Disclaimer: When doing this review, we used an Amazon Fire Stick. The Internet connection was 30 mb per second. No other device or connection speed was used.
Let’s face it: Cable has become way too expensive. No one wants to pay the high cost on top of Internet price. Enter an alternative that everyone should check out: PlayStation Vue. Let’s talk about why you should pick this service up.
Unlike my usual reviews, I broke this up into four categories: DVR, On Demand, Devices its on and pricing. Let’s take a look each category.
DVR
When you hear the word DVR, you think a cable box like device that you have to buy. Vue, however, is not like that at all. As a matter of fact, they are the first service to my knowledge that uses the cloud to save your favorite shows. All you need to do is favorite the show you want to record, and Vue does the rest. It will keep each episode for 28 days. Playback, for the most part, is good, but sometimes can have issues. Usually, if a major problem occurs, it’s your connection and not Vue. It’s also worth noting that this is included in the price and not something you have to pay extra for. Score: 9 out of 10
On Demand
There are many shows you can watch on demand, but usually, it consists of the last 3-5 episodes of a series. Not much of a difference from cable. Playing shows is the same as shows that were DVRed. It will work without any issues, but depending on your connection speed, it can stop and start. Score:Â 8 out of 10
Devices
PlayStation Vue can be played on multiple devices. The app can be downloaded on PlayStation 3 & 4, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast and recently Vue expanded to Roku and Android devices. In most cases, the app can be used on 3 – 5 devices at the same time. Score:9 out of 10
Price
One of PlayStation Vue’s most attractive parts is the price. Vue has three packages: Access, Core, and Elite. As displayed in this picture, prices for each category is small
Compared to Sling TV, Vue is slightly more expensive with its cheapest plan being $29.99. Here’s the good news: A lot more channels are included, and so is DVR which is included in the price. There are no taxes either. Let’s take a look at the cheapest plan: Access.
As you can see from the picture above, Access gives you nearly every channel you could want while being the most affordable plan. Another benefit to getting this over Sling’s cheapest plan. In my opinion, Access is the only program you need. If you’re looking for more, explore the other programs and add-ons Vue has. One thing to note: In some markets, Vue includes local channels which make the plans slightly higher. I do not have that here in Rochester which is why it is not included in this review.
Score:Â 10 out of 10
In conclusion, PlayStation Vue is not only an excellent alternative to cable and satellite but the costs is small enough that you can afford it. That’s why we here at Geek-E give a combined score of 9 out 10.