Philo vs. Sling Review: Which is Better?

Live TV streaming services are incredibly popular at the moment. New providers are popping up across the board, if some of the available offers are very expensive.

Sling and Philo are the most popular cheap streaming options. If you’re looking to save money on live TV streaming, one of these two will do the trick. However, choosing between the two offers can be a difficult task.

In this article, we’ll supply you with all the relevant information to make your choice.

The Two Plans

Despite the fact that Philo and Sling are both very cheap streaming services, there is a price gap between the two that’s somewhat considerable. Where Philo has a single $20 per month plan, Sling offers three plan options that go from $30 to $45.

The Philo plan boasts a seven-day trial. It also brings 59 channels to the table, as well as unlimited cloud storage (it’s deleted after 30 days, though). It allows three simultaneous streams, which is brilliant, given the price point.

The Sling Orange plan is $30 per month and offers only a three-day free trial. You get a mere 31 channels and only 10 hours of storage. And you can stream it on one device at a time.

The Sling Blue plan is also $30 on a monthly basis. The differences between the Orange and the Blue plan is that you get 46 channels and three simultaneous streaming options with the latter.

Finally, there’s the Sling Orange + Blue combo plan that costs $45 per month. This plan increases the number of channels to 52 and the number of simultaneous streams to four.

Based on the numbers, Philo is a no-brainer. Things are a bit more complicated than that, though.

Channels

Although Philo brings quantity to the equation when it comes to channels, it falters in terms of quality. The included channels are definitely not the most desirable. To make matters worse for Philo, you don’t get any sports channels included. And you don’t get an option to add sports channels, either. If you’re into watching sports, Philo is definitely not the right fit for you.

The Sling Orange plan is better for sports plans, but not by too much. You get NFL Network and ESPN only. There are only three full-time sports networks – NBC Sports California, NBC Sports Bay Area, and NBC Sports Washington.

All three options, Philo, Sling Orange, and Sling Blue are missing some very popular channels, such as ABC, PBS, CBS, The CW, The Weather Channel, and FXX. But that’s the price you pay for monthly rates this low. This isn’t too much of a problem, as you can get access to most of these for free, using Locast or a TV antenna.

Another benefit of using Sling is that it allows you to add some premium channels and packages and customize your channel lineup.

Value

Although Philo might be the underdog here, without the sports channels and without any additional options, it is considerably cheaper than Sling. In the end, it all depends on what channels you want to be able to access. If Philo’s lineup is good enough for you, you don’t even have to consider Sling. In terms of value, Philo is the winner. Still, if you’re into sports, Philo is pretty much a no-go.

User Experience

When it comes to colors, Philo’s dark background and the horizontal guide aren’t ideal. They aren’t easy on the eyes. Still, you get access to everything you need when it comes to channel surfing. If you hold down the OK button on your remote, Philo displays a description of the program that you hovered over. This is a pretty neat feature.

Sling, on the other hand, can be very frustrating to use. From various stalls and lags to the fact that you have to click twice to choose a program from the guide, it’s far from perfect when it comes to the user experience.

Philo is the winner in this department.

DVR & Simultaneous Streams

Philo gives you unlimited DVR storage (although it gets deleted after 30 days). This is a very convenient feature, especially at the low price point. Most of the other, significantly pricier Live TV streaming solutions don’t offer the unlimited DVR cloud storage option. Philo’s mere 10 hours stretch across every single one of its plans, which is abysmal. For an additional $5 per month, you can upgrade to 50 hours, though.

In terms of simultaneous streams, you get three with Philo, no questions asked. In contrast, Sling’s Orange plan offers a single simultaneous stream option. This can be very frustrating.

Device Compatibility

Sling is better in terms of compatibility. Philo doesn’t work with gaming consoles, Google Chromecast, or any Android-based TV. This is a significant downside with Philo.

Final Thoughts

If you aren’t into sports, don’t own a gaming console, aren’t using Chromecast, and don’t have an Android TV, Philo is actually a neat choice. However, if none of this is the case, you’re going to have to go with Sling. Still, Philo’s $20 price point is extremely attractive.

We hope that we’ve helped you choose which platform of the two you want to go with. If you have any additional thoughts or questions, don’t be a stranger – scroll down to the comments section below and fire away.