Testing Netflix in South Africa

January 19, 2016

As you might have already heard, Netflix was released in South Africa this month. Globally Netflix streams about 400 million videos per month so if their success here is anything like the rest of the world we are in for a major shakeup in the market and a change in the way we consume our movies, TV series and documentaries.

For those of you who would like to give Netflix a try we have put together some information about our experience with the 1-month free trial, how the setup process was and general comments on the service itself.

 

 

Netflix Free Trial:

The 1-month free trial offers viewers a 30-day period to try the service, completely unrestricted, on whichever package you prefer. The only condition is that you will be billed for the plan selected if you don’t cancel the service before the end of the 30-day period. Packages vary between US$8 and US$12 depending on your requirements.

 

 

Signup:

Signing up for Netflix is very quick and easy, as they ask for very little personal information for the initial account creation.  However, banking details are required for billing purposes after your free trial expires, which can take some time to enter.

 

Setup:

Once you have signed up and created your account, Netflix will take you through a quick setup process to create profiles for the different people who will be watching Netflix on your account. We found that this step takes less than two minutes to complete. This process is a bonus as it will customise preferences and recommend shows to each person’s profile. It also has a handy feature that remembers how much you have watched of a series or movie and saves this so you can easily pick up again where you left off.

 

Interfaces:

When searching Netflix, movies, documentaries and TV series are grouped together into genres such as comedy, drama or action which can make the catalogue browsing function on the site feel somewhat awkward at times.  This means that if you are looking for a movie to watch you will need to sift through all movies and series together in each genre. There may be a way to change these settings but it is not easy or intuitive to the user. Overall the usability is the only area that, in our opinion, needs some improvement to make navigation and selection easier for the user.

 

 

Selection:

The selection of shows and movies to watch on Netflix is relatively large, although you may find that some of your current favourite shows may not yet be available. There can also be some confusion with the ‘latest releases’ section as these may not be the current film releases worldwide but rather movies and series which are newly available on Netflix. With such a large selection however you shouldn’t have a problem finding something to watch. There is also the major benefit of having access to all the critically acclaimed Netflix original series such as House of Cards, Orange is the new Black, Narcos and more. Episodes of Netflix series are released 1 day apart so you can ‘binge watch’ them or save them to view in your own time.

 

Viewing Quality:

You are given the choice of watching every show in 480p, 720p or 1080p which means you should be able to get a stable download stream and a satisfactory picture quality without interruptions, regardless of your Internet connection speed. For our test we were viewing using a 10Mbps ADSL line with RSAWEB SuperDSL data. At this line speed we were able to torrent, browse the Internet and stream at 1080p without experiencing any buffering. It appears that Netflix uses very intelligent compression and caching to ensure minimal buffering.

 

From our test experience we feel that Netflix is definitely worth a try, even if it is just to find out what all the fuss is about! It will suit some people perfectly and provides a great alternative or compliment to a Dstv subscription and the SABC channels. However, if you are a sports fanatic or need all of the latest series the moment they are released Netflix might prove to be problematic in the long run. At RSAWEB we look forward to seeing how South Africans engage with this great new service and how it changes the video content landscape in 2016.

 

For an optimal streaming experience, we recommend a minimum 10Mbp/s ADSL line or our Fibre to the Home offerings. To find out more about getting the best connection for your requirements contact us on 087 470 0000 or email [email protected]