Sunrise TV neo is offered in two versions – a trimmed version and a “max” version.
The trimmed version is marketed as Sunrise TV neo and costs 5 Swiss francs per month. It lets you access TV broadcasts on Android and iPhones via apps. The max version is branded Sunrise TV neo max and costs 20 francs per month. It includes Apple TV compatibility among other features. Sunrise customers pay for these TV plans with their Sunrise phone bills. All other users can pay via credit card.
An outstanding feature of both versions is that the TV plan is not linked to a specific Internet plan. In telecom jargon, this is known as an over the top (OTT) arrangement. Users can access the service and watch television via any Internet connection.
230 TV channels of which 110 are HD
Both Sunrise TV neo and Sunrise TV max let you watch 230 TV channels in standard definition (SD) and 110 channels in high definition (HD). The service also includes a 7-day time shifting function, live TV pause and a “download-to-go” function. Both plans use virtual, cloud-based video recorders. The trimmed version has 100 hours of recording capacity, and the max has a 500-hour recording capacity.
Sunrise is the first of the major Swiss telecom service providers (Swisscom, Sunrise, Salt and UPC) to launch an OTT offer with supplementary features. The moneyland.ch TV plan comparison is the first Swiss comparison to integrate these OTT offers.
Swisscom also offers a TV app, but users who do not have a Swisscom TV plan can only access 250 TV channels. Supplementary features like time shifting or video recording are only available to Swisscom TV plan or Swisscom mobile plan users.
Sunrise TV neo cost comparison
Competitors like Teleboy, Zattoo and Wilmaa have offered app-based TV over any Internet connection for around a decade now. For users who only want to watch TV broadcasts and do not need supplementary features like time shifting or virtual video recorders, the free offers from Teleboy, Zattoo and Wilmaa are cheaper than the new Sunrise TV plans.
Even users who occasionally watch TV broadcasts via Apple TV will find Zattoo and Wilmaa to be interesting alternatives. The free offers from both of these service providers let you watch up to 30 hours per month of TV via an Apple TV box.
At 5 francs per month, Sunrise TV neo is very cheap for a TV plan which include time shifting and a 100-hour TV recorder. The most affordable competing plans with 7-day time shifting and just barely higher TV recording capacities cost 8.50 francs per month.
Sunrise TV neo max, on the other hand, is notably more expensive than offers from Sunrise competitors, which have Apple TV-compatible plans for as little as 10 francs per month.
Verdict by moneyland.ch telecom expert Ralf Beyeler
“The move by Sunrise – a major Swiss telecom service provider – to offer TV plans which can be used with any Internet connection is absolutely welcome,” states Ralf Beyeler, telecom expert at independent comparison service moneyland.ch. Sunrise’ entry into the OTT television space will put pressure on market leader Swisscom. With the exception of a basic app with few functions, Swisscom’s TV plans are only available in connection with its broadband Internet plans.
The trimmed Sunrise TV neo plan is a slightly more affordable option for TV time shifting user than its competition. For Apple TV users, on the other hand, there are cheaper plans than the Sunrise TV neo max offer.
The fact that existing Sunrise TV plan users have to pay extra for the neo plans is not customer friendly. Other service providers like Swisscom are more customer friendly in this regard. Swisscom TV plan users can access their plan via the app without having to pay for an additional plan.
More on this topic:
Swiss TV plan comparison (including OTT offers)
