Amazon TV finally launches — should you bother?

AMAZON Prime Video is finally in Australia. But before you sign up for another streaming service, here’s what you need to know.

OVERNIGHT, Amazon announced it was officially expanding its Prime Video streaming service to 200 new territories, including Australia.

Yes, there is now another streaming service vying for your cash.

Amazon’s stand-alone service does come cheap though at $3.98 ($US2.99) a month for the first six months and $8.04 ($US5.99) a month after that.

But with Netflix and Stan already firmly established in Australian lounge rooms, should you bother with Amazon Prime?

CONTENT

The main draw for Amazon Prime right now is its original content, including the newly launched The Grand Tour.

Amazon scooped up the former Top Gear trio after Jeremy Clarkson was dropped by the BBC over several scandals and bouts of bad behaviour. The show reportedly cost £160 million ($270 million) and since it launched a few weeks back, has already become the most pirated show in UK history.

There are also other Amazon original series, including the fantastic Transparent (which is already on Stan) starring Jeffrey Tambor as a transitioning woman, and the likes of The Man in the High Castle, Mozart in the Jungle (also on Stan), Bosch and Hand of God.

Other winners include Justified, The Path, The Shield, Seinfeld but then that’s about it. Its TV catalogue is woefully bare-bones at the moment in Australia.

Don’t expect the same library as the US or UK service. The most glaring omission is Fleabag— a BBC series that Amazon has the exclusive rights to in the US.

The movie library fares a bit better with modern classics such as No Country For Old Men, Scarface, Pulp Fiction and the Godfather trilogy. There’s also a few Bollywood movies on hand.

USER EXPERIENCE

The user interface is fairly lacklustre, especially compared to Netflix, which has had more time and several iterations to refine the experience.

On desktop, browsing through the content list is inconvenient due to the lack of continuous scroll. The apps are better.

But the real problem with Amazon Prime right now is watching it on your TV.

The service isn’t supported on existing set-top boxes or dongles, such as Telstra TV, Apple TV, Google Chromecast or Fetch TV, nor is it playable on gaming consoles such as PlayStation or Xbox, all of which support Netflix and Stan.

There is a hack to get it through Google Chromecast, which involves watching it through a Chrome browser that has the Chromecast plug-in. And you can airplay it from an Apple device or computer through the Apple TV, but this is often glitchy.

If you have certain models of Samsung or LG smart TVs, you’re in luck.

Otherwise, you’re relegated to watching Amazon Prime through your computer screen or a tablet. Now where’s the fun in that if you’re at home and that 55-inch TV is just sitting there?

The reason Amazon Prime isn’t available on so many third-party devices is because it’s always wanted to sell you its own devices. Unfortunately, even with Prime now officially available in Australia, it still won’t ship the Fire TV or Fire Stick here and there are no indications that’s changing anytime soon.

SHOULD YOU BOTHER?

Not yet, unless you’re an old Top Gear nut. Or if you’re one of those people who has to have every streaming service. Let’s face it, another four bucks a month isn’t going to be noticed on your statement.

But don’t bother cancelling your Netflix or Stan accounts anytime soon.

Continue the conversation on Twitter with @wenleima.

Originally published as Amazon TV finally launches — should you bother?