Warner Pass: should you fall for the new Amazon Prime Video offer?

We’ve been waiting for it for weeks, and here it is finally: the Warner Pass, bringing together 13 channels from the Warner Discovery group, has been available since March 16 on the Amazon Prime Video platform. Above all, Amazon’s streaming service recovers prestigious HBO content, previously on OCS.

A Pass that seems a priori to be a godsend for fans of Game Of Thrones, Rick & Morty, The Last of Us, True Detective and Company. But is this paid option, in addition to your Prime Video subscription, really worth it? Should I subscribe to the Warner Pass? Content, quality, ergonomics, evolution of the offer… here is our opinion.

The contents

This is the nerve of the platform war: the films, series and documentaries in the catalog are one of the major factors to encourage subscription. On this criterion, the Pass Warner offers heavy. And this even more in terms of quality than quantity.

On the HBO side, no films or documentaries, but 56 HBO Original series, ranging from classics The Sopranos, TheWire, Band of Brothers, Six Feet Under, Boardwalk Empire or Rometo the most recent Game Of Thrones, House of the Dragon, The Last of Us, Chernobyl, The White Lotus, barry Or Silicon Valley.

Added to this is Adult Swim and Toonami content (90 in number), i.e. animation geared more towards adults: Rick & Morty, Archer, SamuraiJack, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Robot Chicken, Primal or anime My Hero Academia.

Subscribers also have access to Warner TV programs, of which there are 21. Raised by Wolves (produced by Ridley Scott), The Flight Attendant (with Kaley Cuoco), Falling Skies, batman And star girl.

Cartoon Network (with 26 programs, including Adventure Time) and Boomerang (20 programs, including Tom & Jerry), added to the Pass on March 21, are there to satisfy the youngest. Finally, the Discovery Channel, Discovery Science and ID channels are present for the curious.

Note that all Warner linear channels (TCM Cinema, Eurosport, Discovery Channel…) and their programs are not available at launch: they will be deployed throughout the month of March and until April 3, when the latest addition to Warner Bros. Discovery, Cartoonito. future seasons of Succession And The Gilded Age will also be available upon release.

To sum up, the proposed offer is undeniably interesting, even if we are still far from HBO Max in the United States. If the purists will regret the absence of atypical programs such as the programs of Bill Maher and John Oliver, the Pass Warner offers a catalog of quality, diversified… and which will expand in the weeks to come.

The quality

This was one of the questions surrounding the offer and one of the big fears about the Amazon Prime Video platform, which has always been lagging behind on the subject. So, 4K or not? Unfortunately: rather not.

Of the entire Warner Pass, only three series are in 4K (UHD): The Last of Us, Game Of Thrones And House of the Dragon. The rest of the catalog has to make do with 1080p. It should be noted, however, that the Pass is the first streaming offer to offer all of Game Of Thrones in this 4K quality. An exclusivity that should be specified.

The quality is therefore unsurprisingly the weak point of this Warner Pass, which will probably not convince Blu-ray owners. On our side, we hope (quickly) for future improvements … Especially when we know that for their part, Disney + and Netflix are beefing up their offer of programs in Ultra HD.

The price

The Warner Pass costs €9.99 per month, without commitment, in addition to your Prime Video subscription at €6.99/month. A total of €16.98 per month, which is very interesting compared to Netflix Premium (€17.99/month), and above all much cheaper than Canal+ (€22.99/month for the basic pack).

For comparison, we can observe the other optional services offered in the Prime Video Channels: the Ligue 1 Pass costs €12.99/month, Paramount+ costs €7.99/month and MUBI €9.99/month. The Warner Pass therefore appears to be a good deal, especially given the quality of the content offered. By April 3, and the effective arrival of the 12 Warner channels, it can only gain in interest, especially with its non-binding model.

Note that the Pass offers a 30-day trial period until April 3. For Digitalthat’s a big yes.

Ergonomics

This is again one of the weak points of Amazon Prime Video: the clarity and ergonomics of the streaming platform (and its player) inevitably affects the Warner Pass experience. Despite recent improvements in Prime Video, navigating between different seasons and episodes of the same series is laborious. We often find ourselves going back and forth between sub-menus simply to change programs. Frustrating.

However, as a “Channel”, the Pass Warner is separate and benefits from its own space, in which the programs are legibly arranged by channel. Linear channels — like TCM, Eurosport and CNN — are also offered separately.

In the end, if the option recovers the archaic ergonomics of Prime Video, in particular its horrible search system which mixes VOD, SVOD and all the seasons of a program, the catalog is rather well arranged and will allow you to navigate without too much hassle…as long as you stay well within the Warner Pass space.

Verdict

To conclude, the Warner Pass is really a good option for fans of quality series. Between HBO, Warner TV, Adult Swim and others, enthusiasts will be spoiled for choice. Downside: if you like films, you may be disappointed, because the Pass does not (for the moment) offer any, and only the linear TCM Cinéma channel may fill this gap.

Displaying an affordable price compared to its direct competitors, and offering high quality programs (probably one of the best offers on the market), the Warner Pass is validated by Digital, especially thanks to its non-binding model. Note that it offers a 30-day trial period until April 3.

Finally, remember that Warner Bros. Discovery has always planned to release its own streaming platform (entitled Max) in France in the fall of 2024. This Warner Pass is therefore a good temporary option for the time of the transition.