Prime Video just went global – What is it about?

2016 is the year of globalization when it comes to online streaming. It started on January 6th with Netflix going global, and on December 14th Amazon Prime went global as well!

I must admit that it came as a big surprise as Netflix launched in more than 100 new countries simultaneously in January. But, when the news was released yesterday that Amazon Prime (Prime Video) were to go global as well, I was for sure just as surprised.

What is Global Prime Video about?

Prime Video is a mini version of what we know as Amazon Prime in the United States. Amazon Prime in the United States is a large amount of services in which Prime Video is included. In addition to Prime Video your Amazon Prime subscription in the United States will give you access to Prime Photos, Free Delivery, Prime Music, Prime Reading and so much more.

When it comes to Prime Video it is as the title suggests about video. It is in fact a service very similar to Netflix, so Prime Video will be the biggest competitor for Netflix in all countries in which they are present. The biggest different between Prime Video and Netflix is that Prime Video is quite a lot cheaper. Starting now you only have to pay 3 USD per month for the first six months and after that you will return to the standard price which is 6 USD a month. That is quite a lot cheaper than Netflix. The amount of TV series and movies available ain’t as big as with Netflix, but it is growing and there are lots of Prime original TV series that you will be happy to watch with your Prime Video subscription.

Once you sign up for Prime Video you will be able to enjoy a 7 day free trial and after those seven days you will be charged 3 USD for the first month afterwards. You should be aware of the fact that movies are only available in English with English subtitles (there are of course some exceptions). Amazon has promised to develop this and hopefully get audio and texts in other languages with time, but to start with this is what you will get as you sign up for Prime Video.

Can I watch Prime Video abroad?

Prime Video as presented here is brand new as of December 14th in 2016. I have therefore not been able to do lots of testing, but when it comes to watching Prime Video and signing up for it, this is what I can say for sure:

• You can sign up for Prime Video in almost all nations of the world (with China and some others as exceptions).
• You can watch Amazon Originals wherever you might be, there are no geo-blocks attached to those. You can in other words sign up for Prime Video in Poland, watch it there, and when you go on a summer holiday to Spain you can still use your Prime Video subscription to watch Mozart in the Jungle, Transparent or some other of your favorite Amazon Original Series.
• It is important to register your Prime Video account with a payment card using the same billing address as your actual address, and you need to be present at the same place. If this fail you will error 7035 from Amazon and you will only get access to Amazon Original series and no other Prime Video content.
• I am not 100% sure of this yet, but it seems to me as if you can only watch the Amazon Original content as you travel abroad. Other TV series and movies will be “locked” as you travel abroad. As I said I am not 100% sure of this yet, but I believe that is the way it works.
• You can download much of the Prime Video content to watch it offline!

Have you tested Prime Video?

Have you tested Prime Video yourself? Did you like the service? Do you find it to be just as good as Netflix?

I will update this article once I know more about the service and after testing it for a couple of weeks. Have you got any comments or questions? Use the comment field beneath!