When you think of streaming TV shows and movies, there’s a good chance that Netflix is the first thing that comes to mind. While competition from rivals like HBO Max and Disney Plus is fierce, it’s still the best choice for streaming entertainment, period.
Netflix includes a wide array of popular network shows and more original series, movies, documentaries, and specials than any of its myriad competitors. Despite subscriber retention challenges and price spikes, the world’s first major streaming service remains our favorite choice thanks to its vast library of constantly refreshed content and easy accessibility across devices. In 2021, Netflix won 44 Emmys, making history and winning more than the next two media companies combined. If you’re looking for something new to watch, Netflix should be your best bet.
How Netflix started vs. how it’s going
Between 2012-2013, Netflix premiered its first original TV shows, including Lilyhammer, House of Cards and Orange Is the New Black. To see also : 10 best Netflix drunkenness series in one weekend. Today, it has a catalog of more than 1,500 original TV shows and movies, including global hits like Stranger Things, Emmy winners like Bridgerton, The Queen’s Gambit and The Crown, as well as Oscar-nominated films like Power of the Dog, Tick, Tick… Boom! and Trial in Chicago 7.
While the company has been known for its commercial-free streaming experience since its inception, there are plans to introduce an ad-supported tier before the end of 2022. In addition, Netflix aims to crack down on password sharing by charging a fee for additional users on an account. The program is still in its pilot phase, but the days of crowdfunding your Netflix subscription could soon be over.
As of 2022, Netflix has more than 220 million paid subscribers in 190 countries, after seeing a large increase in users during the pandemic. The lack of a subscriber base has caused the number to drop by 200,000, but there are still reasons to keep the service, the main goal being its content.
What shows and movies does Netflix have?
Netflix may have had the first-to-market advantage in the world of streaming services, but it has maintained its momentum with a growing number of original shows and movies — many of which have won critical acclaim and major awards and nominations. See the article : New on Netflix: An Advertising-Supported Level.
Compared to other streaming platforms, you can’t beat Netflix’s slate of original TV shows that are now considered among the best of the modern television era, including the ones mentioned above and many others, such as Squid Game, Ozark, Never, Money Heist, and Cobra Kai .
Read more: Netflix: 49 of the absolute best TV shows to watch
In addition to TV shows, Netflix original programming includes a wide range of comedies, dramas, foreign films and shows, docuseries, anime, stand-up comedy, and reality dating and competition shows. Not all of them are runaway hits, but many of them are, and there are enough to explore interesting shows that may not have found a home on traditional network TV. And at a time when going to the movies is bigger than ever, Netflix offers a place to find new movies: in 2022 alone, Netflix is expected to release over 100 new movies, at least one a week. The selection spans genres and geography and includes K-dramas, animated films and fantasy book adaptations.
Stranger Things is one of Netflix’s powerhouse originals.
Netflix usually adds series for an entire season at a time, but not while the show is airing on network TV — so if you don’t have cable or another platform like Hulu, you’ll have to wait a few months to watch the seasons in their entirety.
One complaint: Netflix content can sometimes come and go without warning. The only way to find out if something is leaving the service in the next 30 days is if you happen to tap the details page for a given show or movie – or search the internet for everything that’s coming and going in a given month.
Another potential content issue to flag: In recent years, Netflix has lost some of its most popular content (like The Office, which moved to NBC’s Peacock, Daredevil, which moved to Disney Plus, and Friends, which moved to HBO Max) as well as other networks have created their own streaming services. Although it started as an online video store that tried to offer every movie and TV show online, it may be slowly becoming more like the HBO of old — mostly its own original programming, supplemented by some stuff it licenses from other companies.
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What’s it like to use Netflix?
I first subscribed to Netflix in the early days of streaming in 2007, so using the platform feels like second nature at this point. Even if you’re new to it, it’s pretty easy to use: open the app and tap your profile (if you’ve set one up) and you’ll see the home page. This may interest you : Big Video: 50 Best TV Shows To Watch. You’ll see Popular on Netflix, Keep Watching, Trending Now, Best for You, and numerous (sometimes oddly specific) other categories based on shows you’ve watched before. Mine include reviews of acclaimed witty TV comedy and suburban dysfunctional TV comedy, for example.
Netflix’s design encourages scrolling – there are so many different categories that you can browse, and then series and movies within those categories that you can keep scrolling into. You can create a watchlist to help narrow this down, but the huge, colorful library makes it easy to spend more time looking at options than actually watching the show, so be careful.
