz gaming support for Sky Glass 2, prepare to be disappointed.

There’s no VRR but there is ALLM that puts the TV into its lowest latency mode.

There isn’t a selectable gaming mode which makes it hard to figure out the TV’s input lag. In the TV’s ‘normal’ picture modes it registers as 65.3ms – better than Sky Glass 1’s 82ms – and that suggests it’s faster than before but I can’t figure it out its true input lag as 65.3ms is way off the best gaming TVs.

If you’re not gaming via console there’s Play Works and Sky Kids games via Sky OS.

Picture Quality

• Brighter picture
• Less blooming
• More vibrant colours

The least impressive aspect of the original Sky Glass was its picture. Sky Glass Gen 2 improves on that but some niggles remain.

Let’s start with the positives first. Sky Glass Gen 2 is bright – very bright. In Vivid mode it hits 1195 nits on a 10% HDR window (weirdly, the Extra Vivid mode is less bright). In its Entertainment mode it can each 910 nits, which is a substantial boost over the original.

But all that brightness would be moot if it couldn’t control black levels and contrast, and Sky Glass 2 is better at this aspect of picture quality than the original. Black levels are stronger – not to OLED levels but much more respectable – while contrast is more obvious, which all helps to produce a more pleasing HDR image.

Blooming (halos of light in the darkest parts of the image) is less obvious when viewing from a head on position during the scene in Disney’s Soul where Joe Gardner falls into the Great Beyond. Move to the sides and blooming does become more noticeable, but the same applies to TVs such as the Samsung QN90D.

There’s a boost in vibrancy to its colours with HDR films and TV series – comparing a 4K Blu-ray of Dune: Part Two against a cheerfully cheap Sharp 4K TV and Sky Glass showcases a much brighter image and displays a wider range of colours on show.

The Extra Vivid mode ups the brightness and colours with a 4K Blu-ray of Cinderella, but it does crush detail in the darkest parts. The image also carries more of a processed look with a reddish/yellow tint to skintones, but blue tones show up well. It’s a richer saturated look that works in some instances but also looks noisy in others.

As far as HDR does, Sky Glass Gen 2 is a much better audition for Sky’s own content and any other 4K content you have at hand.

Now onto the not so good parts.

Similar to Sky Glass Gen 1, this isn’t the sharpest looking 65-inch TV with a 4K Blu-ray of The Penguin. I’d make the argument that a 65-inch screen is more about size and scale but whether it’s a 4K Blu-ray or a stream there’s a lack of fine detail. My 65-inch A80L shows more detail watching the same content but it is more expensive than Sky Glass 2.

With motion, Sky says it offers frame rate matching to avoid judder and it works. The problem is the slight blurriness whenever people move, or there’s a slow panning shot or fast action shots on screen. Detail levels drop and the picture doesn’t look as sharp.

There are banding issues with both streams and 4K Blu-rays. There’s some noticeable banding (strips of colour) when viewing the Chinese F1 Grand Prix, and in The Martian (4K Blu-ray) there’s banding when Matt Damon’s character enters the HAB.

Upscaling

• Bright and colourful
• Some red/green striping

While Sky offers plenty of 4K content but it’s not included as standard – you need to purchase the UHD/Atmos package. Unless you have that, you’ll be watching HD content or lower, and the experience is mixed.

What’s good is the level of brightness with SDR content that approaches HDR in some cases. A Blu-ray of Man of Steel looked so bright in some scenes, I almost felt as if I had to look away. There’s strong contrast, deep SDR black levels and a colourful performance that showcases a wide range of tones.

There are what seems to be some picture processing issues, with some red/green striping present in a number of scenes. It’s the same across Blu-rays, DVDs and even streaming sources.

I see the red/green striping in shadows on people’s faces in Brookyln Nine-Nine (Netflix). Tones that should be white are green in a DVD of King Kong as the Venture crashes into Skull Island. Once seen it’s a little hard to ignore.

Sound Quality

• Dual subwoofers
• Upfiring speakers

Sky describes the built-in sound system as offering 360-degree “cinematic” sound. I never found the sound to be firing at me – it’s fairly head-on but you could get a different experience if you’re in a smaller room or one where the walls are close to the TV.

Regardless, what Sky Glass 2 does better than any TV at its price is offer a sense of what’s happening above the TV and even slightly behind it. From Alien: Romulus to Twisters, Civil War and Dune: Part Two, I can hear helicopters, weather systems or missiles flying above the TV. It’s pretty impressive how the TV extends sound above the TV, and how spacious it can sound too.

I noticed some depth to the intense weather scenes in Twister, while dialogue is always clear and natural sounding.

What I don’t love is the bass despite there being two subwoofers.

It routinely sounds flat to me, lacking punch, energy, and ultimately excitement with films and TV series. Even with Bass Boost enabled, which has a slight effect on increasing bass levels, it’s not the most powerful bass performance.

A TV such as Philips OLED809 sounds more convincing in this area. When there’s a lot happening at the same time, I don’t get the sense the TV’s sound system can handle all of it at the same time. Pushing the volume up can add some harshness to the sound but I find that at lower volume levels Sky Glass 2 sounds tame.

Should you buy it?