Up next in 10
I Put Sling TV to the Test! Pros, Cons and Is It Really Worth It?
0 views
Aug 22, 2024
Should You Get Sling TV? I Created a Free Checklist to Help You Decide: https://michaelsaves.com/streaming/sling-tv-checklist/ 🚨Get started with Sling TV here: https://michaelsaves.com/recommends/sling/ 💰 Get the latest deals: https://michaelsavesdeals.com/ 💻 Find a better internet plan: https://michaelsaves.com/internet-plan-comparison-tool/ If you want a live TV streaming service but YouTube TV is too expensive, Sling TV may be a money-saving option. I break down the pros and cons in this updated review. Start your regular Amazon shopping with my link to support the channel: https://www.amazon.com/shop/michaelsaves NOTE: This description box includes an affiliate link. If you use my link, I may receive a small commission. It helps offset the 80% decline in YouTube revenue my channel has experienced since November 2022. Need a personal recommendation for streaming TV, phone or internet service? Email [email protected]! FOLLOW MICHAEL SAVES: Website: https://michaelsaves.com/ Deal Alerts: https://michaelsavesdeals.com/ Newsletter: https://michael-saves.ck.page/f5bd405e84 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/themichaelsaves
View Video Transcript
0:00
when people tell me they want a live TV
0:02
streaming service but YouTube TV is just
0:05
too expensive a lot of times I tell them
0:08
check out sling TV I recently paid for a
0:11
month of the service using a halfof deal
0:13
from Michael saves deals.com and in this
0:16
updated review I'm covering the pros the
0:19
cons everything you need to know before
0:22
you sign up let's get started number one
0:24
is the pricing and this is probably the
0:27
best thing that sling TV has going for
0:29
it sling is priced right in between
0:31
premium live TV services and budget live
0:35
TV services I call it premium light now
0:38
pricing can change at any time you know
0:40
that but as of this recording you can
0:43
get one of Sling TV's two based plans
0:46
for $40 a month no contract required
0:49
that is more than $30 a month less than
0:53
YouTube TV I've been tracking sling TV
0:55
for years the service typically does not
0:58
run a free trial but what is typical
1:01
discounts on the first month of service
1:04
for new and returning subscribers there
1:07
are also seasonal deals if you prepay
1:10
for several months of service upfront
1:12
number two the channel lineup sling TV
1:15
is more customizable than other live TV
1:18
services as I mentioned it offers two
1:20
base plans and there are also add-on
1:23
channel packages the base plans are
1:26
called sling orange and sling blue the
1:29
number one reason to consider sling
1:31
orange is ESPN as well as several other
1:34
Disney owned networks you won't get
1:37
those with sling blue now sling blue has
1:39
a better overall mix of channels it
1:42
includes some sports networks like FS1
1:45
and NFL network but it can also work as
1:48
a standalone bundle for non-sports fans
1:51
who still want some cable TV networks
1:53
sling blue channels include cable news
1:55
networks Bravo USA and TLC I should also
2:00
mention there are also a couple dozen
2:02
channels included in both plans A&E
2:06
Comedy Central Food Network HGTV TBS TNT
2:11
and more I'm always looking out for your
2:13
money and the best way to save with
2:15
sling is to stick with one of the two
2:17
base plans but if you want both you can
2:20
combine them and pay a lower price there
2:23
are also add-ons available for purchase
2:26
these are called sling extras let me
2:29
show you one popular combination sling
2:32
orange and sling blue plus the sports
2:35
extras and that'll get you NFL Red Zone
2:38
and everything else here there's a lot
2:41
ACC Network BTN FS2 golf even Tennis
2:46
Channel so what's the catch well sling
2:49
has always been priced below premium
2:51
live TV services because it doesn't have
2:54
full coverage for locals here's what you
2:57
need to know the sling blue plan
2:59
includes locals in markets where ABC NBC
3:03
and fox own the stations no CBS stations
3:07
are offered I live in the Miami market
3:10
and I get NBC with sling because the
3:12
local station is owned by NBC but my
3:16
local ABC and fox they are not owned by
3:20
the networks so I don't get those with
3:23
sling TV in my hometown Washington DC
3:27
NBC and fox are both owned by the
3:29
networks and they're available with
3:32
sling TV and there are a handful of
3:34
cities including New York City where ABC
3:38
NBC and fox are all owned by the
3:41
networks so in that case sling TV
3:44
subscribers get all three now some
3:46
people view the way sling handles locals
3:49
as a pro others view it as a con but the
3:52
bottom line is that sling works best for
3:55
people who can pick up their local
3:56
stations with an antenna if you're
3:59
someone who likes everything about sling
4:01
except for the locals chances are you'll
4:04
find what you need with a premium live
4:06
TV service YouTube TV Hulu live or
4:10
Direct TV stream just know you'll be
4:12
paying more for full local coverage all
4:15
right stick with me I've got a few quick
4:17
updates before I share some of my
4:19
thoughts about the user experience
4:22
number three today is the cloud DVR and
4:24
you don't get unlimited Cloud DVR
4:26
storage with sling TV it's not even an
4:29
option the base plan includes 50 hours
4:31
of storage at recording time not much
4:34
and you can upgrade to DVR Plus and get
4:37
$200 hours $5 a month one benefit of DVR
4:41
Plus the new auto record feature and
4:45
this automatically records all the
4:47
biggest games and gives you 3 days to
4:49
watch them before they expire with all
4:51
these games the recordings will not
4:53
count against your 200 hours of DVR
4:56
storage I've tested sling TV on all
4:59
types devices TVs phones and computers
5:03
but number four today stream limits you
5:05