The Netflix app works similarly on different devices. My web browser home page is almost identical to the one on my Apple TV, Roku, and Amazon Fire TV Stick, both in content and appearance. It’s condensed on the smaller screens of iPhones and Android phones, but still follows the same format and has a clear “Downloads” tab for finding content to save for offline viewing on your device.
Rows and rows of content on Netflix can keep you busy.
One difference between the devices is voice commands: depending on which voice-enabled device you’re using, you may find it more or less difficult to launch a Netflix show from your device’s home screen.
For example, when you say “Watch Stranger Things” on Apple TV and the iOS app on iPhone, you’ll first click on a specific show (Stranger Things or Beyond Stranger Things), then you’ll be taken to the Apple TV page for the show, and there, it will give you the option to open Netflix and start episode 1. On the Amazon Fire TV Stick, you can say, “Watch weirder stuff,” and it will automatically open Netflix if you’re signed in to the app. Saying “Watch Stranger Things” on the Roku 4K Stick will take you straight to the first episode in the app. Those are more hardware side issues, but interesting to note.
However, when you’re in the Netflix app, voice commands work the same on all devices: Go to the Search tab, hold down the microphone button to dictate, and say the name of the show you’re looking for.
When you select a show or movie to watch, you have the option to fast forward, rewind, add subtitles and change audio settings. If you have a Premium account and a large enough 4K TV, watching in Ultra HD makes for a very cinematic experience. The show or movie you choose will also appear in your “Continue Watching” section at the top of your home page for easy access.
How much does Netflix cost?
Netflix offers three price plans: Basic, Standard and Premium. Here’s how costs and features break down:
Netflix plans
All plans include the ability to watch on any device and a full, unlimited collection of movies and TV shows. All allow cancellation at any time. Netflix also offers a one-month free trial.
Netflix’s basic plan costs more than Prime Video ($9 per month), more than Hulu’s ad-based plan ($7 per month), but less than its comparable ad-free plan ($13 per month). If you’re on a shared Netflix account with your family, chances are it’s Premium ($20 a month) — if you’re actually sharing it between four people, that’s only $5 a month each, and a great value for all the original content available, including some in 4K Ultra HD. Plus: no ads on any plan.
What features do you get on Netflix?
Beyond general streaming, if you have a Standard or Premium plan, you can create different profiles for different users and find your own list of personalized recommendations.
Netflix’s recommendation game is strong, from the “Because You Watched” carousels enhanced with a new “two thumbs up” feature, to the option to remove content from your home page, to the “Play Something” shuffle feature when you’re not sure what to stream.
The platform also has a particularly appealing section for kids, with a solid catalog of content including CoComelon, Pokemon: Master Journeys and Trolls: The Beat Goes On! and a much more kid-friendly user interface – including the mystery box feature that was added earlier this year.
If you subscribe to the Premium plan, you can watch certain shows and movies in 4K Ultra HD resolution on 4K TVs. You will need a constant Internet connection speed of at least 25 megabits per second and the streaming quality set to Auto or High.
Netflix has more 4K content than any other streaming service, and many of its 4K shows and movies are also available in HDR. The high dynamic range provides an even greater improvement in picture quality than 4K according to CNET’s tests, with better contrast and color, and the difference is especially noticeable on large, high-end TVs. Netflix supports two main HDR formats, generic HDR (aka HDR-10) as well as Dolby Vision. If you have a device that supports Dolby Vision, Netflix will play content (if available) in that format by default.
You can search for a selection of 4K TV shows and movies on the service with the Premium plan.
Data consumption varies by format, ranging from around 1 GB per hour for standard definition video to up to 7 GB per hour for the highest quality 4K streams. Downloading and streaming take up a similar amount of data, according to Netflix. If you want to avoid Netflix eating up all your data, you can take certain steps listed on Netflix’s website to adjust your data usage settings.
All subscribers can download TV shows and movies in the Netflix mobile app for offline viewing, although certain titles are not available for download.
Read more: 9 handy Netflix tricks that can help stream better
Should you get it?
Netflix remains my favorite streaming platform of the growing group. It has a huge selection of movies and TV shows, old and new, tons of high-quality original programming, and an easy-to-navigate interface.
Although it no longer offers a free trial, it’s worth trying out Netflix for a month if you want something new to watch.
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