Which movie streaming service works best between Netflix, Sky Now TV, and others? Why is Netflix considered the best?
Is Netflix the best streaming movie service you can have in Italy or can we also focus on valid alternatives? This question is difficult to answer, but Netflix has certainly taken it to another level legal streaming via the Internet, in fact, almost completely eliminating piracy and forcing competitors to churn out adequate services, if only to create healthy competition.Before answering definitively the question posed above, you need to do a confront tra Netflix e Now TV for watching films and TV series via the web; if done well, streaming services are already much more comfortable, flexible and cheaper than traditional PayTVs.
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Comparison between Netflix and Now TV: which one to choose
If we don’t know which service to choose, let’s see in detail what are the differences between Now TV and Netflix in relation to the price, the catalog offered, the compatibility with the various devices, and also based on the performance (i.e. the ability to always offer FullHD and 4K UHD in ideal network conditions).
Pros and cons of Now TV
Now TV offers very popular and famous TV series like the TV series Walking Dead and Game of Thrones and many first-run films (in parallel with those broadcast on the Sky platform). To this, we add that with Now TV we can also subscribe to see the live football matches.
Now TV has higher prices than Netflix (at least for the basic Film and TV Series offer): it is currently possible to subscribe to the package cinema and TV series for € 14.99 per month, while for Netflix it is possible to subscribe from € 7.99 per month (with standard quality and only one device playing). Those who also want football must pay € 14.99 for a week of viewing or € 29.99 for a monthly pass (which must also be added to the expense for the Film and TV Series pass). Added to this is that the viewing limit is two devices at the same time, quite low considering the great support for the service.
A big flaw of Italian streaming movie services is the incredible price ambiguity, with many limitations and optional activations (like HD quality for example) that drive the subscription price up without even realizing it.
Pros and cons of Netflix
Netflix, for its part, is very transparent and clear: the available subscriptions are clear and simple, even if over the years the price has gradually increased for new subscribers (due to the increasingly rich catalog). Netflix is blazing fast in buffering and never interrupts even if you have a poorly performing internet connection (a 5 mega line is enough to see all the movies and TV series. Netflix has introduced the viewing limit based on the subscription in use, as you can see in the image below.
It starts with the cheapest subscription (€ 7.99 per month) with only one device in vision and without HD up to the most expensive subscription (€ 15.99 per month) to have 4 devices at the same time and the maximum resolution of 4K UHD; a good compromise is an intermediate package, which offers an € 11.99 per month) viewing the FullHD and allows you to see up to 2 devices at the same time at a price still lower than Now TV.
Comparison of apps and websites
The clearest difference between Now TV and Netflix, however, it is all in how they are conceived websites and apps on devices. While the Now TV one is very advertising, with “find out more” or “activate now” banners that disturb from the selection of the film or video to watch, Netflix has a very clean site, with movie posters, a list divided by categories and above all an ability to recommend films that we may like based on those already seen. Netflix’s recommendation engine is great for finding new things to watch and alone is worth the ticket price for how much it pampers you.
Even comparing the apps there is practically no story: Netflix is available for practically every type of device that can connect to the internet (cell phones, consoles, tablets, Smart TVs, Fire TVs, Apple TVs, etc.), and that works everywhere well in a super smart way; for example, you can start watching something and let it go on autoplay all day or resume the next day the TV series where you arrived without having to do research. Netflix movies and TV series can be watched on any TV collegando Netflix al Chromecast.
Now TV has a good app for on-demand content (not at the level of Netflix but it gets along), but it could present some problems with live TV streaming (real strength of the app): always better to have the best possible network connection, otherwise the live will become very expensive or full of pixels (very low streaming quality). The two view limit is a big flaw and it’s never really clear what quality you’ll benefit from – on paper it should be HD, but in reality, it almost never is.
Conclusions
Reading this guide carefully re-emerges that Netflix is still the best streaming service in Italy, despite the great Sky exclusives available on Now TV. Netflix wins from all points of view: price, streaming quality, connection capacity (to avoid buffering), app quality, and site quality; Now TV is saved only thanks to live TV (including football matches) and the great exclusives that you can see as if we were on Sky (the Sky Uno programs and the very famous Sky TV series).
In fact, we recommend Netflix to all lovers of TV series and movies and if we want to save money, while Now TV is for those who want low-cost Sky, as also seen in our guide How to see Sky without a dish and a fixed subscription.
If we are really insatiable and want to have Sky and Netflix together we have to sign up for a subscription to Sky Q, as also seen in the guide All the ways to watch Netflix in 4K UHD.
For those who choose the service offered by Netflix, we can also read our in-depth analysis Like having Netflix on every TV.
