After diving into the streaming wars two years in the past, HBO Max cemented itself as a drive, and right this moment the app is slick and full of widespread TV exhibits and films. Gangsters like Tony Soprano sit alongside DC heroes, Sport of Thrones’ legendary dragons, kiddie cartoon characters and comedy stars. The service has HBO’s total catalog — together with Emmy-nominated hits Succession and Euphoria — together with favorites reminiscent of Associates, Rick and Morty, Looney Tunes, the Lord of the Rings motion pictures and virtually each Studio Ghibli movie. And a few of Hollywood’s biggest film gems, from Citizen Kane to The Wizard of Oz, may be discovered right here too. 

At $15 monthly it is costly, although, and even the ad-supported tier for $10 a month prices greater than the bottom plans for many different streaming providers. Although Netflix’s base plan is now $10 too, it would not have any commercials.

8.0

HBO Max

$10 at HBO Max

Like

• Massive, diversified content material catalog that features all of HBO
• Easy, easy-to-navigate interface
• A number of kids’s exhibits and customizable score settings

Do not Like

• Excessive value, even with advertisements
• Cannot import watch historical past or personalised suggestions
• $10 tier lacks offline downloads

HBO Max’s authentic collection slate features a few hits like Our Flag Means Dying, The Flight Attendant and Peacemaker, nevertheless it hasn’t notched breakout successes like The Mandalorian on Disney Plus or Squid Sport on Netflix. Alternatively, HBO originals alone are positively well worth the value for lots of people. The depth of Max’s library of recent and previous titles — from HBO and Warner — is a focus because the streamer is not doing day-and-date theatrical releases for brand spanking new movies like The Batman. 

When you’re a giant fan of HBO, animation, DC Comics or Associates, or are merely working out of fine stuff to observe, HBO Max might be value your cash. However if you happen to’re seeking to get monetary savings on streaming — particularly if you happen to already pay for Netflix, Hulu, Disney Plus or all the above — its excessive month-to-month charge might make it simpler to chop than opponents.

Worth on par with Netflix that is ripe for sharing

HBO Max prices $15 a month, the identical as HBO’s conventional channel once you get it by way of most pay-TV suppliers. The service added a $10-a-month plan that features advertisements, aptly known as HBO Max with Advertisements. 

Some individuals who have already got an everyday HBO subscription or HBO Now will get Max for no additional price — however not everybody. It is complicated, however you may take a look at our full HBO Max FAQ for extra data on the way it all works.

Regardless of the massive catalog of films and exhibits, HBO Max is on the costly finish of streaming providers together with Netflix, whose fundamental plan prices $10 a month and commonplace is $15.50 month-to-month. Hulu’s plan with advertisements is $7 a month and Disney Plus prices $Eight a month. A number of folks we all know share account entry with pals or members of the family and HBO Max govt Tony Goncalves informed CNET in 2020 that it’s going to take a “pretty balanced method” to this difficulty, whereas Netflix has not too long ago mentioned cracking down on password-sharing. 

With HBO Max you may have as much as three simultaneous streams going on the similar time. The addition of as much as 5 person profiles, a characteristic not obtainable on the earlier HBO Now or HBO Go apps, makes it simpler to share an account. 

HBO Max with Advertisements: How typically do you see commercials?

The $10-a-month HBO Max with Advertisements plan guarantees round four minutes of advertisements per hour of content material watched however in our assessments the variety of advertisements diversified broadly. For exhibits that have been a half hour or below (like Associates and Our Flag Means Dying), we noticed one spherical of advertisements at the beginning that lasted round 25 seconds complete, and there have been two extra advert breaks for about 30 to 45 seconds every in between. 

For comparability, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Half 2 had seven advert breaks over its 2-hour runtime, and The Batman, Moonshot and Oslo had none. It felt like there was no sample for when to anticipate advertisements. In April, the platform launched an upfront 90-second advert block expertise the place commercials will solely roll earlier than a film begins and will not pop up throughout the remainder of the movie. Nevertheless, that is only for choose titles. 

