Netflix is a behemoth. They are enormous. They had more subscribers in Australia before they officially launched here than any of its competitors (I’m ignoring iView here as it is free), and since launching have racked up subscribers faster than Foxtel pay TV can lose them. They have mindshare that no other streaming company comes close to, except maybe YouTube, but people don’t think about streaming movies on YouTube. Netflix have spawned memes.
Netflix started out sending physical DVD discs through the mail to subscribers who would get new ones when they sent them back. While it seems like a crazy idea, Netflix realised that not everyone had the bandwidth required to stream TV, but as global Internet infrastructure has improved, Netflix’s streaming business has taken off in a big way.
A demonstration of how big Netflix is that they are often used as references at IT conferences for big cloud based systems. None of the other streaming platforms get a look in at Gartner.
Netflix worked out very early on that content was the most important part of their business, producing a lot of exclusive, very high quality content, as well as purchasing sort after content from other sources.
Content: 4.5 stars.
Content is king. You can have the best technology behind a streaming platform, but if you don’t have the content no one will use your service.
Netflix has a wide variety of content, but the Australian content is not as large as what is available in other regions, such as the USA. The content produced exclusively for Netflix is almost worth the price alone. House of Cards, Orange is the New Black, Narcos, Marco Polo. Netflix gives the creators a lot of freedom when creating their shows. I don’t think something like Sense8 could ever been made on TV, even on Cinemax. If it was, focus groups would have changed too much early in production and the creators wouldn’t have had the freedom to see their vision through the end.
The (traditional) TV shows that Netflix does have are not current, episodes airing on TV don’t make their way to Netflix until the end of a season (at the earliest), and often only after a few months, or longer.
Video quality: 4.5 stars.
The 1080p content looks excellent on any platform, Apple TV, Roku, or Chromecast. I don’t have access to any 4K content, my Internet speed isn’t up to the task, so I haven’t upgraded to a ‘premium’ account. Content recorded in 4K and streamed in 1080p does look amazing however. Starting with the higher quality image makes a difference with the 1080p stream. It’s only when I load up a BluRay with the superior bitrate do I notice the difference.
Audio quality: 4 stars.
The 5.1 audio on most content is good. Like other services I’ve struggled to get 5.1 out of a Chromecast, but it works great on an Apple TV or on a Roku.
Device Support: 4 stars.
Very early on Netflix had a goal to just be on everything, making it the default choice for a streaming service. They even shipped out physical discs to Wii owners with the Netflix App, before the Wii had an Internet based app store. This support for as many platforms as possible has served them very well. I haven’t had any issues with any of my Android devices, including my Xiaomi Mi Pad. The apps on Apple TV and Roku are good. Chromecast support is good. As far as Web support, Netflix are making the move to HTML5 based video on supported platforms. This will hopefully result in longer battery life on mobile devices and less CPU overhead when watching high quality streams.
User Experience: 4 stars.
Netflix remembers where I am in any particular episode, and what the next episode is in a series I am watching. It makes what seems to be logical suggestions on new content to watch, and integrates with universal search on a number of platforms, making content easy to find.
Overall Value: High.
At $7.99 (USD) ($12.99 AUD) a month there is a lot of content available - particularly if you use a service to get access to the US region. The first party content produced exclusively for Netflix is almost worth the price alone.