Summary
Would you want to save money by getting rid of your cable TV? It seems like it may not be as economical as it was before the emergence of streaming services. Streaming platforms now provide a plethora of channels that might easily surpass the cost of your cable subscription and internet access.
Is every channel necessary? Philo, a streaming TV provider, strongly disagrees. In the TV streaming market, it goes up against services like Sling TV by offering a cheaper alternative that still lets you watch live TV.
Philo was once only available for Roku streaming players. It has just been available for Samsung TV, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, and Android TV. Because it works on so many different platforms, it’s a great choice for anyone who want to save money without sacrificing their programming experience.
Philo Review: My name is Philo
Even though it provides a varied selection of channels, Philo is a streaming service that functions similarly to Sling TV, DirectTV Stream, YouTube TV, and Hulu with Live TV. For $25 a month, you have access to a reduced channel lineup, rather than a complete cable package. In addition, it offers a few of extras.
Popular channels including Comedy Central, CMT, MTV, and others are part of the entertainment and lifestyle content offered by Philo’s owners A&E, AMC, Discovery, Scripps, and Viacom. Philo need sports and local network channels because of its concentration on leisure and entertainment programming. Still, it provides access to a plethora of cable’s most popular channels.
What Can You Watch on Philo?
More than 70 channels are available to Philo users, including AMC, Animal Planet, BBC America, BET, Comedic Central, Cooking Channel, Food Network, Discovery Channel, HGTV, IFC, Lifetime, Logo, and the Travel Channel. Hallmark, Cheddar Big News, OWN, PeopleTV, SCI, and Tastemade are among the other networks. Newest additions include Crime + Investigation and Newsy. The Orange and Blue plans from Sling TV are the most similar to Philo’s in terms of coverage area. You can watch many of the same stations’ on-demand programming on Max if you’d rather not watch live TV.
Please be informed that Philo’s whole roster is accessible from anywhere in the US; there are no limits based on your region. When compared to alternatives like YouTube TV and Hulu + Live TV, this one has the disadvantage of not offering any local channels.
Much more than just live streams are available, as is the case with most live TV providers. You can probably view a movie or TV program on demand if it airs on a channel. You may watch the whole run of Philo, for example, or you can simply watch the current season of a certain program—the amount of episodes and seasons accessible vary from show to show when it comes to on-demand TV series. Our selection of Philo as one of the top movie streaming services is based on the service’s extensive library of popular movie channels. But, cinephiles may want to check out Mubi or The Criterion Channel, which both contain bigger and more often updated collections of films.
Even though Philo has a Free Channels section, you’ll still have to pay to access the material in that area. Channels like Revry, Bloomberg Television, Cheddar News, and Gusto TV are available here with pre-programmed material. Similar channels are offered by Xumo and Pluto TV.
One way Philo keeps expenses down is by focusing on leisure and lifestyle channels rather than sports networks. Some examples of such channels that aren’t accessible are CBS Sports, ESPN, RSNs owned by FOX and NBC, and league-specific networks like NBA TV and the NFL Network. We have compiled a list of the top sports streaming services for those who are interested in watching sports online. Though it lacks in-depth news coverage, Philo does provide access to BBC News, Cheddar, and Newsy. The likes of PBS, MSNBC, CNN, and Fox News are nowhere to be seen on cable. While Philo does have some entertainment channels, most live TV streaming providers have significantly more news and sports channels. To be honest, such services also have a much higher price tag.
Philo comes highly recommended if you aren’t interested in news or sports channels. You could still subscribe to Philo and a cheap on-demand provider to complement coverage if you do, since it’s still reasonably priced.
Philo Review: Media outlets and cost
Instead of offering a dizzying array of packages and add-ons at varying rates, Philo keeps things simple with a single $25/month plan. In comparison to its nearest rival, Sling TV’s $40/month basic bundle, it’s also a lot cheaper.
The channels of Philo’s owners are shown most often. Here are some of the prominent cable networks that are currently available on the service: AMC, BBC America, BET, Comedy Central, Discovery Channel, Food Network, IFC, Lifetime, MTV, Nickelodeon, TV Land, and VH1. More than 70 channels are available for subscription. Bloomberg TV and Crackle are among the ten free channels. On the other hand, you won’t find any big networks or sports channels on the service, like ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, or The CW.
But there are three premium add-on channels available on Philo:
Access MGM+ for just $7/month
Starz for ten dollars a month
Pay $3/month for Movies & More and get access to a certain amount of monthly movie features.
Local networks are great since they are easily accessible, cost-effective, and available in high definition (HD) with the help of an HD antenna. Philo offers the most affordable method to catch up on marquee shows, making it an attractive alternative for those who are willing to miss out on sports.
Philo Review: Features
Philo, like many costlier streaming services, includes a free cloud DVR in addition to livestreaming channels and a library of over 40,000 on-demand films. Philo now lets you save recordings for up to a year, which is a great number since it was previously restricted to around a month, and you may record an infinite quantity.