HBO Max additionally makes use of an animation to provide viewers a heads up when advertisements begin and cease for family-friendly content material. Total, the advert breaks have been fairly quick in contrast with watching one thing on cable, and even in contrast with Hulu’s ad-supported tier, which typically consists of breaks as much as 90 seconds lengthy, and Peacock’s, which guarantees about 5 minutes of advertisements per hour. Nevertheless, once more, Hulu’s plan is simply $7 a month, and Peacock has a free tier. 

Lastly, it is value reiterating what else you miss out on by paying $5 much less. HBO Max with Advertisements would not can help you obtain content material to observe offline, which can be non-negotiable for cell customers who wish to stream wherever, any time. And if you happen to choose a 4K expertise, that is not an possibility with this subscription plan.

Learn extra: We Tried HBO Max Advert-free and With Advertisements to Discover Out if That $5 Financial savings Is Actually Price It

A powerful steady of exhibits and films

HBO Max’s greatest energy is its giant, diversified TV and film catalog, with content material for adults and youngsters. At launch, it had 10,000 hours of content material to stream, together with all the things on HBO, plus a number of high-profile TV exhibits like Associates, The Large Bang Concept, Rick and Morty and South Park. 

It is since grown to greater than 13,000 hours’ value of picks that embrace documentaries, actuality exhibits, film franchises and animation. One factor that works in Max’s favor is Warner’s possession of its hefty film and present library. Like Disney, it has a again catalog that it doesn’t need to license from an outdoor studio. Nevertheless, viewers will notice that the streaming service will rotate sure titles on and off the platform with regularity. 

HBO cable subscribers who have not but checked out the streaming service might discover now could be the time to cue it up. There are a handful of recent Max Authentic exhibits that will not additionally air on HBO. The most important Max exclusives embrace Peacemaker, Raised by Wolves, Hacks and the reboots of Gossip Woman and Intercourse and the Metropolis’s And Simply Like That… However these have failed to stay out or make the identical pop-culture affect as Netflix’s Squid Sport or Disney Plus’s WandaVision. And in contrast to Netflix, it’ll sometimes drop its originals as soon as per week, the way in which common cable HBO does. 

Within the meantime, there are a number of motion pictures, some new and lots of older. HBO Max has the total units of The Matrix and The Lord of the Rings trilogies (although solely two of The Hobbits), DC properties like The Suicide Squad and Surprise Lady, basic movies like The Wizard of Ouncesand Casablanca, and newer hits like The Batman. To not point out virtually the whole catalog of Studio Ghibli anime movies which have by no means been launched for streaming within the US earlier than. And if you happen to have been clamoring for extra of 2017’s Justice League, HBO Max is the house of director Zach Snyder’s lower.

Although HBO is understood for its grownup content material, Max has lots to supply youngsters too, together with new Looney Tunes cartoons and Sesame Avenue episodes, and the Cartoon Community catalog. Fan-favorite animated collection reminiscent of Journey Time and Steven Universe may be binged. It is also residence to Physician Who (if you happen to think about {that a} youngsters’ present) and the Lego motion pictures. 

Parental controls are strong. You may customise youngsters’ profiles to determine which score ranges they will entry, and create a passcode that locks them into their account to allow them to’t leap over to their dad and mom’ to observe something inappropriate. (Your child is likely to be savvy sufficient to determine that passcode out, nevertheless it’s one thing.)

4K HDR titles are extraordinarily restricted

HBO Max has an undeniably huge catalog, and like its rivals Netflix and Hulu, the streamer constantly provides new and basic motion pictures and collection to its library every month. Nevertheless, its 4K title choice is small and never straightforward to seek out. Whereas with Netflix you may kind “4K” within the search field to drag up all obtainable content material, that is not the case right here. 

Although every title has a 4K stamp in its description, HBO Max retains a working checklist on its assist web page of each title that is obtainable in 4K, HDR10 and Dolby Imaginative and prescient. Home of the Dragon would be the first new HBO present obtainable in these codecs, and now you can watch Sport of Thrones in 4K. As well as, you may discover Dune, Kimi, The Suicide Squad and The Matrix trilogy among the many movies on the checklist. There are roughly 30 motion pictures that stream in 4K, and you should have the ad-free HBO Max plan and a supported machine to be able to view them. 

