Amazon Prime Video Review
Amazon Prime Video is a subscription video streaming service that includes on-demand access to 10,000+ movies, TV shows, and Amazon Originals & Prime Exclusives like Jack Ryan, Star Trek: Picard, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Homecoming, Outlander, and more.
The service also includes library access to shows like The Office, This Is Us, Lost, Grey’s Anatomy, and more. Amazon Prime Video has added live sports including NFL’s Thursday Night Football, PGA Tour LIVE, ATP & WTA Tour action, and select Premier League games.
To get additional streaming content, you can subscribe to third-party services like Discovery (£4.99), hayu (£3.99) for reality TV, and STARZPlay (£4.99) for movies with Amazon Prime Video Channels.
Prime Video is included with Amazon Prime for £8 per month (£79 per year), or can be purchased on its own for $2.99 per month.
Review
We tested Amazon Prime Video and other subscription streaming services for more than 100 hours. Amazon Prime Video is compatible with Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Google Chromecast, Roku, Android TV, iPhone/iPad, Android Phone/Tablet, Web Browsers, PlayStation, Xbox, Samsung Smart TV, VIZIO Smart TV, and LG Smart TV.
Content
Originals
Prime Video has had a lot of critical success with their original series including The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Jack Ryan, Star Trek: Picard, an exclusive series like Outlander and Vikings.
TV Shows
One of the main reasons to subscribe to Prime Video is to get access to classic shows including The Office, House, Lost, Grey’s Anatomy, Hell’s Kitchen, and more.
Movies
Amazon Prime Video has the largest movie libraries with over 10,000 titles, but mostly smaller films rather than major blockbusters.
Prime Video even has original films that first appear in theaters like The Upside, “Manchester by The Sea”, “The Big Sick”, and “Cold War”.
Kids
Amazon Prime Video is the home for popular kids content like Peppa Pig, Paw Patrol, and an original series based on Kung Fu Panda.
Features
Single Profile Only
As of now, Prime Video doesn’t have profiles for different members of your family. However, you can have different accounts for up to 5 family members.
As an Amazon Prime member you can create a Family Library with one additional adult and four children. While each user can have their own log-in, you will have to log out to access a different account.
Parental Controls
Once you set a PIN on your account, you can set viewing restrictions based on the a show or movie’s rating. To override the rating, you can enter your PIN to unlock the restrictions.
Apple TV+, Disney+, Netflix, Paramount Plus and Star also have parental control features.
Up to 3 Devices
Amazon Prime Video allows you to stream up to three different titles at the same time using the same Amazon account, but the same title can only be streamed by two devices simultaneously.
Offline Downloads
Amazon Prime Video, which was one of the earliest to offer downloadable access to shows, limits 15-25 titles to be downloaded across all devices on your Prime Video account. There isn’t a limit to the number of devices, so long as they are tied to a Prime Video Account.
At this point, their Prime Video Originals catalog is available for download, as well as many in their library of movies and shows. Just like the others, you generally have 30 days to watch, with 48 hours after you first start streaming a show.
International Access
Depending on where you travel to, Amazon Prime Video will behave differently. If you go to country that has Amazon Prime Video, you will see the content catalog in that country. If you go to a country that doesn’t have Amazon Prime Video, you will only be able to access shows and movies you’ve already downloaded offline.
Compatible Devices
Amazon Prime Video is compatible with these devices:
- Amazon Fire TV
- Apple TV
- Google Chromecast
- Roku
- Android TV
- iPhone/iPad
- Android Phone/Tablet
- Web Browsers
- PlayStation
- Xbox
- Samsung Smart TV (2015+ models)
- VIZIO Smart TV (2015+ models)
- LG Smart TV (2015+ models)
Amazon Prime Video is not compatible with Nintendo devices.
Tech Specs
1080p HD
(Up to 4K UHD)
Most content on Amazon Prime Video is in 1080p HD, but some Prime Originals and films are available in 4K. They support HDR, HDR10+, and Dolby Vision depending on the 4K content.
Keep in mind that in order to stream in 4K, you should have a connection of at least 25 Mbps.
Some Surround
Stereo/Surround Sound
Amazon Prime Video supports 5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound on most of their original programming and films, but not on all library content. On a very small selection of content they offer Dolby Atmos support.