Amazon Prime Video Review | Price, Content and Features

Ever wondered what happened to LoveFilm? In 2011 it was purchased by online retail giants Amazon and soon became Amazon Prime Instant. It no longer delivers DVDs to your door in those fun little envelopes; now it offers thousands of movies and TV shows streamed straight to your computer, tablet or TV. It’s a subscription service that delivers great content, including original series only available on Amazon Prime, such as its groundbreaking show Transparent, the first production from a streaming video service to win a Golden Globe Award for best series.

	Details	Features
Amazon Prime Video	Contract type: Subscribe monthly or annually Pricing: £5.99/month (or £79/year for Amazon Prime) Devices maximum: 2 Streams maximum: 2	Content types: On-demand streaming TV/movies Quality: SD and HD Affiliates: HBO, LoveFilm, Epix, EasyCinema. Tesco DVD Rental Most popular: Grand Tour, Vikings, The Walking Dead, American Gods, Bosch	Sign up More info

Price and packages

• Amazon Prime – An annual subscription to Amazon Prime costs £79 (which works out at about £6.60 per month), or you can pay £7.99 monthly. To get the best deal, Amazon ask for a full year payment upfront. Bear in mind that Amazon Prime isn’t just about TV streaming. Amongst other things, it also includes unlimited next day deliveries on orders and access to Amazon’s music streaming service.
• Amazon Prime Video – If it’s only the streaming that you’re interested in, you can subscribe to Prime Video on its own for £5.99 a month (there is no annual option).

What devices and platforms is Amazon Prime Video compatible with?

• Tablets

  • Fire HD
  • Android tablets
  • Apple iPad
  • Apple iPad Mini
  • Apple iPod Touch

• Set top boxes

  • Amazon Fire TV
  • Samsung set boxes (See Amazon for full list)
  • Sony set boxes (See Amazon for full list)
  • BluRay players

• Mobile phones

  • Android phones
  • Apple iPhone (3GS and above)

• Games consoles

  • Xbox One
  • Xbox 360
  • Nintendo Wii
  • Nintendo Wii U
  • Playstation 3
  • Playstation 4

• Smart TVs (see Amazon for full list)

  • Sony
  • Samsung
  • LG

Top picks on Amazon Prime Video

How do I sign up to Amazon Prime Video?

Signing up to Amazon Prime Video is easy. Simply follow the instructions below.

1. Visit the Amazon website using any of the links provided.
2. The homepage will look something like this:

3. At the bottom right of the page, you should see the link that invites you to ‘Start 30 day free trial now’. If you click this link you will be asked to log in to your Amazon account, or create a new account if you don’t already have one.

4. Enter your payment method and your access will begin.

Amazon Prime Video pros and cons

Verdict

Amazon Prime Instant is a strong offering from one of the world’s most recognisable media companies. It has a competitively priced service, a well-stocked library, and availability across a wide range of devices. Its original programming is strong and looks set to expand as its original content creation space Amazon Studios continues to grow, while a newly inked deal with HBO looks set to bring the best shows from the US’s best producer exclusively to Amazon. In short, it’s a very complete offering at a very competitive price.

Amazon Prime Video FAQ

• Can I download content and watch it offline?

  Some content can be downloaded and watched offline, but not all and not on all devices. The list of downloadable content is changing all the time and new devices are being added, so check with Amazon.co.uk if your device is applicable.

• Can I set up parental controls?

  Yes. It is easy to set up both purchase restrictions and viewing restrictions on Amazon Prime Instant. To do this you will set a 4-digit pin number which will lock inappropriate content.

• What is X-Ray?

  X-Ray is a service that is available on the Fire Tablet or Wii U that lets you access information on your content including actor bios and background information from IMDb.