What Is Philo? Channels, Add-Ons, Features And Downside Explained

Philo is an affordable live TV streaming service making it ideal for any homes that are currently looking to save on the cost of a live TV package. However, with this being a cheaper live TV service, there are some compromises, including the channel lineup.

Providing the selection of channels matches what you are looking for, Philo could be a good option for you. To further help make that decision, here’s a closer look at everything we think you should know about Philo before signing up, beginning with the price.

How much is Philo?

The Philo base ‘Core’ package costs $28 a month. At this price, Philo is cheaper than the cheapest live TV plans from DirecTV, Fubo, Hulu Live TV, Sling TV and YouTube TV. As Philo only offers one paid base package, all subscribers get access to the same base channels and features.

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$28/mo

• 70+ channels
• AMC+
• Unlimited DVR

7 day Free Trial

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One of the interesting things about Philo is that subscribers have never directly encountered a price increase. Due to this, many legacy subscribers are still paying a cheaper price than the current $28/month rate.

Does Philo offer A Free Trial?

Yes, Philo provides all new subscribers with a 7-day free trial. As Philo doesn’t tend to vary the length of the free trial throughout the year, all new subscribers can expect seven free days when signing up.

While there are no additional base plans to choose from, Philo does offer a completely free tier. As this is a free service, users only get access to a channel lineup populated with free, ad-supported (FAST) channels.

Channels Available With Philo

Philo subscribers get access to more 70 paid channels with the base package. However, the channel lineup is extremely reliant on entertainment channels. For those interested in news or sports, Philo probably won’t be the right solution for you.

Channels included with Philo’s Core plan

Entertainment: A&E, AMC, American Heroes Channel, Animal Planet, aspireTV, BBC America, BET, BET Her, Catchy Comedy, CLEO TV, Comedy Central, Cooking Channel, Crime + Investigation, Dabl, Deck the Hallmark, Destination America, Discovery Channel, Discovery Family, Discovery Life, EarthxTV, FETV, Food Network, FYI, Game Show Network, get, Great American Faith & Living, Great American Family, Hallmark Channel, Hallmark Family, Hallmark Mystery, Heroes & Icons, HGTV, HISTORY, IFC, INSP, Investigation Discovery, Law&Crime, Lifetime, LMN, Logo, Magnolia Network, MeTV, MeTV+, Military History Channel, MotorTrend, Oprah Winfrey Network, Paramount Network, Pop TV, REVOLT, Science Channel, Smithsonian Channel, Start TV, Story Television, Sundance TV, Tastemade, TLC, Travel Channel, TV Land, TV One, UPtv, Vice, WE tv

News and Weather: AccuWeather Network

Music: AXS TV, CMT, MTV, MTV Classic, MTV Live, MTV2, VH1

Kids: MeTV Toons, Nick Jr., Nickelodeon, Nicktoons, TeenNick

FAST channels available through Philo

In addition to the paid channels, all Core subscribers (and free users) get access to more than 90 additional FAST channels. These free, ad-supported channels also lean heavily on entertainment and reality TV.

Entertainment: 4UV, All Reality WE tv, All Weddings WE tv, AllBlk Gems, AMC Thrillers, America’s Test Kitchen, Anger Management, ANIME x HIDIVE, Are We There Yet?, Ax Men, Baywatch, The Bob Ross Channel, BUZZR, CineLife, CINEVAULT, CINEVAULT Westerns, CINEVAULT: Classics, Cold Case Files, Comedy Dynamics, Confess by Nosey, Cook’s Country, Crackle, CraftsyTV, Crime 360, Crime Cults Killers by A&E, Crime ThrillHer, Dance Moms, Deal Zone, Dog the Bounty Hunter, Drag Race Universe, Duck Dynasty, Ebony TV by Lionsgate, FailArmy, Game Show Central, GET Comedy, Growing Up Hip Hop WE tv, Gusto TV, HerSphere, Home.Made.Nation, Ice Road Truckers, IFC Films Picks, INFAST, INTROUBLE, INWONDER, Kin, Love Nature, MagellanTV Now, Matched, Married, Meet, Military Heroes, Modern Marvels, Movie Favorites by Lifetime, MovieSphere by Lionsgate, Mythical 24/7, Nashville, OuterSphere by Lionsgate, PBS, People Are Awesome, Perform, The Pet Collective, PlayersTV, Portlandia, The Price is Right: The Barker Era, RetroCrush, Revry, Scares by Shudder, Screambox TV, Slightly Off IFC, Space Science Now, Stories by AMC, Tastemade Home, Tastemade Travel, Tiny House Nation, Torque, TV One Crime & Justice, UnXplained Zone, The Walking Dead Universe, Western Bound Wrangled by INSP, Wild Oceans, Xtreme Outdoor by HISTORY

