Sky announced its first-ever TV, Sky Glass, a couple of weeks ago. Now, Comcast, the US cable giant that owns Sky, has done the same.
The Philadelphia-based company hopes its new 4K XClass TV, which is manufactured by China's Hinsense, will tempt cord-cutting customers away from Amazon and Roku smart TVs.
Much like Sky Glass, Comcast's XClass provides built-in streaming access to hundreds of live and on-demand channels, plus most major streaming apps, over Wi-Fi. No dish or set-top box is required.
Buyers get Comcast's own content, plus a 12-month subscription to the Comcast-owned Peacock TV streaming service, included in the price (Peacock Premium with ads is normally $4.99 a month).
The full-array LED panel comes in two sizes: 43-inch and 50-inch, priced at $298 (around £220 / AU$400) and $348 (around £260 / AU$475) respectively. Both come with voice remotes and support for HDR (Dolby Vision HDR, HDR10), plus Dolby Atmos and DTS:X sound, bringing them in line with some of the best TVs at this price.
The XClass also serves up a host of live TV streaming services including Hulu With Live TV, YouTube TV and Dish Network’s Sling TV. Netflix, HBO Max (where you can watch new sci-fi epic Dune), Hulu, Disney Plus, ViacomCBS’s Pluto, Fox’s Tubi and Amazon's IMDb TV are also present.
The 50-inch XClass TV is available now at selected Walmart stores, with the 43-inch model due to follow "soon". Both models will also become available to buy through the Walmart website in the coming weeks.
Comcast has been losing cable TV customers at an alarming rate lately, dropping 399,000 subscribers between April and June this year alone. Will the XClass TV change its fortunes? Only time will tell, but it certainly sounds like a well-priced option.
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