need to consider with sling orange you
5:07
can only stream on one device at a time
5:11
that's it now I've always assumed this
5:13
has something to do with sling TV's deal
5:15
with Disney since the sling blue plan is
5:18
not nearly as restrictive with that plan
5:21
you get up to three simultaneous streams
5:25
number five sling TV now offers 4K
5:28
streaming now live TV streaming services
5:31
make very little content available in 4k
5:34
but at least sling TV doesn't charge
5:37
extra for it the service began rolling
5:39
out 4K streaming in July 2024 and I
5:43
streamed some of the Olympics in 4k with
5:45
sling but I haven't seen much else since
5:47
then and I would like an easy way to
5:50
identify 4K content while browsing maybe
5:53
that's something they're working on
5:54
number six the user experience sling TV
5:58
has made gradual impr improvements over
6:00
the years but there are some changes
6:02
that I'd still like to see I like that
6:04
sling now lets you create additional
6:06
user profiles and the main advantage of
6:09
multiple profiles more personalized
6:12
content for different users let's check
6:14
out the home screen the top row includes
6:16
a handful of recommendations and these
6:18
are based on trending content also your
6:21
viewing history notice that when I hover
6:23
on a thumbnail a live video preview
6:26
autop plays not bad the home screen has
6:29
some other shortcuts to your most
6:31
watched channels recent recordings also
6:34
continue watching all this is fine with
6:36
me one change I would like to see at the
6:39
very bottom of the home screen there's
6:42
this Browse by Channel section with
6:44
channel logos and I only wish this was
6:46
higher up on the home screen when you're
6:48
navigating the sling app from a TV set
6:51
click left on your remote and you're
6:53
going to see the following options main
6:56
sections include search home guide DVR
7:00
and On Demand when I opened the live
7:02
guide the first thing I noticed a
7:05
growing list of filters in the channel
7:07
guide now I'm guessing this is because
7:09
the guide now includes hundreds of Sling
7:11
free stream channels these are channels
7:14
that you can access without a paid
7:16
subscription and sling just keeps adding
7:19
more and more of them now correct me if
7:20
I'm wrong but I did not see a way to
7:23
exclude the free stream channels and
7:26
only see the paid channels so if you
7:28
want to do that you can always use the
7:30
favorites filter to only see your top
7:33
channels one thing I like I can click
7:35
star on my Roku remote and set a
7:38
recording directly from the live guide
7:40
and when you're recording a series
7:42
you'll see options for a single episode
7:44
new episodes or new episodes and reruns
7:48
not a whole lot new to say about the DVR
7:50
that I haven't already covered but I
7:52
wanted to show you what this section
7:54
looks like when you come here you can
7:56
select a recording and either watch it
7:59
or or delete it to free up some storage
8:02
space there's a separate on demand
8:04
section now I mostly avoid this because
8:07
when you watch this content there will
8:09
be advertising and you can't skip these
8:12
ads of course for your DVR recordings
8:14
you can always fast forward through the
8:17
commercials so while we're talking about
8:19
that a viewer once left me a comment
8:21
about the playback speeds when you
8:23
rewind or fast forward they said they
8:25
were all too fast well I can tell you I
8:28
completely agree I found that it takes a
8:31
while to get used to and I don't really
8:33
know if I've mastered it yet while
8:35
you're watching live TV just click down
8:38
on your remote that way you can access
8:40
the playback controls as well as a mini
8:43
guide with recent channels and all
8:45
channels this is also where you can turn
8:48
on sport scores that'll appear on the
8:50
screen I've showed you what happens when
8:52
you click down while watching live TV
8:54
well when you click up then you'll
8:56
return to browse the main live guide and
8:58
the show that you're watching it'll move
9:00
to the bottom right corner of the screen
9:03
I'm on the settings menu now this offers
9:05
a few ways to customize the service
9:08
directly from your TV set this is also
9:10
where you can turn on parental controls
9:13
to not just restrict content but limit
9:16
purchases and rentals there's quite a
9:18
bit of upselling within the sling TV app
9:21
number seven today a couple odds and
9:23
ends that I noticed while navigating the
9:25
app first sling rewards and this is a
9:29
weep Saks watch 30 minutes a day and
9:32
then you earn entries to win a cash
9:34
prize this is open to users with either
9:37
a paid or free sling account and I also
9:41
noticed this sling Scapes channels
9:43
they're in the live guide and there's a
9:45
few of them these are just animations
9:47
with relaxing music I think they're
9:49
pretty cool nice to have playing in the
9:51
background while working I've probably
9:53
got one playing while editing this video
9:56
now to my final thoughts and before you
9:57
get any live TV stream in service check
10:00
in with yourself and other members of
10:02
your household just make sure that
10:04
you're still spending time with the
10:06
cable channels that are offered by these
10:09
Services many people who watch my
10:11
channel have cancelled cable switch to a
10:13
service once like sling and then
10:15
realized they don't really need it and
10:18
they're fine just paying for more
10:20
affordable on demand Services ones like
10:22
Netflix but for those who do watch live
10:24
TV sling can save you a lot of money as
10:27
long as you can get your local to with
10:29
an antenna and go easy on the add-ons
10:33
otherwise link could end up costing just
10:35
as much as YouTube TV I update streaming
10:38
TV deals and more on Michael saves
10:40
deals.com the best way to support this
10:43
channel