HANDS ON: Amazon s Prime Instant Video

We do wish Amazon would get on the mobile device bandwagon. It would be great to enjoy Prime Instant content from an iPad.

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Posted by: BlueStacks Content Team

Amazon Prime Video is an OTT platform that offers video streaming services with a growing library of high-quality original content and an extensive streaming catalog of films and TV shows. Originally, the platform served as a service to buy and stream TV shows and movies. With time, Amazon has also introduced the concept of online buffet-style streaming.

Prime video offers ad-free streaming services. Video quality varies from SD to Ultra HD and HDR depending on the show and your system. If you are not subscribed to Prime membership, you can purchase or rent prime video content on a pay-per-title model. You can always switch to a standalone prime video membership for accessibility to the streaming service only.

You can subscribe for a standalone Amazon Prime Video subscription that gives you access to the video content but would not involve other benefits like Amazon Kindle. Here is the list of subscription plans available for prime video:

Standalone Membership: it costs $8.99 per month. You can subscribe for a standalone Amazon Video subscription for video content without other benefits like free two-day shipping, etc.
Amazon Prime Membership: Amazon Prime subscription costs $12.99 per month or $119 a year. It includes prime video and additional benefits such as guaranteed two (one day if available) delivery, complimentary music streaming, a Twitch Prime subscription, Whole Foods deals, and many more.
Rent or Buy: it’s a significant advantage offered by Amazon Prime Video. You can rent or buy a show, movie, or any other content. It typically costs anything between $2.99 and $5.99 to rent a film, while purchasing it varies from $7.99 to $19.99, depending on release time and the quality of the content (SD or HD).

What’s there on Amazon Prime Video?

The streaming platform offers a vast library of movies, shows, and live sports. Here’s a small gist of the package:

1. Movies and Shows

From old favorites to latest hits, cartoons for children, T.V. shows, and web series, Prime video has it all. The quality interface offers a personalized experience, and also notifies the user of upcoming shows and movies.

2. Amazon Originals

It offers an original mix of many shows and movies. The list of originals provides you with plenty of choices and Amazon keeps on bulking its video library. Catastrophe, Fleabag, Jack Ryan, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Patriot, The Boys, and Upload are some of the prominent originals offered by prime video.

3. Sports Content

Apart from on-demand shows, Amazon will broadcast many live NFL games on Thursdays. For cricket enthusiasts, the prime video platform will stream New Zealand’s cricket matches. It has collaborated with the NZ Cricket Board to stream their matches for the next six years. Although it’s a new category added by Prime Video, it will get better with time to bolster the cricketing experience for its subscribers.

How to Watch Amazon Prime Video on your Laptop and PC?

You can stream your favorite shows in one tap when you’re accessing Amazon Prime Video on its mobile app (Android or iOS). However, even if you’re a laptop or desktop user, you need not worry. You can download the Amazon Prime Video app for Windows on the Microsoft store or use a web browser for streaming. Here’s how:

Create an account on Amazon if you haven’t already. Amazon offers hassle-free account integration so that you can use the same account to place orders and stream videos.
Purchase your preferred subscription plan after you’re done setting up your account.
If you’re a Windows 10 user, you can download the Amazon Prime Video app from the Microsoft Store . You can increase stream quality up to high definition and enjoy videos on your computer system by logging into your Amazon account.
You can watch videos through modern web browsers too. The supported ones are – Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, Opera, Internet Explorer, and Microsoft Edge. Keep the browser updated to its latest version for a flawless streaming experience.
You cannot download videos through the web browser version, but you can alter the streaming quality, enable/disable captions, etc.
Never share your account with anyone and reach out to Amazon’s customer support in case of any mishappening or unauthorized access.

How to Install the Amazon Prime Video App on your PC with BlueStacks?

The BlueStacks app player provides an optimized version of the Amazon Prime Video app that smoothly runs on your PC or laptop. The process for installation is simple, and all you need to do is follow these steps:

Download and install BlueStacks on your PC.
Complete Google Sign-in to access the Play Store, or do it later.
Look for Amazon Prime Video using the search bar on the top-right corner.
Click to install Amazon Prime Video from the search results.
Complete Google Sign-in (if you skipped step 2) to install Amazon Prime Video.
Click the Amazon Prime Video icon on the home screen to start using the app.

To Conclude

Amazon Prime Video is home to many TV shows and movies that you simply cannot miss. Get the affordable Prime subscription today and get started with your favorite shows. Don’t forget to download BlueStacks and enjoy Amazon Prime Video on your PC and laptop.

