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 as you have been, you'll need to pay an extra $4.99 per month. Otherwise, your Prime Video shows and movies will look just a bit fuzzier than you may be used to.
It's part of a number of changes Amazon is making to its streaming services next month. On April 10, Amazon will start offering customers a new "Prime Video Ultra" plan. This option will be ad-free and will come with streaming up to 4K in both Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos. You'll also be able to stream up to five devices at once (as opposed to the current limit of three), as well as download as many as 100 titles (up from 25 on the basic plan).
That plan will cost an extra $4.99 on top of your Prime subscription, which currently runs for $14.99 a month. Amazon currently charges uses an extra $2.99 to access Prime Video without ads, so if you're already paying for that privilege, you'll "only" need to pay another $2 for Amazon's Ultra perks—including the 4K access you already have.
If you choose to keep Amazon's "basic" Prime Video package as part of your Prime subscription, you'll still get some new perks, too. While you lose 4K streaming, you will get Dolby Vision (but no Dolby Atmos, though I imagine that won't matter to the many viewers to watch Prime Video with their TV's built-in speakers.) You'll also gain one extra simultaneous stream (four, up from three), and be able to download up to 50 titles at once (again, up from the current 25).
New subscription features are always welcome, especially when they don't come at an added cost. But taking away existing features and locking them behind a paywall isn't welcome. Perhaps this will pay off for Amazon, and users will spend the extra money to watch their content in as high a resolution as possible. But even so, they'll be spending more to access the same quality content they may already get for "free," as part of their Prime subscription.