When looking for a streaming service, it’s also important to think about how many devices can listen at once. With Philo, up to three users may watch on different devices at the same time thanks to the service’s three concurrent streams. Sling TV provides up to three channels, depending on your plan, while DirecTV Stream offers three, so this is about in the center of the pack. Up to 10 unique profiles, each with their own set of stored programs and watching history, may be created in Philo.
Closed captioning, a Keep Watching section, browsing capabilities, a TV guide, and other conventional TV features are also available. In addition to AirPlay and picture-in-picture watching, Philo allows you to alter video quality.
How about when you’re not at home? On the move, you can watch any of Philo’s livestreaming channels via the company’s iOS app or the Chrome browser on Android. Philo also offers the on-demand programming of many of the channels it carries, which may or may not contain movies and TV episodes. You can’t watch that channel without first downloading its specialized app and then logging in with your Philo credentials. To find out which channels and platforms are compatible with Philo’s TV Everywhere, visit their help page.
Philo Review: Devices compatible
When it came to gadget support, Philo had a hard time keeping up with competing services in the beginning. You required a Roku TV or one of the company’s streaming boxes or more recent streaming sticks to view the service on a TV for quite some time. But times have changed, and you can now watch Philo on Fire TV devices like the Fire TV Cube as well as Apple TV and Fire TV. Chromecast and Samsung TV also have app compatibility, but you’ll need a device from the last several years or newer to use these services. Android, iOS, and iPadOS devices may all download the app. Popular online browsers such as Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Safari can also access it. The Xbox and PlayStation, however, do not support it.
Philo Review: Experience with viewing
We tested Philo on all of the supported platforms and found that the video quality was satisfactory across the board. Compared to Sling TV, the image seems a little weaker, but it’s still better than what we got with DirecTV Stream.
The UI is mostly cross-platform when it comes to actually looking through available programs; it has an easy-to-use guide for both live TV and on-demand alternatives.
From the very beginning, it is evident that Philo is focused on content rather than channels. The home page is the first thing you’ll see when you launch the app on any device. It has two primary sections: Trending Live programs, which include the shows that other users are likely viewing the most, and New & Upcoming, where you can check which episodes and movies are coming soon. There is also a feature that lets you resume watching a movie or TV program from where you left off if you’ve already started watching it.
Also, under the Live area, you can see what’s showing right now, sorted by channel alphabetically. If you’d rather not start with the livestream, you may easily go to on-demand video or go straight to the livestream on Philo.
Experience on the Go with Philo
On an Android phone, we were able to get into the Philo app without any problems. The Philo app for Android and iOS are almost indistinguishable from one another; they both use the same dark theme with blue and white accents, much like the online interface. We did not see any stuttering or latency when streaming material or browsing the app’s parts, thus it runs well.
At the very bottom of the page, you’ll see a navigation bar with six icons: Home, Guide, Top, Saved, Search, and your profile picture. While all of these sections work just like their online equivalents, there isn’t much of an account area, and changing your subscription preferences requires going to Philo’s website. You won’t be able to watch your shows offline until you download them.
Experience with Playback
The web-based player has an uncluttered and simple user interface. In addition to the usual volume and play/pause options, there are buttons to enable closed captions, save a program to your DVR, and choose playback quality (auto, low, medium, or high).
You can only choose a starting point mid-stream once you reach it via playback, so whether you want to begin a live stream from the beginning or skip to the broadcast, those are your only options. On each side of the screen, you’ll see Philo’s Start Over and Live buttons. The mobile playback experience of Philo is quite similar to the desktop version. To skip between programs, the only change is that your finger may now be dragged from side to side.
In order to watch Philo, you do not need a certain minimum network speed. An official from the firm assured us that it is compatible with all major browsers and should function properly on the vast majority of internet connections. Connecting to a Wi-Fi network is essential if you want to use Philo on a mobile device, since data streaming expenses may accumulate rapidly.
On-demand video on Philo may handle resolutions up to 1080p, but live TV feeds are limited to 720p at 30 frames per second. Not only are live broadcasts on YouTube TV and Fubo now available in 4K, but so are several on-demand video streaming services. You may use conventional Surround 2.0 audio with Philo. Just so you know, Philo utilizes live channel streaming, which means you’ll have to endure all those annoying adverts that come with it.
We used a home Ethernet network (200Mbps download) to assess Philo’s performance. The live broadcast of My Cat From Hell, an Animal Planet program, started up fast and kept going without a hitch when we choose it. Additionally, the service was unaffected when I switched channels. Like Godzilla (2014), Philo had no issues launching or sustaining a high-quality stream when we saved it to our account.
PVR and Additional Functions
When it comes to digital video recorder material, Philo operates differently than other providers. Philo prepares all the accessible material for binge-watching, so you don’t have to add episodes or programs one at a time. Philo keeps your DVR recordings for up to a year and doesn’t put any storage restrictions on them.
