Amazon Prime Video – Gold Award

Can a company as big as Amazon run a streaming service that is a dark horse? If so, Prime Video falls right into that category. Prime Video definitely deserves more credit as a stunning additional perk for those with an Amazon Prime subscription. Related: Think Prime Video is the cream of the streams? Vote for your best streaming service

What we love – Great shows, included with Prime and support for 4K and HDR

There’s a lot to like about Prime Video but what remains underrated are its shows. Prime Video arguably has a better hit-rate for quality-over-quantity gems than key rival Netflix. These shows may not enter the cultural zeitgeist in the same way but consistent and intriguing concepts are rife. One of Amazon’s biggest shows, The Boys, has its second season coming soon. A super-violent superhero comedy that chucks the likes of Kick-Ass and Watchmen in a cauldron with a handful of extra curse words – and it just works.  Shows like Homecoming, Mr Robot, The Marvelous Mrs Maisel, and more, make up a lineup of some of the best shows of the past decade that many haven’t been lucky enough to catch. One of the big benefits of Prime Video is its price, unlike Disney Plus and Netflix, it comes as an additional benefit in a stellar wider package. You can now get deals on the latter services with your mobile network, pay-TV subscription and the like, as well as being able to purchase Prime Video on its own, but you wouldn’t get the benefits Amazon Prime brings. Amazon also does a great job at offering support for modern tech across the board, from 4K and HDR to specific standards like HDR10+ and Dolby Atmos. As well as providing content that takes advantage of them – even if it is limited for the likes of Dolby Atmos.

What we don’t like – Slow feature adoption, fiddly and outdated interface

While Amazon really seems to be turning this around now, if you’ve used Prime Video for some time, you’ll be forgiven for thinking it was due an update or two. Prime Video has recently gotten support for multiple user accounts, a feature that most other services have offered since the get-go. Another bug-bare for users is the inclusion of content not available as part of your subscription – requiring further payment. Prime Video does now let you rid your interface of this content on mobile, but it’s another feature that’s been a long time coming. The interface is general isn’t the smoothest either – requiring a big refresh, to be frank – offering far too many changing categories to navigate and taking a few actions to get to other places within the app. Prime Video has looked the same for many years and could really do with a design rethink.

Verdict

As an Amazon Prime subscriber, you’d be missing out to not check out Prime Video. The service is beginning to mature, offering all the same useful features as competitors as well as marquee shows to outshine them too. For non-Prime subscribers, the £79.99 per year or £7.99 per month (half that for students) pricing of Prime is competitive with rivals even without the delightful extras. If you really just want Prime Video, you can grab it for £5.99 per month.