Amaya Toman In a few months, Apple should officially launch its television service Apple TV+. It is supposed to become a competitor for established names such as Netflix or HBO. However, before we wait for its official arrival, we can start comparing the other two named services.
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Difficult beginnings
The two most important players in the market are currently Netflix and HBO GO. Netflix invaded the Czech market (or rather quietly crept in) in January 2016. I was very much looking forward to the arrival of Netflix and immediately tried it, but at first I was not very impressed and after the free trial month expired, I canceled the subscription - but only temporarily. At the time of its arrival in the Czech Republic, Netflix was in its infancy and although it had several hundred titles on offer, it was mostly older and not very attractive content for me.
Even HBO GO didn't excite me at first, but rather than the content, the temporary malfunction of the application was to blame, which fortunately managed to be resolved and never happened again.
Čeština
Of the two compared services, HBO GO fares best in Czech, which offers a relatively decent collection of titles not only with Czech subtitles, but also with Czech dubbing. You can also find a lot of Czech-subtitled content on Netflix, but it is much worse with dubbing. In the Czech dubbing here, you will find mainly films and programs for children, but also the series Hannibal, for example.
Content
Netflix offers the richest content. Here you will find programs - both series and feature films - from his own production, as well as Hollywood and independent productions, there is no shortage of non-American films either. Also interesting is the offer of videos of the type "burning fireplace" or "moving art" - in the latter case, these are shots of nature, the landscape or the depths of the sea, accompanied by relaxing music.
HBO mainly offers programs from its own production, but you can also find content from the Hulu workshop (for example, the series Disclosure, the first season of which tells about the case of Gypsy Rose Blanchard) and, of course, also local productions, such as the series Therapy, Wasteland or Up to the Ear. There is also no shortage of music documentaries or concert recordings on both platforms.
It is difficult to objectively evaluate the content of both services - each offers something for everyone. For example, I personally appreciate HBO's series The Big Bang Theory or the recent Chernobyl, as well as the presence of my favorite "guilty pleasure" series Craven's Screams, while a lot of praised novelties and classics (Sharp Objects, Game of Thrones, or perhaps The Handmaid's Tale) are beyond me .
On Netflix, I like to remember Friends or How I met your Mother, but series and full-length documentaries from the "true crime" genre are also worth paying attention to.
Before you decide which of the services you prefer, you can get an idea of the content, for example, on the Czech website Filmtoro. Here you will also get an overview of which films and series on Netflix have Czech subtitles.
Application user interface and features
In this field, from my personal point of view, Netflix clearly wins. It offers the possibility of creating multiple user profiles, including a child's profile, the application is easier to navigate, its control is more intuitive and its functions are richer - it offers, for example, the possibility of downloading content for later offline viewing as well as wider control options - HBO GO, for example, lacks the ability to move forward by 15 seconds ( you can only move back 15 seconds here, or use the slider) or a useful function that allows you to skip the intro of the series.
Both apps allow you to mirror content from your mobile device to your TV to some extent, but Netflix no longer supports AirPlay. If you are the owner of an Apple TV or a smart TV with the possibility of installing the relevant applications, you practically do not have to deal with this detail at all. I personally use Google Chromecast for mirroring.
Price
Both services offer new users a free trial for the first month. A monthly subscription to HBO GO starts at 129 crowns, within one household you can watch its content on two devices at the same time.
Netflix offers three plans for 199, 259 and 319 crowns, details can be found in the table below
Finally
The conclusion of the comparison of both services is actually logical and probably won't even surprise you. While Netflix clearly wins in terms of appearance and functions, streaming services cannot be evaluated very well in terms of content. This is a matter of taste, and if - like me - you find something on each platform, you'll have to subscribe to both.
Let's be surprised by what Apple TV+ will bring. I have to admit for myself that I was more interested in knowledge upcoming Disney+ service, which I would certainly welcome in the Czech Republic.
I would say that the dubbing is rather a minus point, or it is definitely not a plus point at least,
everything is dubbed here and people don't know English at all, look at Holland, they don't even dub children's fairy tales there and every Dutch person knows English well because they have been exposed to the language intensively since childhood, that's one reason, and the other is that the time of Filipovský Funese's dubbing ended a long time ago and the dubbings are appalling, not only because of the actual performance, i.e. speaking, but also the translation is often out of place, and many funny dialogues are lost in translation
Dude, dutch is messed up english… why would they need dubbing?
I will certainly not take an example from the Dutch people. Countries where smoking weed and cheese are considered the top of their economy.
Nonono, someone is angry here. But he certainly didn't think about their better education, economy and lifestyle
HBO does not work abroad, a big disadvantage…
For me, the terrible poor quality of the picture and sound on HBO is important. Nowadays offering only stereo and barely Full HD with many artifacts is terrible. Compared to Netflix, which has almost everything in 5.1 and many things in 4K HDR. Difference like a pig.
HBO for both iOS and AppleTV is a poorly written app:
1. About every week we have to register again (via UPC).
2. During fast scenes, HBO fragments the image - live on cable and HBO GO stream, both are equally poor quality.
3. Black color or sky contains visible dice.
I see it as a problem on the HBO server side. Why? Because Netflix 4k works like clockwork in the meantime. Of course, just one registration was enough and that's it. Czech subtitles have recently been significantly supplemented, even backwards.
If it weren't for the content, I would have thrown HBO away. The advantage is that you can call them for support and fuck the udder on duty. Not that it helps, the dragon over Kings Landing is just like Minecraft.
Skylink live TV - shit that cuts (it's not over the internet). Although there is a lot of content and in the Czech language, the absence of 4K discourages me. Apple TV - 4K content but besides paying a monthly subscription, most movies (newer) are fully paid for - so I dug it on trial. HBO GO - a lot of content without cutting, but the absence of 4K pisses me off!!! hopefully it will be in the near future. Disney+ will hopefully be similar to the great Netflix. Well, if I want to rent a new movie, I choose Rakuten TV.