PlayStaion Vue Review: the new best alternative to cable
Unfortunately, Sony has announced that it will shut down its PlayStation Vue streaming TV service on January 30, 2020.
Attention all remaining cable subscribers, there is no need to keep throwing money away to keep your precious channels. Playstation Vue is the newest low price alternative to cable and satellite television. Playstation Vue isn’t exactly new, it had a soft launch in late 2014 for selected customers, but the Sony service is now available nationwide and has just lowered its prices AND added ESPN and Disney to the lineups. Sony’s OTT (over-the-top) content provider not only is taking on the cable industry, it is now aiming straight at SlingTV to provide the best basic content at rock bottom prices. Here at Savings Beagle we have touted SlingTV as the best alternative to cable television and now Playstation Vue is vying for that title.
Playstation Vue offers 55 channels for just $30 a month
The first thing we should mention is that prices do vary somewhat based on your location. Local channels are offered in seven cities, but those extra channels will cost you an extra $10 a month. For folks in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, San Francisco and Miami you will get local live networks, but will need to anti-up the extra money, so PlayStation Vue might not be as inexpensive as it will for others.
If you are OK with video on demand from the major networks, PlayStation Vue includes ABC On Demand, FoxNow, and NBC On Demand, so even if you don’t receive the local channels you will have access to most local network prime time shows on demand.
Sports fans will love having ESPN, NBCSN, AND Fox Sports. So you like the news? Sony provides access to CNN, Headline News, MSNBC, Fox News as well as financial news from both Fox Business and CNBC. The most popular entertainment channels like TBS, USA, AMC and Discovery Channel are all included in the base package.
Maybe you have kids or are just a kid at heart. The Access base package also includes Cartoon Network, Disney, Disney Junior, Nickelodeon, Nick Toons and Nick Jr. If you like home improvement shows you will get to switch back and forth from HGTV and DIY Network.
Upgrade your package |
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Core ($39.99, 70+ channels) |
Elite ($49.99, 100+ channels) |
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PlayStation Vue has combined a lot of really popular channels in their base package, but if you want more sports you can step up to the Core package for $5 more and receive 70+ offerings that include national and regional sports channels like BeIN Sports, The Big Ten Network, ESPN News, ESPN U, Fox Sports Networks, and NBC’s Golf Channel. Go Elite with PlayStation Vue’s largest package for $45 a month and you will have access to more than one hundred channels.
Standalone Channels
There are a few more options on a per-channel basis. You can add Showtime for $10.99 or the Showtime/Epix Hits combo for an additional $13.99. Fox Soccer Plus shows soccer from around the globe for an extra $14.99 per month and a gaming channel called Machinima can be added for $3.99 a month.
Cloud-based DVR
Watching when we want has become commonplace as we aren’t always available to watch our favorite shows when they first air live. Sign up for any of the three packages and get a cloud based DVR included in the price. You won’t be able to keep the recordings forever as there is a 28 day limit. After that the show will be removed. However, you can record as many shows as you like unlike some cable DVRs that run ridiculously low on hard drive space. The cloud based function is not quite as easy to use as a normal DVR and some users have reported major buffering issues when using the DVR even with a fast connection. It could be an issue during peak viewing times, but it doesn’t seem to be a uniform issue. It would be best to test this feature during the free preview week Sony offers.
Number of Simultaneous Streams
Stream up to five different channels on five devices with one subscription. It is a little bit tricky to get the five streams, but you can stream up to one PS4 console and one PS3 console in the same home, but not two PS4 or PS3 consoles. In addition to the consoles you can use PlayStation Vue Mobile on iOS devices or Fire TV devices to get to the total of five devices at once.
Video on Demand
PlayStation Vue stores up to three days of select shows available on select channels. You can then go back and watch episodes you might have missed that are available on-demand. Shows that you have recorded will also be available On-Demand under the DVR section.
Available Devices
For all of the positives that Playstation Vue offers, there are some drawbacks. You can watch Playstation Vue on a Sony PlayStation of course, but also on Amazon Fire devices, iPads and iphones. Chromecast is another way to watch, but Roku and Android devices are not supported at this time. You can’t even watch on your PC. In fact, you need to initially sign up via a PlayStation console or Amazon Fire device even if you later want to watch on an iPad, iPhone or Chromecast.
One caveat is that a PlayStation Vue subscription will allow you to sign in to several “TV Everywhere” apps including FXNow, Watch ESPN or Showtime Anytime on any device that those apps appear using your PlayStation Vue account information. This means for these apps you could use your Roku and Android devices or a PC.
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Amazon Fire TV |
Amazon Fire Stick |
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| Get current pricing | Get current pricing |
Video Quality
Other than the buffering issues experienced by some viewers, mostly on DVR playback, overall video quality is on par with other high definition streaming services. As always, streaming quality is heavily dependent on your Internet connection. Users who have a reliable, high speed connection overall give PlayStation Vue high marks for video quality.
PlayStation Vue – We highly recommend it
I was very surprised to see so many top channels were offered in the $30 Access base package. Before I ditched the dish, I had downgraded my DirecTV package to make it somewhat affordable. I wasn’t getting nearly the selection of quality channels that Sony is offering and still playing way more money. SlingTV was the first to show us that smaller, targeted entertainment packages available on-line could significantly reduce prices. Sony’s PlayStation Vue is $10 a month more than SlingTV, but offering more than twice the channels. There are no contracts, so you don’t need to commit. You can even try the service for free, so sign up for a free 7-day trial and judge for yourself.
