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Smart DNS Services for Amazon Instant Video

Compare the best Smart DNS Services to unblock Amazon Instant Video on your device.
Provider Monthly Price 6 Months Price 1 Year Price Pro and Contra Specials Supported Devices for Amazon Instant Video
$4.95 $27.50 $49.95
  • very good support
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  • doesnt support bitcoin
  • 7 days trial
  • 14 days money back guarantee
XBox 360, XBox One, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Windows, Mac OS X, iOS, Android, Samsung Smart TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Kindle Fire, Ubuntu
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$6.95 $49.95
  • very clear which channel is supported by which device
  • supports bitcoin and altcoins
  • no telephone support
  • 3 days free trial
  • 30 Days Money Back Guarantee
XBox 360, XBox One, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PS Vita, Windows, Mac OS X, iOS, Samsung Smart TV, Roku
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$4.95 $22.95 $38.95
  • supports bitcoin
  • 7 days free trial
  • website shows clearly which channel works on which device for 100%
  • supports only a limited amount of channels & devices
  • 7 days free trial!
  • 3 days money back
XBox 360, PlayStation 3, Windows, Mac OS X, iOS, Android, Smart TV, Roku
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$3.49 $16.09 $27.29
  • supports anonymous payment methods
  • also offers vpn service
  • 30 days money back
  • Unblocks only US and UK
  • 7 days free trial!
  • 30 days money back
  • Unblocks US and UK
  • has VPN + Smart DNS offers
XBox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PS Vita, Windows, Mac OS X, iOS, Samsung Smart TV, Roku
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In this post, we look at the video streaming service Amazon Prime Instant Video. The goal is to find out if this service makes sense and if so, in which case and for whom.

It is also important to differentiate Amazon Prime Instant Video from Amazon Prime’s existing offering and to ask whether there are any good alternative video streaming services.

As always, we start slowly and work hard. It is important that at the end of the day all questions about this new streaming service are clarified and that every reader can decide whether the currently offered free one-month trial membership of Amazon Prime Instant Video is suitable for him at all.

What is a video streaming service?

A video streaming service offers films and series for viewing via the Internet. So it’s nothing more than an online video store. The video files are not downloaded, but only temporarily stored and then deleted.

The films and series offered run on suitable devices that are supported by the respective video streaming service. These include, for example, PCs, tablets, modern Internet-capable televisions as well as smartphones and media players.

In most cases, the user pays a fixed fee and can use the existing service without restriction. There are considerable differences between the providers in terms of fees and the video range. For more information, see the Alternatives section below.

What is Amazon Prime Instant Video?

Amazon Prime Instant Video is a streaming provider that has replaced Lovefilm and has only recently come onto the market. As the name suggests, the streaming portal is operated by the online retailer Amazon, which wants to use it to shake up the German video streaming market. Compared to the USA, the German market is still rather underdeveloped, but recently it is getting more and more into motion.

Amazon Prime Instant Video

Amazon Prime Instant Video offers video on demand. This means that you can watch the desired movie at any time of the day, as long as it is available in the assortment.

The interesting thing is that you can only view it as a stream, i.e. without saving and offline viewing. But with one exception: owners of Kindle Tablets can also download and view them offline. So they are clearly preferred by Amazon.

Video streaming can be done on a variety of devices. The new Amazon Fire TV, Kindle Fire, PC/Mac, game consoles, Smart TVs as well as iPad and iPhone are supported. In the beginning no Android devices were supported, but now there is an app available for both iOS and Android.

Amazon Prime Video pays off

The video quality of Amazon Prime Instant Video is quite good – at least compared to the competition. Most supported devices run in solid SD quality, only Kindle Fire HDX offers HD downloads.

As the service is still quite young, the range has yet to grow. According to Amazon, it currently includes over 13,000 movies and series episodes. But with this high number you have to keep in mind that each episode is counted individually. If one excludes this, only about a third of it is left.

Of course, a third of 13,000 is still a decent number. However, it still depends on how up-to-date the films and series available at Prime Instant Video are.