News and Weather: BBC News, Cheddar News, USA TODAY

Kids: pocket.watch, Ryan and Friends

Music: Vevo ’80s, Vevo ’90s, Vevo Country, Vevo Features, Vevo Hip-Hop, Vevo Pop

Sports: beIN Sports XTRA, Outside TV, Overtime, MSG SportsZone

Philo Base Plan Add-Ons

Compared to other live TV services, Philo is limited in terms of add-ons and upgrades. At present, only the following add-ons can be bundled with the base package.

• AMC+ (non-Core subscribers)
• MGM+ (includes MGM+, MGM+ Hits and MGM+ Marquee)
• Movies & More
• Starz (includes Starz, Starz Encore and Starz Kids & Family)

Movies & More

The Movies & More add-on costs an additional $3 a month and unlocks access to the following channels.

• Fandor
• FMC
• HDNet Movies
• MOVIES!
• REELZ
• Sony Movies

Philo Supported Devices

Philo is available on a range of platforms and devices, including streaming players, smart TVs, smartphones, tablets and more.

Below is an overview of popular platforms and devices compatible with Philo.

• Amazon Fire tablets
• Amazon Fire TV players, TVs
• Android phones, tablets
• Android TV
• Apple TV
• Google TV
• iPhone, iPad
• Roku Players, TVs
• Samsung smart TVs
• Vizio smart TVs
• Web browser

While many popular platforms and devices are supported, there are some notably absentees. For example, Philo currently doesn’t support LG smart TVs or game consoles.

For those without a supported device, it is possible to access the live TV service through the Philo website using a supported web browser.

How Many People Can Watch Philo At The Same Time?

Philo can be watched on up to three devices at the same time.

Additional Premium Features

With Philo being a more affordable service, it doesn’t come with too many premium features. Most notably, Philo Core subscribers get access to free AMC+ and an unlimited DVR.

Free AMC+

All Philo Core subscribers get access to AMC+ at no additional cost, unlocking access to popular AMC shows, IFC Films Unlimited, Shudder and Sundance Now. While not a feature in itself, it is an additional benefit and one being aware of.

Unlimited DVR

All Philo subscribers get access to an unlimited DVR, making it possible to record shows, movies and more. While unlimited, recordings are only saved for a maximum of one year.

The Downside Of Philo

The main downside with Philo is the selection of channels. Although subscribers get access to more than 160 channels (paid + FAST) in total, the channel lineup heavily relies on entertainment and reality TV.

In particularly, Philo is largely missing sports and news channels, making it a poor choice for anyone looking to watch live sports or keep up to date with the latest live news.

Device support could be another downside for some. This is an area that is slowly improving and one which which won’t affect anyone with a streaming player or smart TV powered by one of the most popular platforms, such as Amazon Fire TV, Android TV and Roku.

If, however, you primarily use devices that have yet to gain support, including LG TVs and game consoles, Philo probably isn’t going to be the right choice for you.

Is Philo TV worth it?

Yes, we think Philo is worth a subscription. There are some notably issues with Philo, with the lack of live sports a prime example, but Philo is a great option for anyone mostly looking to watch entertainment programming. It is also a service that seems keen on continually improving the user experience

At $28 a month, Philo is significantly cheaper than most other services, and if you happen to be an AMC+ subscriber, Philo makes even more sense.

With AMC+ included in the base Core package, subscribing to Philo can work out even cheaper than the advertised $28 monthly cost – so long as you make sure to cancel your existing AMC+ subscription after signing up to Philo.