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Amazon Prime Video review | Price, features and content
With a vast selection that includes shows from HBO and quality in-house content like Transparent, Amazon Prime Video is strong competition for streaming stalwarts Netflix and Hulu.
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Pros and cons
Pros
- Lots of added benefits with a Amazon Prime membership
- Excellent exclusive content
- 4K streaming
Cons
- UI isn’t as clean as other services
- Doesn’t have the same “on-demand” feel as Netflix
What's in this guide?
How much is Amazon Prime Video?
One of the big appeals of Prime Video is the single tier option. There’s no need to consider a basic or standard plan. Your only choice is either a monthly or annual subscription which gives you the full experience and in 4K. A monthly subscription for Prime Video only costs $8.99 a month.
However, you also have the choice of opting for a regular Amazon Prime membership. Amazon’s $119 a year or $12.99 a month pricing offers a lot more than just streaming video. Prime membership gives you free two-day shipping for any eligible Amazon purchase, one free Kindle book download each month and music streaming through Amazon Music. The only issue, if you opt for the annual fee is you need to pay that cost upfront. After you’ve used it once, there’s no backing out — maybe not the best move for anyone who hasn’t thoroughly researched their options.
Does Prime Video have a free trial?
Yes, Prime Video offers new users a 30-day free trial. If you need help getting started we have a step-by-step guide for you.
What can I watch on Prime Video?
Much like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video’s library is built on a mix of originals and content from third parties. Some of its noted originals include The Boys, Jack Ryan, Fleabag, The Grand Tour, Utopia and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.
As we mentioned it isn’t all originals on the platform. At the time of writing other shows available include Line of Duty, Downton Abbey and Vikings. Just remember that as these aren’t originals they can be found in other places like Hulu and Peacock.
Prime Video isn’t shying away from looking to be a big player in the global streaming market. It recently snapped up the global broadcast rights for Borat 2. On top of that Prime Video is also creating a Lord of the Rings series.
Does Prime Video have sports?
Yes, Amazon isn’t just operating as a traditional streaming service. It’s now getting involved in live TV beginning with sports. From week five of the NFL season Prime Video now broadcasts Thursday Night Football live.
Amazon Prime Video channels
As touched on above you can get live TV through Prime Video, but almost all of it is only available for an additional subscription cost. For example if you don’t want to add HBO Max to your streaming subscription, you can still add the HBO channel through Prime Video for $14.99 a month. All channels on Prime Video come with their own seven-day free trial.
Prime Video has 150 channels available. There are popular ones like Starz, CBS All Access and Showtime through to more niche channels like Smithsonian Plus or Docurama.
What devices is Amazon Prime Video compatible with?
Prime Video is compatible with almost any streaming device imaginable and allows for three simultaneous streams. Best of all there are plenty of ways to watch without a smart TV. You can see the full list below.
Computer
- PC
- Mac
Game consoles
- PlayStation 4
- PlayStation 3
- Xbox One
- Xbox 360
- Wii
- Wii U
Mobile devices
- Apple iPad
- Apple iPhone
- Apple iPod Touch
- Android tablet
- Android smartphone
- Fire tablet
- Kindle Fire
Smart TV, streaming media players and other
- LG smart TV
- Panasonic
- Samsung smart TV
- Sony smart TV
- Grundig
- JVC
- Vizio
- TCL
- Konka
- Skyworth
- Hisense
- Philips
- Sharp
- AOC
- Changhong
- Haier
- Vestel
- Amazon Fire TV
- Amazon Echo
- Asus CUBE
- Roku
- Hisense Pulse
- NeoTV Prime
- Sony Media Player
- Vizio Co-Star
- Chromecast
- Apple TV
- Nvidia Shield
- Tivo
- KPN
- Jio
Amazon Prime Video features
Although Prime Video’s UI is quite basic, the service isn’t without some unique features. For those who don’t know, Amazon owns IMDb. That has allowed Amazon to create a feature called X-Ray which solves the problem of “Hey what else is that person in?”.
X-Ray works by swiping up or tapping on your device’s remote. It will then tell you the name of the actors on the screen, the character they are in that show or movie and even the song. What that does is allow you to check what other films or series they appear in and if any of those are on Prime Video you can jump right to it. It should be noted that X-Ray isn’t compatible with Roku devices or Xbox.
There’s also your standard features like offline viewing, separate profiles, watchlists, closed captions and the ability to host a watch party on certain devices.
Case study: Katia's experience
Katia Iervasi
Staff writer
As long as you have a Amazon Prime account, you won’t pay anything extra to access an enormous library of TV shows and movies on Amazon Prime Video. Lately, I’ve been working my way through the Amazon original series and I’ve been impressed with the quality of shows like The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan and The Romanoffs. Originals aside, the library includes classics like Suits, as well as hundreds of movies.
You do have to pay an additional fee for some movies, though. I have no problem with this when it’s a new release, but I find it weird that Amazon charges a $2.99 to $9.99 fee for films that have been out for 10, 20 or even 30 years. That’s the most frustrating thing about the service. So in those cases, I’ll switch to another streaming service like Netflix or Hulu and, chances are, that title will be on there.
Verdict
Amazon Prime Prime Video has a lot going for it, including impressive exclusive content and the fast shipping option. The annual commitment and hefty upfront payment is likely to discourage some customers. Our biggest gripe? Amazon just doesn’t feel like a streaming video-on-demand service. It has a more sterile interface that makes it feel more like iTunes than Netflix.Frequently asked questions
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