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Discovery+ Mini Review

Discovery+ Mini Review

Here's Your Discovery+ Mini-Review

January 05, 2021

January 5, 2021

Happy New Year! As we head into 2021, the streaming landscape has already changed dramatically with the introduction of Discovery+. Just how much of a shake-up this new service will cause is yet to be seen, but Discovery Inc. has done a fairly good job with promotion. Here's a quick review of our first look into Discovery+.

Streamer's Spotlight: First Look at Discovery+

Discovery Inc. kept most of the Discovery+ features a secret until the release of the new service on January 4. Now that it's here and ready for you to try out, we've taken it for a spin to gather all the essential details. Here's a quick breakdown if you're considering getting in on Discovery+.

What Is Discovery+?

Discovery+ (or Discovery Plus) is the newest multi-channel streaming service on the market. We use the term "multi-channel" kind of loosely here. As we discovered post-launch, Discovery+ doesn't have any live TV streaming, although it does plan to offer 24/7 channels for popular shows before the end of January 2021.

That said, you can get full episodes and full seasons of its content from across its entire TV channel library. That includes:

HGTV
Food Network
TLC
ID
OWN
Animal Planet
Discovery
Discovery Originals
Magnolia Network Preview
BBC Planet Earth
A&E
Lifetime
History
Travel Channel
DIY Network
The Dodo

How Much Does Discovery+ Cost? There are two pricing options available: $4.99/month with ads, or $6.99/month ad-free. It offers a 7-day free trial.

What Devices Can I Use with Discover+?

The service launched with a great selection of available apps. Watch it on:

Amazon Fire TV
Apple TV
Android TV
Chromecast
Roku
Samsung Smart TV
Android and iOS smartphones and tablets
Xbox One, Series S, and Series S
Chrome OS, macOS and Windows PC browsers

Discovery+ Limitations

Note that Discovery+ is an on-demand streaming service. You cannot use it to access live streams of any Discovery Inc. channel. That means if you need or want to watch live streams of any content, your best option for Discovery Inc. channels is still

Philo

Discovery+ First Impressions

I'd classify the Discovery+ UI as "good, not great". It follows a very similar aesthetic to most services on the market right now, with categorization options based on channel/service and on fairly narrowed themes, such as "Originals", "Trending Shows", "Lifestyle", "Adventure & Exploration", etc.

Categorization happens in three ways: a left-right scroll panel on the top of the app for categories, a left-right scroll panel for channels, and a series of left-right scroll panels at the bottom based on other criteria, such as "Favorite Personalities" nad "Thought-Provoking Documentaries".

Streaming quality is great, and you can add closed-captioning. Beyond that, the app has very limited features. You can download and watch later, for example, and while you can turn off streaming over cellular data, you can't do much else to adjust the settings for the app. There's also no parental restriction features, although there is some (not much) TV-MA content.

Overall, Discovery+ is a decent launch and quick, cheap access to some of the most popular entertainment and lifestyle networks available on cable TV. It's a bit of a no-brainer for cord-cutters who want to downsize, and likely pairs well with

Sling TV