Playstation Vue vs. Sling TV
The Sony Playstation Vue and Sling’s SlingTV both offer low-rate streaming TV packages that will allow you to forget about cable and still get lots of the latest TV shows, movies and even sports. SlingTV was the first real low-cost alternative to cable, but the PlayStation Vue is looking to up the ante with more channels and a cloud-based DVR. We reviewed SlingTV a couple of months ago and the PlayStation Vue more recently. We thought it would be helpful to do a close comparison of the two.
Channel comparison
SlingTV offers a base package of 23 channels for $20, but more channels are available in $5 packages. PlayStation Vue’s base package is $30 for 55 channels unless you live in one of
the seven cities that offer local channels. In that case you will need to pay an extra $10 a month. PlayStation Vue has two larger packages, the Core Slim 70+ channel package for $35 a month and the Elite Slim 100+ package for $45 a month. For simplicity sake we will be comparing Playstaion Vue’s base package (Access) without local channels vs. Sling TV’s base package.
Playstation Vue Both Playstation Vue & SlingTV SlingTV
| PlayStation Vue | Both Playstation Vue & SlingTV | SlingTV |
| Animal Planet BET Bravo CMT CNBC Comedy Central Destination America Discover Queen City Family Disney Junior Disney XD DIY E! Esquire Network Fox Business Fox NewsFox Sports 1 Fox Sports 2 FX FXX HLN ID – Discover MSNBC MTV MTV2 National Geographic Channel NBCSN Nick jr Nickelodeon Nick Toons OWN Oxygen Pop Science Spike Syfy TLC TNT Tru TV TV LAND USA VH1 WE |
AMC ESPN ESPN 2 CNN Cartoon Network Disney HGTV Food Network FreeForm TBS Travel |
Bloomerberg A&E Adult Swim El Ray Polaris+ Viceland Maker Local Now IFC Newsy FLA MA Galavision |
As you can see Playstation Vue offers many more channels and some of the channels exclusive to SlingTV in this comparison some people haven’t heard of. The two exceptions are A&E and IFC. Contrast that with the channels exclusive to Playstation Vue (in this comparison); Discover, Fox News, MSNBC, NBC Sports, Fox Sports, FX, USA, TV Land, VH1, MTV and lots of kids programming.
On-Demand and DVR Recording Options
The PlayStation Vue gives you the ability to record shows and save them to their cloud-based storage. Users can access their recordings for up to 28 days. Some users will be fine with that limitation, but others would prefer a longer window to watch their shows.
SlingTV has no DVR functionality. This is a major drawback and for some users it is a deal breaker.
Both the PlayStation Vue and SlingTV have limited on-demand content. Some channels offer more on-demand content than others, but overall you will feel the selection somewhat spotty and with no apparent order. Offerings for some shows will include some seasons and not others and not in order. There will be seasons available, but not every episode in a season, just hit or miss.
Video Quality
There isn’t too much difference in video quality between the two competitors. When working properly I would say it is about the same as other name brand streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime. Both SlingTV and PlayStation Vue have some hiccups regarding viewing quality at least at select moments. As with any streaming service video quality will only be as good as your bandwidth. PlayStation Vue customers have reported more issues with watching content through the cloud-based DVR more than when watching live. Somewhat lessening the advantage PlayStation Vue has over SlingTV.
Viewing Options
SlingTV is available on most android devices, iPads and iPhones. SlingTV is also viewable on your PC. PlayStation Vue’s viewing options are more limited on Playstation consoles, Chromecast, iPad, iPhone and Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick. There are no options for android devices or even to watch through your computer. One extra oddity, PlayStation users will first need to sign up through their PlayStation console or Fire TV units even if they only want to watch on an iPad, iPhone or Chromecast.
PlayStation Vue does give it’s customers more streams than SlingTV does. Sling’s customers are only able to log in and view shows from one device where PlayStation Vue allows up to 5 viewable streams.
| Playstation Vue | SlingTV | |
| Price | $30 for 55 channels for their base package. $10 more for seven cities offering local channels. | $20 for 23 channels with additional channels available in $5 add-ons segments. |
| Local Channels | Yes, in seven cities. There is an additional charge of $10 for ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox. | SlingTV does not offer local channels in their base package, but offers ABC on demand in a $5 package add-on |
| VOD | Select episodes from select channels. | Select episodes from select channels. |
| DVR | Playstation Vue has a cloud-based DVR service that allows you to store recorded shows for up to 28 days. | SlingTV offers no way to record shows to view later. |
| Maximum streams | Only one on a Playstation, but up to a total of 5 streams if using additional devices. | One stream only. If you log in from another device your first device will be logged off. |
| Available devices | Sony Playstation, Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick, Chromecast, Ipad and iPhone. No Android devices or PC. | PC, Android devices, iPad and iPhone |
The Conclusion
SlingTV and PlayStation Vue give customers great choices as an alternative to cable. For users who like to watch previously recorded shows the PlayStation Vue will need to be the choice. DVR add-on service fees for cable and satellite are about as much as the difference in cost between these two cable alternatives and customers will get an additional 30 channels to boot. However, if watching live TV is more your thing then you will need to decide if those extra 30 channels are worth the extra cost.
SlingTV is a great choice for a small base package on the cheap, but for $10 more you get so much more content with Playstation Vue.