A visually interesting interface…

Scrolling by way of HBO Max is much like the expertise on Netflix, Hulu and different streaming providers. Once you open your profile, you may discover Proceed Watching and My Record on the prime of the web page. Bounce to the homepage and a carousel of the most recent releases await you, adopted by suggestion rows reminiscent of Simply Added, Trending Comedy, For You, Standard TV or the very descriptive Hilariously Chaotic. 

We just like the look of the menus higher than many different streaming providers. It has a darkish purple and black theme that enables the textual content and pictures to pop, and exhibits fewer tiles on the display without delay with extra breaks between them, to provide your eye a relaxation. One draw back, nonetheless, is that it may be powerful to determine at first what textual content is highlighted within the menus so you may make picks.

In the midst of the web page you may see a mini hub the place you may entry motion pictures and exhibits from every of the service’s properties: HBO, DC, Sesame Workshop, Turner Traditional Films, Studio Ghibli, Cartoon Community, Grownup Swim and Looney Tunes. It appears sort of like Disney Plus’ hub on the prime of its web page, however with much less acquainted names than Disney’s Star Wars and Marvel. 

You may additionally discover curated collections of films round a theme sprinkled by way of your homepage, like rom-com favorites and blockbuster franchises. Hit Browse on the prime left nook and you will have the choice to go looking by classes reminiscent of Collection, Films, Originals, Simply Added, Final Probability and Coming Quickly, together with genres like Motion, Comedy, Crime and Documentaries. You may additionally discover the mini hubs on this panel, too.

In contrast to on Netflix, you may simply see what’s coming and happening the platform and watch accordingly. Cellular downloads are additionally obtainable, and the app’s format is basically the identical throughout TVs, telephones and tablets.

In relation to looking out, HBO Max enables you to use abbreviations (like “GOT” as a substitute of “Sport of Thrones” or “HP” as a substitute of “Harry Potter”). On Apple TV, voice search labored fairly properly — after we mentioned, “Watch Rick and Morty,” HBO Max opened the collection touchdown web page, giving the choice to decide on the episode. After beginning an episode of Sport of Thrones and shutting out, once I mentioned, “Watch GOT,” it jumped me again into the episode the place we had left off. Saying “Watch Jaws,” the Apple TV opened all the totally different choices throughout different streaming platforms on the backside of the display as properly.

Choosing a present will take you to its touchdown web page, the place yow will discover each episode obtainable in a clear format, and have the choice so as to add it to your checklist. Once you begin a present, the score seems within the higher left nook.

In summer season 2022, HBO Max unveiled a brand new set of options for cell and desktop customers. iPad and iPhone viewers within the US can now use SharePlay to observe content material along with family and friends on FaceTime. The shuffle button is now obtainable for cell phone customers who wish to play random TV present episodes. Moreover, you are in a position to toggle a split-screen characteristic on supported units, and pill customers can flip between portrait and panorama modes extra simply. 

…However human suggestions are nonetheless MIA

One in all HBO Max’s guarantees was that as a substitute of solely utilizing a suggestion engine to floor new content material for customers, it might even have curated content material from celebrities, to convey a extra human contact. Two years after launch these suggestions are nonetheless not obtainable, nonetheless. It does curate content material in methods that may be useful — for instance, highlighting the episodes of Associates that observe Ross and Rachel’s relationship so you do not have to go digging for them. 

Whereas general Max has an intuitive, simplified interface, we have seen complaints from some cell customers about it being sluggish and clunky. Android clients who reviewed the app within the Google Play retailer report issues with buffering, lagging load occasions and crashing at startup or in the course of viewing a video.

Comparable points have been reported in Apple’s App Retailer the place customers praise Max’s abundance of content material, however complain of crashing, buggy experiences when attempting to load, rewind or quick ahead a video, and downloading issues. 

Do you have to get HBO Max?

When you already subscribe to HBO, utilizing the HBO Max app as a substitute is a no brainer: It is tons extra content material for a similar month-to-month value. 

For brand-new subscribers, HBO Max is on the expensive finish of the streaming service spectrum. However when you’ve got $10 or $15 a month to burn and wish to binge Associates, The Wire, Sport of Thrones or all the Studio Ghibli motion pictures, you may have lots to select from. And if you happen to do not thoughts just a few advertisements — or the trade-off of dropping 4K and offline downloads — the $10-a-month HBO Max with Advertisements plan would possibly work properly for you.

First printed on Might 29, 2020.

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