I love TV and still consider it the best invention ever. I also subscribe to both Netflix and Amazon Prime. So in the battle of Netflix vs Amazon Prime Video, who wins?
Back in 2015, I was running low on space on my iPhone so was looking for apps to sacrifice to the storage gods. I happened to open the Amazon Prime Instant Video app to see where it ranked on my sacrifice list – quite high as it turned out. But before I deleted it, I noticed a button to send Amazon feedback on the app, so I thought I’d send some constructive criticism about their service in case one person’s opinion actually does make a difference. To Amazon’s credit, one of their customer service agents actually responded to my email and said my feedback would be forwarded to the appropriate department. One thing I love about Amazon is their amazing customer service, hence why I shop with them. A lot.
Amazon has always had a lot of catching to do compared to Netflix, however, I must admit their service has improved significantly in recent years and has addressed the thing I used to find most annoying – which was finding the included content amongst the rentals. Included Prime content is now clearly marked and the selection is pretty decent, in fact, the user interface is such an improvement I semi-regularly rent new release films which before I always swore against in protest of their old sales gauntlet model.
Netflix on the other hand has some epic content and I still love that everything listed is included in the subscription. Recent changes I’m less thrilled about are the auto preview and autoplay functions – I wish that could be turned off as when you’re scrolling through and every title tries to play a preview the sound is just irritating. Having said that, Netflix’s content does keep my attention more than that of Amazon’s.
I personally tend to watch more TV than movies. I tell myself it’s because I don’t have the attention span for movies these days. But after watching the latest season of Orange Is the New Black in its entirety in one day, that’s clearly not true. With movies, as soon as you are invested in the characters the movie is over. But with TV that investment is rewarded over a much longer period of time.
Netflix isn’t perfect, there is still a lot of content that the USA gets that the UK (and the rest of the world) doesn’t – but as far as user experience goes, Netflix is the Apple of digital streaming services. When you combine that with their Netflix Original Series lineup, the competition does have some catching up to do still. However, I can see the gap closing as time passes if Amazon continues to improve the way they have been.
