Prime Video Is About to Take 4K Streaming Away From ‘Basic’ Users
Bad news, Prime subscribers: starting April 10, Amazon will lock Prime Video streaming quality to 1080p for “basic” users. If you want to continue watching Prime Video content in 4K like you have been doing, you’ll need to pay an additional $4.99 per month. Otherwise, your Prime Video shows and movies will look a little blurrier than you’re used to.
This is part of a number of changes Amazon will be making to its streaming services next month. On April 10, Amazon will begin offering its customers a new “Prime Video Ultra” plan. This option will be ad-free and will offer streaming up to 4K in Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos. You’ll also be able to stream to up to five devices at a time (compared to the current limit of three), as well as download up to 100 titles (compared to 25 on the base plan).
This plan will cost an additional $4.99 on top of your Prime membership, which currently costs $14.99 per month. Amazon currently charges an additional $2.99 for ad-free access to Prime Video, so if you’re already paying for the privilege, you’ll “only” need to pay an extra $2 for Amazon’s Ultra benefits, including the 4K access you already have.
If you choose to keep Amazon’s “basic” Prime Video plan as part of your Prime membership, you’ll also get some new benefits. While you lose 4K streaming, you’ll get Dolby Vision (but not Dolby Atmos, though I imagine that won’t matter to the many viewers who watch Prime Video with their TV’s built-in speakers.) You’ll also get an additional simultaneous stream (four, instead of three) and be able to download up to 50 titles at a time (again, up from 25 currently).
What do you think of it so far?
New subscription features are always welcome, especially when they don’t incur additional cost. But remove existing features and lock them behind a paywall isn’t it to welcome. Maybe this will pay off for Amazon and users will spend the extra money to watch their content at the highest resolution possible. But even so, they’ll spend more to access the same quality content they can already get “for free”, as part of their Prime membership.
