Sling TV review: The one-time budget champ for live TV charges too much for too little

Although the streamer's $5 day-pass option is a great innovation, it's arguably the only compelling thing about this service.

Senior Tech Writer

UpdatedTue, March 3, 2026 at 1:49 PM UTC

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I'm just going to say it: Sling TV is weird. On the surface, it appears a more affordable live-TV alternative to the likes of DirecTV, Hulu + Live TV and YouTube TV. But with higher prices, a comparatively modest selection of channels and a fairly pointless division of its lineup, Sling feels less like a deal and more like a set of compromises.

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While it gets some things right — including an interesting Passes feature I wish every other streamer would copy — and may yet appeal to budget-minded cord-cutters, there's a much cheaper option for those who don't watch sports and a better overall value available for those able to pay a bit more. Here's my Sling TV review.

Rick Broida/Yahoo

Sling TV

Free trial: None | Channels in base tier: 34 (Orange); 43 (Blue) | Streaming resolution: Up to 4K | DVR: 50 hours | User profiles per household: 4

VERDICT: Once the cord-cutter's bargain, Sling TV now offers too few channels for too much money. The one saving grace is Passes, an ingenious option — but unfortunately it's available only for the Orange tier.

Pros

Clean, straightforward user interface
One of the least-expensive ways to watch live sports
Live stream retreats to a window while you browse the program guide
Select sporting events streamed in 4K at no extra cost
Ingenious day-pass subscription option

Cons

Drab-looking channel guide
Confusing packages, minimal savings
Limited channel selection, especially locals
Most streams are 720p; 4K available only on select devices
Passes available only for Orange tier
Limited DVR unless you pay extra
No free trial

Starting at $46 per month at Sling

Sling TV: What will it cost you?

Sling has two available packages: Blue and Orange, each with its own channel lineup. Blue, for example, favors news and entertainment across its 43 channels, while Orange leans more into sports and family for its 34. But there's significant overlap between them: around two dozen of the channels are available on both tiers, which begs the question of why they're separated at all.

If you want local channels, choose the Blue package — but keep in mind Sling carries only ABC, Fox and NBC, and only a few cities can get all three. Some are limited to just one or two; here in Detroit, for example, I have access to my local Fox station and that's it. None of the other major live-TV streaming services impose such limitations; many offer all five broadcast networks (including CBS and PBS).

Blue and Orange cost $46 separately per month, but you can get both for $61 — the only option that really makes sense. That's still a bit less than most other live-TV streamers, which range from $73 to $90, though you get less as well. In fact, if you tack on Sports Extras, which adds 20 more channels (some of which are already included with competitors' base packages), now your monthly total is $76.

A newer addition is Sling Select, a truly head-scratching "curated selection of channels" for $20 per month. There are just 10 of them, and alongside desirables like FX and FS1 are dreck channels like Grit, LMN and Game Show Network. I cannot fathom who would subscribe to this.

Whatever package you pick, you get just 50 hours of DVR storage. You can bump that to unlimited for an extra $5 per month, but all the competing services — including uber-cheap Philo, detailed below — provide unlimited DVR at no extra charge.

Passes make perfect?

Here's where it gets interesting: Last year, Sling unveiled Passes, an option that lets you subscribe for one day ($4.99), one weekend (Fri-Sun, $9.99) or one week ($14.99). To me this is ingenious, because very often there's just one event I want to watch — a game, an awards show, etc. — and don't want to pay for a full month. But five bucks for a day-pass? Absolutely, that's an easy impulse-buy.

The problem is that Passes are good only for Orange; they're not currently available for Blue. (A Sling spokesperson told me there was a "possibility" of that changing in the future, but seven months later, no Blue option.) That means if I'm hoping to catch, say, a Detroit Lions game that's airing on Fox, a day-pass does me no good (because Fox isn't part of Orange).

Even so, this might prove to be the perfect solution for someone who wants to watch a particular channel for a particular show or event and doesn't want to pony up $46 for the privilege. Shots fired, Hulu, YouTube TV and the rest — give us day passes!

Sling TV: What it's like to use

I tested Sling TV on a Sansui S55VOUG TV, which runs the Google TV operating system. Sling employs a fast, familiar interface based around the now-standard left-side menu, which provides easy access to things like Search, Home, Guide and DVR.

Sling's channel guide often cuts off the titles of half-hour shows. (Rick Broida/Yahoo)

The program guide is where you're likely to spend a fair amount of time, and it's a mixed bag: drab colors and wonky navigation, but with some appreciable features. For example, I like its large, easy-to-read font, even if it sometimes works against it: There's little room for program description, and in fact if you navigate to a half-hour show, the box doesn't always have room to display the full episode title. Every episode of Friends, for example, displays only "The One With"... the rest is cut off.

Something else I had to get used to: After you open the guide (which occupies the entire screen, obscuring the side menu), you then press left on the control pad to access the channels column and then left again for a lengthy, vertical list of filters: favorites, recents, entertainment, sports, reality and so on (in no particular order).