Amazon Prime Instant Video range

A quick glance at the Prime Instant Video range says more than a thousand words. Here we see a good selection of titles from recent years, such as “Flight” or “Jack Reacher”. Current films, on the other hand, are scarcely represented, instead Amazon relies on well-known and popular series such as “The Big Bang Theory” or “Breaking Bad”.

Current films are therefore not represented in abundance, but instead the series. So far, so good. What about older films? Here the streaming service scores with its affiliation to Amazon and broad coverage of classics – both in films and series. So fans of Pulp Fiction and Co. get their money’s worth.

To sum it up, the selection is quite good at the moment, but not very up-to-date. However, the still young video streaming service benefits from the Amazon affiliation, so that in the near future a further expansion of the assortment is very likely.

Learn more about Amazon Prime Instant Video

What is the difference between Amazon Prime Instant Video and Amazon Prime? Both services sound pretty similar. So it’s worth taking a closer look at what these two terms mean.

Basics

– We have already talked about Amazon Prime Instant Video, it is a pure video streaming service.
– Amazon Prime has always been the flat rate for Amazon’s premium shipping. At some point, it became possible to borrow one Kindle eBook per month for free.
– Recently, the Amazon Prime service was expanded to include the Amazon Prime Instant Video streaming service.

How much does Amazon Prime Instant Video cost and how much does Amazon Prime cost? The Amazon Prime fees have been increased. The service now costs 69 EUR/year or 8.99 EUR/month.

Here it becomes interesting from my point of view: While Amazon Prime Instant Video costs 7.99 € per month, Amazon Prime charges 49 € per year. Thus Amazon Prime Instant Video is more expensive than Amazon Prime for one year, although it is a part of it.

As long as you’re willing to take out an annual subscription, Amazon Prime is a better choice than Instant Video – due to the lower monthly fee (€4.10 instead of €7.99) and the additional services such as free premium shipping and e-book lending library.

In addition, there are always nice offers for Amazon Prime members – for example, Amazon Fire TV was offered for half the price for a while, but unfortunately this bargain has already expired. For a while, Prime members were able to buy the Xbox One console at over €50 off, which was also a pretty nice offer.

Amazon Prime vs Amazon Prime Instant Video

It’s interesting that Amazon Prime used to cost 29 € (when there was no instant video). Old Prime customers now have to pay 20 € more per year, but still have video streaming in the price. Anyway, there was a whirlwind below the old Prime customers, who didn’t need this option, but were still allowed to pay for it.

Is there any other misleading potential with the word combination “Amazon “+”Video”? Yes, there is – not that you think we have removed all ambiguities.

Amazon offers another “Video on Demand” service. This service is called Amazon Instant Video Shop and offers customers films or series episodes for purchase or rental as single demand. There is no streaming flat here, but there is a fee each time – whether for the rental or for the purchase.

Amazon Instant Video Shop

According to Amazon, the Amazon Instant Video Shop contains more than 25,000 titles – pretty much everything Amazon has to offer in terms of videos.

Summary of Amazon Prime Instant Video

Amazon Prime Instant Video is part of Amazon Prime. As long as you’re willing to sign up for a year’s subscription, Amazon Prime will do better than Instant Video because of the lower monthly fee (€4.10 instead of €7.99) and additional services such as free premium shipping and e-book library. Amazon Prime Instant Video doesn’t have to hide from the competition, even if the range is not quite as good as Maxdome’s yet.

The difference between the individual streaming providers often lies in the details (product range focus, supported devices, original sound, etc.). Therefore, no general statement can be made as to who is currently the best provider on the German market. The video streaming market remains very dynamic, so that the situation can change quickly – for example if Netflix continues to expand its offering.

I would recommend to every video streaming customer to start with a trial month in order to extensively test the product range as well as the playback quality and device compatibility. Of course, the purchase of individual films still remains an option, as for example in the current special offer “3 Blu-Rays for 20 €”. Please write your experiences in the comments, so that everyone interested can profit from it.