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Sling TV vs DirecTV Now: The Battle of the Giants
Published on October 19, 2018
When you're looking for cool platforms to switch to from your traditional cable contract Sling TV and DirecTV Now may have caught your attention and that's because they're easily two of the best services of this kind on the market. So, we wanted to make sure you know what your options are and pitted Sling TV vs DirecTV Now.
When we reviewed Sling TV, as well as when we reviewed DirecTV Now, we mentioned they both do a great job at offering users loads of room to pick the best collection of channels they want and that remains the case. But we also wanted to see what differences we can find between platforms and which one is the best.
First, let's have a look at the platform breakdown with the most prominent features of Sling TV and DirecTV Now.
Also, let's see what scores the platforms got when we reviewed them recently.
Since these don't completely explain why they got the scores they got, let's go further in analyzing Sling TV vs DirecTV Now.
Sling TV vs DirecTV Now: Side by Side Comparison
The next step in our comparative guide is putting these two services head to head and figuring out which one has the best features. So, let's begin!
Channel Bundles
Both services do a great job of giving potential customers a lot of room to choose.
- Sling TV: Sling TV has a great collection of base bundles - three of them. Orange and Blue each cost $25 per month, while a combination of both, Orange + Blue costs $40 per month for under 50 channels. There are also various options you can pick if you go for the Latino version of Sling TV.
- DirecTV Now: There are five starter bundles on DirecTV Now, with prices varying from $40 to $75 per month. The cheapest bundle features over 65 channels, while the most expensive one over 125 of them.
Winner: Even though they both got a 10/10 score in our reviews, when put head to head we're going to have to declare DirecTV Now a winner. That's simply because you get more channels for $40 on DirecTV Now than you do on Sling TV. In the end, of course, it matters if you like those channels or not, but that can be said about any platform.
Customization Options
If one of the main reasons you want to quit is so that you can better customize what you see on TV, then these two platforms are great options.
- Sling TV: Sling TV has one of the best collections of channel packs you can add to customize your subscription. The best part about them is that they cater to various interests, like news, sports, children's programming and so on. You can also add premium channels like HBO, Cinemax, Starz, Showtime, and Epix, to name a few.
- DirecTV Now: There are only two channel packs offered by DirecTV Now - Deportes, which costs $5 per month, and Espanol, which costs $10 per month. Espanol features all the channels in the Deportes pack, and they're all already included in the Todo y Mas bundle, so they're only available if you pick any of the other four bundles. You can also add one of the four premium channels - HBO, Cinemax, Showtime, and Starz. It's worth the mention that this is the lowest price for HBO we've seen so far - $5 per month instead of the usual $15.
Winner: Sling TV takes this one because it features such a great collection of channel packs and premium networks.
Supported Features
How many of your favorite shows can you record? How about how many of your family members can enjoy the service at the same time?
- Sling TV: One of the most disappointing things about Sling TV is the fact it comes with no integrated DVR function. You can pay $5 per month and get 50 hours of storage space. The number of simultaneous streams changes with the bundle as so - if you subscribe to Orange you'll have only one stream, if you subscribe to Blue you'll have three streams, and four if you subscribe to Orange + Blue.
- DirecTV Now: DirecTV Now offers some free DVR space, namely 20 hours and you can keep the recordings for 30 days. There were rumors that the platform would offer a pay-for option of 120 hours, but that hasn't happened yet. You can stream the content on two screens, but you can pay an extra $5 per month and add another device.
Winner: DirecTV Now takes the win in this category, offering free DVR space, and multiple simultaneous streams.
Streaming Quality
When you move your TV watching online, it's important that you have a good experience when streaming content, but your Internet connection is quite important here.
- Sling TV: If you want to watch high-quality content on Sling TV you're going to need a 3 Mbps connection on phones and tablets, and 5 Mbps on computers and TVs. If you want to stream to multiple devices on the same networks, you're going to need a better connection than that.
- DirecTV Now: For DirecTV Now, the recommendations are that you have at least 7.5 Mbps for HD quality streaming. If you want to watch multiple streams at the same time on your home networks, it's advisable to have a better Internet connection.
Winner: Sling TV wins this one simply because it's not so heavy on your Internet network. But since you're moving to an Internet-centric life, maybe it's not too bad to consider switching to a better Internet tier too.
Supported Devices
Does the platform you want to move on to work on the devices you have in your home? Let's find out.
- Sling TV: Sling TV works on a wide range of devices, including Apple TV, iOS, Android, Roku, Chromecast, and Samsung Smart TVs. You won't find PlayStation on the list, however.
- DirecTV Now: DirecTV Now works on a lot of different devices, from Apple TV to Chromecast, Fire TV, Roku, iOS and Android, but you won't find any game consoles on the list.
Winner: Sling TV wins this one too, simply because at least Xbox made the list of supported devices, even if PlayStation is missing here too.
Usability
How easy is it to figure out how to reach all areas of the platform? Let's see!
- Sling TV: It's not too difficult to figure out which way is up on Sling TV, thanks to the intuitive interface, so we hope you won't have many issues discovering how to watch all your favorite channels.
- DirecTV Now: Since most platforms nowadays feature similar UIs, they're all easy to navigate, this one included.
Winner: We have a tie here because the platforms are all quite similar and easy to figure out, regardless of how well-versed you are in this type of services.
Sling TV vs DirecTV Now: Which One to Pick?
The score differences make this one quite easy to call, with Sling TV being the winner. The win isn't by a landslide, so if you happen to like DirecTV Now better, that's a great choice too. In the meantime, we're recommending you go and sign up for Sling TV the first chance you get.
Final Thoughts
Both platforms are pretty great and you're going to find something to love on any of them, but we hope we've at least made it somewhat easier for you to figure out what sets them apart.
We'd love to hear what your choice was in the comments section below, along with what helped you pick. Please share the article online so maybe we can help a few other people decide between these two. Come chat with us on TechNadu's Facebook and Twitter pages.
