Sling TV is one of the first companies to explore the world of live TV streaming without a cable company. The company has struggled to catch on in recent times, especially when compared to Netflix or Hulu, but it is slowly gaining momentum.
If you’re looking to lower your cable bill or satellite TV bill, you can’t go wrong with Sling TV. It offers a good number of channels packages and extra features without breaking the bank.
Check out our Sling TV review below to learn more about the service and how well it fits with your budget and needs.
Sling TV Packages and Pricing
The channel selections for each plan are clearly listed on Sling TV’s website.
If there’s one thing that’s true about TV packages, it’s that they’re overly complicated and expensive. With three simple and affordable pricing packages and a variety of add-ons, Sling TV is different.
You can purchase the Sling Blue package, Sling Orange package or Sling Orange + Sling Blue package. The main difference between these packages are the number and selection of channels available. Let’s take a look at the differences.
Sling Orange (this package gives you the least amount of channels)
- It costs $25 per month and only gives you 29+ channels.
- However, be aware that the channels you get with Sling Orange are typically the more popular or “premium” channels, including Disney channels, ESPN and more. Sling Orange only allows you to stream on one device at a time, including mobile devices.
Sling Blue
- This package also costs $25 per month, but it includes almost double the number of channels that Sling Blue provides.
- There is some overlap between the channel list, but Sling Blue offers channels like Fox and NBC, SyFy and FXX.
- Sling Blue allows you to stream on two devices at a time, including mobile devices.
Sling Orange + Sling Blue
- This package gives you everything that the Orange and Blue package provide
- With the exception of allowing you to up to four simultaneous streams, one on Sling Blue channels and three on Sling Orange channels.
As with most online TV streaming services, you’ll be required to enter credit card information in order to pay on an automatically renewing subscription. If you’re worried about getting charged, be sure to cancel before the renewal date.
Sling TV Extras and Add Ons
Sling TV gives you a lot of wiggle room to customize your viewing preferences.
Like many other cable services, Sling TV offers a variety of extras and add-ons that can enhance your viewing experience, especially if there are programs that are more enjoyable when watched live, like sports or the latest Game of Thrones episodes. Sling TV has compiled different add-on packages based on content categories, like News, Comedy or Sports.
If you’re looking for sports extras, you can purchase Sling TV’s sports add-on package for only $5 per month, which includes an extra 13 sports-specific channels like NBA TV, NHL Network and more.
You can also purchase a variety of premium channels like HBO, Showtime and Cinemax for an extra monthly cost.
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Sling TV also offers an extra DVR service that allows you to record your favorite shows when you aren’t home so you can still enjoy them when you have time. The good thing about Sling’s DVR is that it’s all stored in the cloud, meaning you won’t have to purchase a special device for storing your recorded shows.
The bad thing is that you can only store 50 hours worth of content before Sling starts automatically deleting old content.
Sling User Experience
Sling TV’s app interface is dark, but fairly easy to use.
Using Sling TV should be easy, but it has somewhat of a steep learning curve. This can ruin your first impression, but with some practice, you’ll get used to the little quirks.
The Sling TV app features a dark interface, with bright orange lines under shows you’re currently watching to indicate how far into the episode or movie you are.
Unfortunately, the rewind and fast-forward functionality is lacking, and we found the entire interface to be more glitchy than it should have been for a modern streaming service, even on a solid internet connection.
You can access Sling TV on almost any streaming device, including Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Chromecast or Sling TV’s own $100 AirTV player, among others.
How Does Sling Stack Up vs. Other Streaming Services?
Overall, Sling TV offers a solid and mostly reliable live TV streaming service, but how does it stack up to the competition?
When compared to major competitors like PlayStation Vue, YouTube TV, Hulu, DirectTV Now and others, Sling pretty much holds its own. It’s still the cheapest option out there, but that means it suffers in the kind of channel selection it offers. The more expensive services offer more channels without the need to pay more for premium channels like HBO.
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One area where Sling TV excels is the sheer number of add-ons and extras you can purchase to create a truly customizable TV viewing experience.
If you like news, you can buy the News package. If you like sports, buy the Sports package. This customization is a great feature that you’ll be hard-pressed to find somewhere else.
The cloud DVR functionality is also unique to Sling TV, and gives you more flexibility in the way you watch your favorite programs.
Is Sling TV for You?
So, is Sling TV the right choice for you?
The answer depends largely on your TV channel preferences and individual budget, but you can’t go wrong with ultra-affordable, live TV. Sling TV excels when you think of it as the budget choice that won’t give you everything your heart desires in a single package. It’s great for what it is, especially when compared to more expensive services.
However, that doesn’t mean that Sling TV is without its share of downsides and problems. The Sling TV app is buggy enough to be annoying, and you might get frustrated at the relatively small 50 GB of DVR storage, especially if you’re always missing your shows.
You’ll need a Wi Fi connection of at least 25 mbps to get the best viewing experience, which may be out of your price range.
All in all, Sling TV is a reliable TV streaming service with a good selection of content from which to choose. Sure, there are more options out there, but can they beat $25 per month?
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