In many of today’s households, families have opted out of regular television in favor of digital streaming video. Two popular services- Netflix and Amazon Prime Video of much of the same selection, so how does one choose? Here are the best and worst of both services.
Plans
With Netflix, the first month of any plan is free, your watching is always unlimited, and with no contracts you can cancel anytime. They offer three plans- Basic ($7.99), Standard ($8.99), and Premium ($11.99). Basic sounds fairly elementary with no HD offered and only streaming to one device at a time, it could be a good plan for a single individual who prefers older, non-HD movies and shows.
Most people seem to be satisfied with Standard which does not offer Ultra HD (there is normal HD), and videos can be streamed to up to 2 devices at once. Premium sounds like a good option for a family since it can be streamed onto 4 devices at once and offer everything Standard does in addition to Ultra HD.
Amazon Prime Video is part of the Amazon Prime Package. The package costs $99 a month with freedom to cancel anytime and a 30-day free trail. That comes out to about $7.62 a month (considering the free trail month).
For that money, Amazon Prime beats out Netflix. You get free 2-day shipping on all amazon orders, unlimited movie and TV show streaming as well as unlimited music streaming. Its the program can take care of all your entertainment. Other attributes include unlimited photo storage, special early access to shopping events on Amazon, and access to over 500,000 eBooks on Kindle.
Winner for price is Amazon Prime Video.
Content
If you plan on using video streaming as a primary visual entertainment mode, you’ll want plenty of options. Here’s how the competitors stack up on content of their collections.
Both services offer thousands of options, however you won’t find new programs. If you’re into keeping up with shows currently on television, you’re out of luck with both services. The same goes with newly released movies, you’ll just have to wait for both.
Both feature original programming, with Netflix taking the lead this year in numbers. Prime did keep in touch with users though, polling them on themes for new original series. There are great shows on each and it’s merely a matter of preference on this one, but Netflix offers more to choose from.
Now here’s where Netflix gains an edge: HBO shows. Amazon Prime Video just began streaming HBO TV shows in the last year so there’s a limited selection in shows and seasons. while Netflix features many more. However HBO is working on a stand only service to avoid using middle men services to distribute their moves and shows. Move to come in regards to HBO this year, but you can expect both Netflix and Prime to feature less to no HBO shows.
Winner for content, thanks only to its original programming, Netflix.
Video Quality
It’s frustrating to get settled into a show or movie only to have it stop to buffer or show a fuzzy image. The ideal video stream to avoid this is 1080p video, which both services offer. The key is having an internet connection fast enough to handle this (4 MB/s or more). So this category relies heavily on what you have available for internet, its a tie for both services.
In the end Prime and Netflix is a tie in video streaming. When choosing one service over another, you’ll really just have to consider your preferences and which service can satisfy those the best. Keep in mind Netflix has been in the video streaming game longer than Amazon so It’ll be on top of new content and technology, white Amazon Prime is still playing catch-up in many areas.
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