How does Peacock’s user interface stand up to scrutiny?
How does Peacock’s user interface stand up to scrutiny?
The NBCUniversal streaming service has a strong content library, but does its user interface lead you to that library with ease?
To be frank, I can see both sides of the Peacock price increase debate. Yes, the streaming service has raised rates three years in a row, but it also offers a much wider range of live sports to customers than most streamers do, and sports rights are expensive. Even this year’s rate hike didn’t convince me to unsubscribe from Peacock — I’m just too fond of rewatching “The Office” — but I’ll admit my budget doesn’t have a lot more room in it for the service.
As a now-frequent user of Peacock, I’m well-acquainted with the streaming service’s interface. If you’re wondering how easy Peacock is to use before making the decision to sign up, I’ll give you my considered opinion on its user experience on smart TVs below. Please note, my scores will be based on the Peacock interface on the Amazon Fire TV operating system, so your experience may vary slightly on different devices.
How does The Streamable score Peacock’s user interface?
How user-friendly is the Peacock home screen?
The Peacock home screen starts with a classic view of top titles the streamer wants you to watch. Click to expand.
Since the home screen on Peacock is the first thing you see when you arrive on the streamer’s app, it’s a good place to start this review. There are definitely some places where I have to knock the Peacock home page; for one, the Continue Watching row is too far down for me. Past readers of these reviews know I like an interface that puts the Continue Watching row toward the top of the screen, but Peacock puts it four rows down on the home page.
I have to scroll through the usual suspects of For You, Just Added, and Top 10 Movies Today to get to Continue Watching, and while Peacock is clearly hoping I’ll pick something new to start with to boost my engagement with the service, it simply isn’t working in my case. I also have to point out another of my pedantic pet peeves with the Peacock home screen: hovering over a show tile instantly starts playing the trailer for that title and busying up the screen unnecessarily — in my view. As pointed out by a reader, you can turn this setting off on Peacock, but I’m still miffed at the streamer for making me do so.
The menu is on the left-hand side, and features a good selection of options (more on those below). A Featured Brands row (which I personally think is a little too far down the home screen) will take you to categories like Peacock Originals, NFL, English Premier League, Universal Pictures, and other hubs for quicker navigation.
It’s not that the Peacock home screen is bad per se, it just comes with too many of my least-favorite features. I do like that clicking on titles outside of my Continue Watching row leads directly to that show’s info page, instead of starting playback right away.
Home page score: 6 out of 10
Is content discovery easy on Peacock?
Peacock will earn some points back for making its show tiles a little smaller, since I like seeing more options on the screen at once. Its content rows are grouped in a way that makes simple scroll browsing easy and intuitive, and the search icon is easily found.
The true diva of the content discovery opera on Peacock for me is the streamer’s left-hand menu; however, it’s a pop-out menu from the left, and comes with options for Movies, TV Shows, Sports, WWE, My Stuff, and Channels. I really like being able to pick from all these categories to narrow my browsing choices, and the access to a sports tab in particular helps immensely. Top live sporting events also appear at the top content carousel on the streamer when you open the home page.
Content discovery score: 9.5 out of 10
Is it easy to move between categories on Peacock?
I appreciate how easy the main menu on Peacock is, especially when separating on-demand from live content Channels is a very useful feature here. A lot of streamers make it surprisingly challenging to find and sort through live channels and content that comes with their subscriptions, but Peacock doesn’t suffer from that affliction at all. Once inside the Channels menu, you can sort the guide to your liking.
Getting to all these categories is pretty easy on Peacock, thanks to the brands row on the home page and all the options in the left-hand menu. A quick shoutout to WWE fans; unfortunately, that menu tab will, at the very least, have a lot less content in it when the new ESPN streaming service takes over broadcast duties for premium live events.
Category navigation score: 8.5 out of 10
How are Peacock’s playback controls?
Peacock walks a fine line with its playback controls. On the one hand, the streaming service has a lot of options I like. You can restart an episode, skip to the next episode, browse more episodes, or adjust your subtitles and audio in a row above the playback line, and that’s the kind of flexibility and functionality I appreciate.
Peacock’s playback controls have a lot of functionality, but the row of shows beneath feels distracting. Click image to expand.
I don’t really need the You May Also Like row at the bottom of the screen, though. I’m here to watch the show I want to watch, and while I applaud the efforts to make a suggestion, I wish that row took up a less noticeable amount of real estate on the screen. It’s just big enough as to be distracting while I’m trying to navigate.
Playback controls score: 8 out of 10
Does Peacock make it easy to skip opening and closing credits?
Yes, this is one area where Peacock does have a good understanding of the assignment. The Skip Intro button arrives as soon as the opening credits start, and while it disappears after a few seconds, it comes back if you call up the playback controls again.
The Next Episode button pops up right away and even gives a photo preview of the episode coming up. Not a lot of room for improvement for Peacock’s ability to skip opening and closing credits, but I have the unshakeable and ineffable feeling that a perfect score isn’t quite appropriate.
Skipping opening and closing credits score: 9 out of 10
Final thoughts
There are a lot of things that the Peacock user interface does right. Its layout is quick to pick out, and even though I have a few issues with the home page, other parts of the streamer help to balance out those point detractions. Home screen is a pretty important factor to get right, so that grade is weighted pretty heavily, but content discovery, ease of navigation, and good playback controls are certainly in the service’s favor.
Overall score: 7.5 out of 10
Peacock
Peacock is a subscription video streaming service from NBCUniversal that includes original shows, blockbuster movies, and classic television series. Peacock is home to “Yellowstone,” “The Office,” and original hits like “Poker Face” and “Bel-Air.” You can also watch live sports and NBC programming, including the NFL, MLB, WWE, the Olympics, the Premier League, NASCAR, the French Open, college football and basketball, and the PGA Tour. Premium Plus subscribers can stream their local NBC feed in all 210 markets.