HANDS ON: Amazon’s Prime Instant Video

Amazon Prime is a membership program that provides households with unlimited two-day shipping and other fast shipping options for $79 per year. The new Prime Instant Video (opens in a new tab) service is a free addition to this program.

As with regular Amazon Instant Video, Prime Instant Video is available on Mac, PC, Roku, TiVo, Logitech Revue and a variety of Internet-connected TV and Blu-ray players (opens in a new tab) . Amazon touts a selection of more than 5,000 movies and TV shows as being available to Amazon Prime members — however in our brief overview, it appears as if approximately only 2,100 titles are available. This is just a fraction of the 90,000+ titles available in the larger Amazon Instant Video catalog, but for $79 per year, we’re not going to complain.

Like Netflix, Amazon says (opens in a new tab) that its “selection of Prime instant videos is always changing, and movies and TV shows currently available may become unavailable in the future.”

First Take Review

We tested Prime Instant Video on a Roku box, a Sony BDP-S570 and in the web browser. Setting up the service is a snap — especially if Amazon Video On Demand has already been configured on a set-top box or Blu-ray player.

The Roku and Sony systems simply have a new “Amazon Prime” menu selection that provides access to the titles that members can access for free. Some titles are still available for rent or purchase but both Sony and Roku do a good job of making it impossible to accidentally pay for a purchase or rental from the Amazon Prime section.

The real test of any streaming media service is in the selection. This is where Prime Instant Video both wins and loses points. Even with a purported 5,000 titles, the size of the Prime Instant library is dwarfed by both Hulu Plus and Netflix. The offerings, at least right now, are also much more niche.

This means that there is very little emphasis on new or recently released films; the majority of the television content is documentary or sourced from the BBC, PBS or assorted British networks. The American television content is largely limited to classic sitcoms, children’s programming and assorted cartoons (both of the Saturday morning and Adult Swim variety).

For me personally, the fact that I can enjoy episodes of Degrassi Junior High, Home Movies and Dick Van Dyke is a treat. Others may find themselves disappointed.

The feature film selection is still niche, but has a broader selection. Right now, feature films primarily consist of documentaries, PBS or National Geographic specials and classic or well-respected films. As a fan of Stanley Kubrick (opens in a new tab) , I was overjoyed having access to much of his filmography — and in HD via the Roku or Blu-ray player.

This Will Be Competition

Because there is some overlap with what content is available via Prime Instant Video and Netflix and Hulu Plus, it’s hard to imagine that a huge number of users will sign up for Amazon Prime just for the instant video selection.

Having said that, the offering is a tremendous bonus for existing Amazon Prime members and could tip the scales for users who are considering purchasing a membership. In other words — this makes an Amazon Prime membership that much more attractive to frequent Amazon customers. It’s also a great way to introduce users to Amazon’s video on demand offerings.

Still, we think this model will prove to be competition for Netflix and Hulu Plus in the future. The selection might not ever match what those two services provide — but it almost doesn’t need to. This is a great advertiser for Amazon’s a la carte offerings — and those offerings often do contain the new release content offered by competitors.

We do wish Amazon would get on the mobile device bandwagon. It would be great to enjoy Prime Instant content from an iPad.

The 10 Best Movies on Amazon Prime Video in 2023

Josh Bell is a freelance writer and movie/TV critic based in Las Vegas. He’s the former film editor of Las Vegas Weekly and the former TV comedies guide for About.com. He has written about movies and pop culture for Syfy Wire, Polygon, CBR, Film Racket, Uproxx and more. With comedian Jason Harris, he co-hosts the podcast Awesome Movie Year. Read more.

Jordan Gloor
Technical Editor
Jordan Gloor is Technical Editor at How-To Geek. He’s been writing technology explainers and how-tos since 2020, but he’s tinkering with computers and other tech since childhood. He writes on everything from Windows to Linux and from cord-cutting to generating art with AI. Read more. About How-To Geek

Updated Jan 9, 2023, 6:07 pm EDT | 5 min read

BigTunaOnline/Shutterstock.com Amazon Prime subscriptions include access to thousands of movies for free. If you’re looking for something to watch, here are the best movies to watch for free with Amazon Prime Video.

Update, 1/9/23: Our picks Bound, The Conversation, Raging Bull, The Terminator, and The Usual Suspects all left Prime Video, so we’ve replaced them with five fresh recommendations.