Customer rating
★★★★★
Satisfaction survey
67% of Rakuten TV customers in our 2021 customer satisfaction survey would recommend the service to a friend.
Some viewers felt like they received bad customer service.
Rakuten TV review – prices, features and content
Rakuten TV (formerly Wuaki) has recently removed the streaming option from its service, focusing instead on the buying and renting of digital movies and television shows. So how does it now hold up in the face of growing competition?
Founded in Spain in 2010 as Wuaki.tv, Rakuten TV is a streaming video-on-demand (SVOD) service owned by ecommerce giant Rakuten (parent company to Play.com and Kobo Inc.). It now has over 600,000 users in Spain and more than 400,000 in the UK. Let’s take a look at how Rakuten TV shapes up since the removal of its streaming service.
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Rakuten TV pricing
Rakuten TV costs £4.99 per month after the free trial has ended. This gives you access to a number of “free” movies you can watch when you like. However, just like Sky, Virgin Media and Amazon Prime, certain titles require you to pay an extra fee to view. For example, the latest releases, such as Wonderwoman 1984 will set you back £15.99 to rent! Below is a list of pricing for new releases and back catalogue titles, but amounts do tend to vary.
| New Releases | SD | UHD |
|---|---|---|
| Rent | Around £4.99 | Up to £15.99 |
| Buy | Around £9.99 | Around £13.99 |
| Back Catalogue | SD | HD |
|---|---|---|
| Rent | From £1.99 | From £3.99 |
| Buy | From £2.99 | Around £8.99 |
Platforms and devices that Rakuten TV is compatible with
Top picks on Rakuten TV
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How do I sign up to Rakuten TV?
Since Rakuten TV has dropped its “Selection” subscription service, signing up is a simple process. Simply visit the website and click the yellow register button in the top-right corner of the screen. Next, you will be asked to insert some basic login information. Enter your email address (which will later be used as a login I.D) and an eight character password. You will be asked to repeat your password for security purposes. Once that’s done, you’re ready. You now have a Rakuten TV account. Once you choose a title to download (if it doesn’t sit with the free movies available), you will be asked to enter your payment details to pay for it.
Rakuten TV pros and cons
Pros
- Reasonably priced
- Some early digital releases (like Insurgent)
Cons
- Extra payment for new releases or back catalogue
- Inconsistent stream quality
Verdict
Rakuten TV offers an interesting hybrid of traditional digital purchases and streaming video-on-demand (much as Amazon Prime Instant video offers now), although Rakuten TV appears to offer an inferior service to what’s already available from the bigger players, like Google Play and iTunes. Add this to its unreliable stream quality and what you get is a service that simply doesn’t compete well enough.
Frequently asked questions
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Ask an Expert
My super points have not been credited to my profile.
Hi Paul,
Thanks for reaching out to finder.
Rakuten Super Points are usually credited to your account in approximately 3-6 weeks after you make your purchase. However, the timing of issuance may vary depending on the affiliate store’s sales and cancellation policies.
If your RSP are still not credited within the expected timeframe, you an submit a claim to Rakuten’s customer support page found on their website and include the retailer name, order number and the full purchase price.
I hope this helps.
Cheers,
Charisse
Hi Finder,
Thank you for an informative feature. The tables at the top of the article refer to prices and state “New releases SD” and “Back Catalogue SD”. I can find no explanation for the use of the initials SD. Do you know what it means, please?
Kind regards
J x
Hi Jan,
Thanks for reaching out to finder.
SD means Standard Definition which uses a resolution that is not considered high- or enhanced-definition. If you prefer your movies to have a more detailed video and sharper overall video image quality, you may want to go for High definition resolution.
I hope this helps.
Cheers,
Charisse
What’s the sign up fee?
Hi Eddie,
Thanks for leaving a question on finder.
Rakuten TV does not have a fee. Instead, you can choose titles you want to watch and either rent or buy it outright from their website.
Please send me a message if you need anything else. :)
Cheers,
Joel
I need to pay with my new card how can i cancel my old 1
Hi Jean,
Thank you for leaving a question.
You may need to contact the customer service team of Rakuten TV for you to be able to change you payment details. Please contact them at 0170 445 0177 from Mondays-Fridays from 8am-5pm. Hope this helps!
Cheers,
Reggie
Hi, how can I download my films to the sd card instead of internal storage on Samsung Galaxy (Android)?
Hi Glen,
Thanks for leaving a question on finder.
Offline feature is available in most Android and iOS devices
On Android, download is available for devices with Android version 4.3 or higher and support for Widevine DRM (this does not include Android TV). On iOS, download is available for all devices with iOS 8 or newer installed.
To start watching offline content you have to update Rakuten TV’s App on your Android or iOS device to latest version available on Google Play or AppStore respectively.
After you rent or a buy a content, if your device is compatible with our Offline feature, a “Download” button will be placed in the information page of all the movies and episodes available for download, next to “Watch now” button.
Downloads are placed in the new “Downloads” section located in the left menu in Android, and in the new “My Profile” menu in iOS.While a download is in progress, you will see that the movie is greyed out and a percentage is shown below the cover to show how far through the process your content is.
Offline functionality works with the same timings offered throughout the rental and purchase options in our service:
– Rentals: 48 hours from the moment the content is rented
– Purchases: Indefinitely.
On average, you will need around 1-2 GB of free space for downloading a movie, and around 800 MB for an episode. Note that you can only download the content in the internal memory of the device.
Cheers,
Joel