Just to reiterate, at this time, Philo does not support offline watching of stored programs. We haven’t tried any live TV providers that let you save DVR footage offline, although several on-demand video streaming services do, such Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, and Max.
You have two weeks’ worth of episodes and movies to store, but you can only watch shows that have aired within the last seven days. No matter what, when you save a movie or TV program, you can easily see when it will be re-aired.
Keep in mind that you may still encounter some obnoxious commercial interruptions when watching some of your stored series and movies. For instance, there are a lot of commercials; the replay bar displayed a total running time of two hours and thirty-two minutes for Captain Phillips, even though the real running duration is just two hours and fourteen minutes. According to Philo’s support website, you can’t always avoid advertising since it depends on the channel and whether the show is available on demand. You may avoid commercial interruptions by saving your favorite shows and movies to your DVR, according to a Philo spokesperson. Ads that ran before you saved the video cannot be skipped. Furthermore, the spokesperson stressed the importance of being able to fast-forward through all DVR footage.
In contrast, YouTube TV does not restrict DVR storage and retains episodes for a duration of nine months. With Fubo, you may record as much as 250 hours of entertainment and preserve it forever with a subscription. The storage constraints were relaxed by Hulu. There is a 50-hour limit on Sling TV’s standard DVR. The default storage limit on DirecTV Stream is 20 hours. If you want more space on DirecTV Stream, Fubo, or Sling TV, you may pay to get more.
About par for the course, Philo allows for up to three streams running at once. With DirecTV Stream, you may stream on as many as twenty devices at once inside your home network. With Philo, you may add as many as ten profiles, making it perfect for bigger families. Personalized suggestions and separate libraries of stored information are provided to each profile. A number of watching profiles are also supported by Disney+, Netflix, and Prime Video.
Philo has previously mentioned wanting to add social features like co-watching options, but there isn’t anything like that accessible right now. At the same time, co-watching capabilities have been enabled to Hulu, Netflix, Plex, and Prime Video.
Parental Controls and Accessibility on Philo
You may enable or disable closed captioning (CC) on the playback screen of Philo. The web does not allow you to alter the text’s size, color, or placement. There are other sites that do provide some personalization choices. YouTube TV provides more uniform choices on all devices. Netflix and Amazon Prime Video take it a notch further with their audio descriptions features, which allow users to hear narration that explains on-screen events like scene transitions.
There are no parental control features in Philo, even though it allows users to establish their own accounts. When it comes to live streaming services, Sling TV is unique in that it has parental control features that allow users to limit material based on its rating. Such capabilities are used by a number of on-demand streaming providers, including Max and Disney+.
A relationship between Philo and VPN
You should always and across all devices utilize a VPN if you care about privacy and security. Certain video streaming services may not function while using a VPN. This might be attributed to content licensing agreements or regional limitations. For instance, Philo is exclusive to American users. You might look for a VPN that is compatible with every service you use, but be aware that your connection speeds can be spotty at best. Certain video streaming providers have stringent rules in place to prohibit VPN traffic and may introduce new ones in the future.
To put Philo through its paces, we linked an Android phone and a desktop PC to a Mullvad VPN server in the US and attempted to watch material on Philo. Launching live feeds or viewing stored material was a breeze. Philo denied us access when we attempted to use a Swedish server. Your mileage may vary, as before.
Affordable Entertainment
Even at $25/month, Philo is still one of the most affordable live streaming services available, even if several rivals provide more programming. More than 70 lifestyle and entertainment channels, as well as their on-demand programming, are available to subscribers. Anyone searching for a cable alternative should know that it doesn’t have any sports or news channels. Even so, you may be able to afford subscribing to both it and an on-demand service, like Netflix, which is our Editors’ Choice, because of how cheap it is. Winners of the Editors’ Choice award, Hulu + Live TV, and YouTube TV are more comprehensive alternatives to standard cable subscriptions if you really miss the breadth of material that comes with them.
Read five arguments in favor of keeping your cable subscription and forgoing streaming if you want to learn more about this topic. Discover the best ways to choose affordable streaming services and indulge in a wide variety of trashy reality shows. Learn why it’s the right thing to do for streaming providers to save their entire archives. Lastly, if you’re stuck for ideas, have a look at our suggested streaming video instructions.
Philo Review: We believe
Trying to find an all-inclusive but reasonably priced streaming service is no picnic. Philo is an excellent choice provided it provides the channels you want. Those who are very interested in sports or the news will not like this streaming service. A cheaper alternative to streaming services like Netflix or Hulu would be to use a free, more restricted service like Pluto TV in addition to your existing subscription.
New users may try Philo risk-free for seven days if they’re interested but not yet ready to commit. To get more details, you may check out the website. In case you’re still confused, we’ve compared it to the other leading live TV streaming services so you can see how things stack up.
