Amazon Prime: A Better Choice than Netflix?
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Table of contents
Amazon Prime Video and Netflix are the two media giants for online movie and TV streaming in the market today. They both contain a lot of movies and produce quite a number of original content. Many people may be hearing about the latter a lot, but it doesn’t mean the former is left behind. We broke that down for you to see if Amazon Prime is indeed a better choice than Netflix.
Amazon Prime Video Vs. Netflix
1. Content
Knowing what each streaming powerhouse has to offer regarding the size and quality of the content is important. It is the content that people are most interested in. Otherwise, why even subscribe to a streaming service.
When it comes to the numbers game, Amazon Prime Video is way out there with 53,000 movies as of April 2020, according to Instantwatcher. However, around 46,000 are not rated by the Motion Picture Association of America or MPAA. This makes only about 7,000 movies that are rated.
On the other hand, Netflix has only 3,432 movies with very little to no unrated movies at all. If you put both rated contents side by side, Amazon Prime Video still comes out on top with over 100% more to offer.
Of course, let’s not forget the original productions from each streaming service. Amazon has shown Goliath, Star Trek, Sopranos, Undone, Future Armor, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, The Man in the High Castle, and more. The following Netflix Originals are BoJack Horseman, Stranger Things, Breaking Bad, American Vandal, Orange is the New Black, and a ton more.
The former has 13,000 TV shows against the latter’s 2,795. Amazon Prime Video overshadows Netflix by a little over 10 thousand.
Prime Video also has a growing library of sports content for sports fanatics out there.
SEE ALSO: 13 Best Amazon Prime Movies You Need To Watch This Year
2. Plans, Prices, Video and Audio Quality
Both media streaming services have plans to offer by their own right. This also includes the kind of video quality you get depending on the capability of your device.
Both also have a 30-day free trial for those who want to get a taste of each service. Let’s see each one, shall we?
Netflix
This streaming media service has a 3 tier subscription plan where quality and available streaming devices become higher based on how much you spend.
Basic Subscription Plan
- $8.99 per month
- High Definition at a maximum of 480p quality
- One streaming device
Standard Subscription Plan
- $12.99 per month
- Full High Definition at a maximum of 1080p
- Two simultaneous streaming devices
Premium Subscription Plan
- $15.99 per month
- Ultra High Definition at a maximum of 4K
- Four simultaneous streaming devices
SEE ALSO: Netflix Viewing History | How To Monitor Viewing Activity Right Now
Amazon Prime Video
Prime Video offers 2 tier subscription plans. Basically, just one, we broke it down into bits and pieces for easy comparison. This service offers 4K HD video quality and a simultaneous stream of a maximum of three devices.
Prime Video at $8.99 per month
- Prime Video
Prime Monthly @ $12.99 per month
- Prime Video
- Ad-free music streaming
- Unlimited cloud photo storage
- Unlimited reading
Prime Annual at $119 per year
- Prime Video
- Ad-free music streaming
- Unlimited cloud photo storage
- Unlimited reading
Both services support 5.1 surround sound and Dolby Atmos audio If your appliance or device supports the said format. Netflix provides these features on the Premium subscription though. As shown above, Amazon Prime Video gives you 4K quality in one punch, unlike Netflix, where it’s only available for Premium subscribers.
Offline Viewing and Listening
Each service allows you to download shows on your mobile devices in case you are unable to access the internet like when traveling. You will have to sacrifice video quality for storage space, though.
However, running short of storage may not be much of a problem nowadays. Most devices can be expanded with a memory card.
Netflix:
- Standard Picture Mode – 1-hour video = around 270MB
- Higher Picture Mode – 1 hour of video = around 400MB
- Data Saver Picture Mode – 1-hour video = 0.14GB
- Good Picture Mode – 1 hour of video = around 0.27GB
- Better Picture Mode – 1 hour of video = around 0.77GB
- Best Picture Mode – 1 hour of video = around 1.82GB
Bonus Features
Netflix doesn’t have any extra perks or features. What you pay for is what you get as you binge-watch as much as you want.
Prime Video, on the other hand, has loads of them. These services are:
- Access to Prime Music, which is Amazon’s solution to audio streaming.
- Kindle Owners Lending Library. This allows you to borrow and read an eBook on any Fire or Kindle device like the Amazon Kindle e-reader, Amazon Kindle Oasis, Amazon Kindle Paperwhite, Kobo Clara HD e-reader, Kobo Libra H2O and the Nook GlowLight 3 to name a few.
- Free Prime shipping. Unlimited two-day shipping for FREE for any eligible products bought from Amazon with no minimum spending required.
- Free unlimited online photo storage. You can also share on any device you want.
- Amazon owns where you can get discounts on Whole Foods supermarkets.
The abovementioned extras may have nothing to do with stream services, but it sure is a bang for your buck, considering you do other things other than watching. Think of the extra dollars you save each year on other things.
Overall, these TV and movie streaming giants are a great alternative to cable TV. Picking which one may matter in the long run. Which one gives you great value for your money. Netflix may have a slight advantage since it’s been around longer than Amazon Prime for about ten years. But that doesn’t mean Amazon can’t keep up.
On a side note, if you’re a regular Amazon shopper, with all those extra perks, subscribing to an Amazon Prime plan for just about the same cost as Netflix is a no-brainer at all.
That said, would you subscribe to Amazon Prime today? Let us know in the comments section below.
