HBO Max Review

by IoFAdmin at

review

Another Streaming Service?

My family and I have a lot of streaming services already but my kids kept bugging me to get HBO Max. Do I really need more than Disney +, Hulu, Prime, and Netflix? I told them that I'd try it for a month and then decide whether to keep it or dump it. HBO Max auto-renews each month so you can cancel at any time.

HBO Max on Roku

We're a Roku family and we watch almost all of our media on it. After signing up for HBO Max, I installed the Roku app and I was ready to go. Using HBO Max for the first time is similar to all of the other streaming services: sign in, set up a profile or 2.

HBO Max Profiles

One thing that HBO Max does that I wish other streaming services would adopt is setting viewing controls per profile. When you create your first profile, it's an adult account by default which gives access to everything on the service. You have the option of creating child accounts with viewing restrictions based on TV/Movie ratings. For example, if I create a child account for Bob, I can set it so that he can view TV shows up to TV-14 and movies up to PG-13. If I have a 7 year old daughter named Susie, I can limit her access to TV-Y7 and PG for TV and movies. Switching profiles requires entering a 4 digit passcode so Susie can't accidentally start watching Game of Thrones.

  Profiles get a Fire!

Quality of Service

I'm not very impressed with the HBO Max app on Roku because it's somewhat buggy. It'll work for quite a while and then it'll just crash. Rebooting the Roku and/or restarting the app usually fixes the issue. I've seen multiple posts about the issue on Reddit so it's not just me. Hopefully, HBO is working on making the app more stable.

  Stability needs some work.

Quality of Shows and Movies

Content is where HBO shines. They have a large selection of TV and movies both original and not. Game of Thrones, Flight Attendant, The Nevers, Joker, Friends, Sesame Street, Westworld... the list goes on and on. There will is something for everyone here. I'm really liking Flight Attendant and my daughter loves the Powerpuff Girls.

  Amazing content!

Stream It or Skip It?

I hate the occasional instabilities and crashes on the app but I'll put up with it for content. If you're a TV and movie fan, I say give HBO Max a try. There's not a lot to lose because you can cancel after a month if you don't like it. Fingers crossed that HBO will make the service more stable!

  I give it a Fire!