These are nice to have, no question, and I like the way each filter brings up a narrowed version of the channel guide. But when you select one, all the menus disappear again, leaving you with just the guide. It would be nice if the menus simply collapsed instead of vanishing; as it stands, it feels like a lot of back-and-forth.

A photo of Sling's channel guide, with the filters menu shown at left. — Sling offers lots of ways to filter the channel guide, but why are they listed in such a random order? (Rick Broida/Yahoo)

I like that if you want to browse the program guide, whatever you're currently watching retreats to a window so you can keep watching while browsing. Meanwhile, a little pop-up explains that if you press and hold on a channel logo, it gets added to your favorites — a great feature for quickly browsing your most-viewed channels. I discovered a related feature by accident: If you press and hold on a show or movie in the program guide, you immediately get recording options, without the need to "click through" to its description page.

Although Sling TV's search option doesn't support voice, it does produce dynamic results as you type with the onscreen keyboard. And my "Tom Cruise" search correctly returned lots of the actor's movies — though it wasn't immediately clear which ones were available on-demand or for future recording. I especially appreciated that the interface shows a list of recent searches, potentially saving you from repeat typing.

Sling doesn't support voice search, but does let you search by actor (among other parameters). (Rick Broida/Yahoo)

Also appreciated: When you pause a live show, a timer shows your elapsed "time behind live," which is particularly helpful when you step away from a sporting event. But I was annoyed to see ads consume most of the screen not long after you a pause a program. (Thankfully, you can toggle this off in the Device Settings menu. Why anyone would leave it on is beyond me.)

I also encountered slightly glitchy behavior when fast-forwarding or rewinding live TV (aka time-shifting): sometimes the progress bar would jump all the way to one end or the other, even though there was still time life to, er, shift. This didn't affect the results — I was able to continue skipping — but it was confusing.

Sling TV: Channel lineup and image quality

As noted above, even if you subscribe to both Blue and Orange, you don't get a ton of channels. The two packages combined net you just 46, which is half (or less than half) what you get from DirecTV, Hulu and YouTube TV. And while Sling claims a handful of "exclusive" channels, including Disney and Discovery, at least some of them are indeed available elsewhere.

Sling TV streams entirely in 720p (same as most competing live-TV services), though you may be able to watch "select events" (namely sports) in 4K. However, you need a compatible Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV or Roku device to enjoy that; for whatever reason, Sling's 4K streaming doesn't currently work with Android TV or Google TV.

As I've discovered with most live-TV streaming services, 720p is... fine. Shows don't look razor-sharp, but that can be true of cable and satellite live-streams as well. And for the likes of Friends reruns and cooking shows, you don't really need 4K — or even 1080p. (The latter would certainly be preferable, though. YouTube TV streams at 1080p, as does Hulu + Live TV on select devices.)

Sling TV: The verdict

A few years ago, Sling was the budget choice for live TV: You could choose the package that best suited you and save a decent amount compared to competitors. Now, along with those competitors, Sling TV has raised prices — but without raising value. You still get a paltry channel lineup, even if you bundle the two packages together, with few (possibly just one or two) local networks and limited DVR.

Granted, if your primary interest is sports, and you determine that most of the games you want to watch are available via Sling Orange or Blue, you could subscribe to the appropriate package and pay just $46 monthly. That would make Sling the cheapest option for streaming live sports. And if you can take advantage of Passes to see what you want to see, the deal gets even more attractive.

On the flipside, if you don't care about sports but do want access to lots of popular cable channels, Philo gives you over 70 of them — plus unlimited DVR and HBO Max — for just $33 monthly. And if you can swing it, Hulu + Live TV also has a lot more live channels — along with Disney+, ESPN Select, "regular" Hulu and all five major locals — for $90 monthly.

Unfortunately, Sling TV isn't currently offering a free trial, so if you want to test-drive the service, your best bet is a day-pass — but that's hardly enough time to fully kick the tires.

FAQ

Can I watch local channels on Sling TV?

Sling's Blue package includes local channels — but not all of them. In fact, where you live will dictate whether you can get ABC, NBC and/or Fox. If you want all three of those and CBS and PBS as well, you'll need to choose a different live-TV streaming service.

Does Sling TV offer a free trial?

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. At this writing, there's no trial option available. However, you can check out Sling Freestream without even signing up for an account; it offers over 600 free, ad-supported channels.

How many simultaneous streams does Sling TV allow?

Sling TV's simultaneous stream capabilities depend on your plan: Sling Orange allows one stream, Sling Blue allows three, and the combined Sling Orange + Blue plan allows four.

Update, March 3, 2026: We verified the pricing and channel lineups for Sling's two tiers and made a few minor changes to ensure overall accuracy.

Check out Yahoo's latest streaming advice, based on hands-on testing.