Real savings tip or total failure? Our check

When Netflix launched in Europey in 2014, the subscription with full HD resolution and two parallel streams cost EUR 8.99, but it is now significantly more expensive at EUR 12.99. The price for the 4K version with four parallel streams has even increased from 11.99 dollars to 17.99 dollars. But is it even worth paying so much money for the more expensive subscription options?

This is a cheaper alternative Stream in 480p resolution ready, which still costs 7.99 dollars. Together with my colleague Sören Diedrich, I and my colleague Sören Diedrich examined how badly the image quality suffers under various conditions.

In our opinion, there can definitely be situations in which switching to a cheaper tariff saves you good money without major disadvantages. In this article you can find out when this is the case, what experiences we have had with the cheapest tariff and how you can try out the 480p resolution quickly and easily without changing your subscription.

In addition to additional competition from providers such as Disney+, the rising prices are likely to be one of the reasons why Netflix has recently lost a massive number of customers. You can find out how the streaming provider wants to counteract this in the following article:

Netflix loses 200,000 users and announces drastic measures

Netflix in 480p: Not a good idea at first glance, but…

The first test already makes it very clear which two factors are primarily important in this comparison: How far away do you sit from your screen (or television) and how big is it? In general, the greater the distance and the smaller the monitor, the lower the resolution can be without being bothersome.

Against this background, my first attempts at viewing in 480p made it difficult for the cheapest Netflix subscription. I performed it on my 49 inch 32:10 monitor as shown in the image below, which I sit less than half a meter away from, as is usual for PC monitors. Don’t worry, more practical tests will follow, but this first test is quite interesting as a starting point.

In the first test, I look at the image in a direct comparison from a short distance on a wide PC monitor with an aspect ratio of 32:10. Not visible in this photo of the test setup, but clearly visible in practice: Under such conditions, the difference between the resolutions is comparatively clearly visible.

My verdict in this case: With the test setup described, the picture in 480p often looks too blurry. You can definitely have fun watching films and series, but I personally find the poor resolution under these conditions too noticeable in the long run and even without a direct comparison.

…at second glance a real option

In everyday life I never watch Netflix on the PC, so I switch to the living room for the second test. The general conditions now look completely different: Here I am sitting about four meters away from a 46-inch Full HD television, which I still appreciate despite its age. You can find out more about this in the article Which my twelve-year-old TV has over almost every gaming monitor.

In this case, too, the differences are clearly visible on closer inspection, as the comparison below shows. Unsurprisingly, Full HD delivers the sharper and better picture. But if I sit further away from the TV on the couch, I hardly notice it anymore.

480p quality

1080p quality

I have to say that I am very sensitive to low resolution and blurry images. Actually, I can hardly have it sharp enough, but at a distance of almost four meters there is hardly any difference between 1080p and 480p on my 46-inch TV.

I know what you want to say now: Everyone has a 4K TV these days and nobody does it any more below 55 inches!. That’s why I asked my colleague Sören Diedrich with a 65-inch 4K TV and a premium subscription for 17.99 dollars to try out Netflix in 480p. What is his verdict?

Popular 4K TV with Ambilight

Not everyone will be happy with the cheapest Netflix tariff

With Sören, the general conditions are not only different due to the much larger television with 4K resolution, but also due to the clearly smaller seat distance of 2.8 meters (instead of about four meters) compared to my setup.

As expected, he therefore perceives greater differences than I do, and his conclusion is accordingly: It’s not ‘unseen’. Before I had to do without films and series entirely, I would definitely endure this picture quality. But voluntarily? Certainly not..

With the intermediate level Full HD, which comes into play in the standard subscription for 12.99 dollars, the differences are much less visible, but there is a completely different catch for Sören: Dolby Vision and HDR require the premium package. For him, thanks to his OLED TV, these are the much more important factors compared to the 4K resolution. Here he explains exactly why:

How you try it yourself and why it can be worthwhile

Whether you will be happy with the 480p resolution from the cheapest Netflix tariff depends on many factors such as subjective perception and the exact conditions of your setup when watching. Also don’t forget: With this tariff, you can only use Netflix on one device at a time.

But if you’re on one of the two more expensive plans and, like me, have never really tried streaming in 480p instead, it’s at least worth a try. You may not notice the difference or only notice it so slightly that you can switch to the cheaper tariff.

How to try it yourself: To test the 480p resolution, you don’t have to switch plans straight away, as we did for the side-by-side comparison in this test. Instead, Netflix offers a well-hidden option to lower the resolution manually:

1. Sign up via browser netflix.com with your login details
2. Use the menu next to your profile picture to select the dot in the top right Account out
3. Click in the area Profiles and Parental Controls to the far right of profile picture and profile name, click the down arrow
4. Scroll to option Playback Settings and select under in the new window Data usage per device die Option Low out:

In our experience, the settings you make in this menu apply to all devices. You should see the changed resolution on the playback medium of your choice at the latest after logging out and logging in once.

Let us know in the comments if you have already tested Netflix in 480p and with what seat distance and what kind of device you use the streaming service. We are very curious about your experiences and answers!