Max Review: Who’s it Best For in 2024?

On May 23, 2023 HBO Max became just Max. Its recently merged parent company Warner Bros. Discovery rebranded the streaming service to better reflect its new, broader appeal. And the addition of a slate of content from Discovery+.

And to make it terrible for search engines? (Granted, it’s not as bad as renaming one of the world’s most recognized brands to a single letter.)

But even though the price didn’t go up, and it expanded its library, is the new and improved streaming service worth your hard-earned dollars? Our HBO Max Review dives into the prices, features, and content to help you decide if Max if for you in 2024.

How much does Max cost in 2024?

We like simple. And for a service that’s had arguably the most convoluted history in streaming, HBO finally seemed to be approaching simplicity with HBO Max. It launched in 2020 with a single plan for $15/month. 

But a year later it added a cheaper ad-supported plan. Fair enough. A lot of people want that option.

However, its pricing overhaul in 2023 resulted in 3 plans to choose from. And it did what we hate most—it locked stream quality behind higher-priced tiers. Even worse, it locked 4K streaming behind a (highest) 3rd tier. (Max and Netflix are the only streaming services to do this.)

On the bright side, Max hasn’t increased its prices since then.

Here are the 3 price plans for Max:

With Ads: $9.99/month

• Full access to HBO’s on-demand library
• Some content from Discovery+
• Ads: Yes
• User profiles: 5
• Downloads: No
• Simultaneous screens: 2
• Quality: Full HD (1080p)
• Annual Plan: $99.99/year

Ad-Free: $15.99/month

• Full access to HBO’s on-demand library
• Some content from Discovery+
• Ads: No
• User profiles: 5
• Downloads: 30 (on mobile devices)
• Simultaneous screens: 2
• Quality: Full HD 1080p
• Annual Plan: $159.99/year

Ultimate Ad-Free: $19.99/month

• Full access to HBO’s on-demand library
• Some content from Discovery+
• Ads: No
• User profiles: 5
• Downloads: 100 (on mobile devices)
• Simultaneous screens: 4
• Quality: 4K and Dolby Atmos on select titles
• Annual Plan: $199.99/year

Max vs. the alternatives

Thanks to price hikes in Netflix plans, Max is no longer the most expensive on-demand streamer out there. (It’s the second-most expensive.)

But it’s still pricier than Netflix in a few areas. At $9.99/month, it’s got the most expensive ad-supported plan. And while its mid-tier plan ($15.99) is 50¢ more than Netflix’s over-priced middle tier, it’s $2/month less than Hulu’s ad-free plan.

However, Max is still $2–6/month more expensive than every other major streamer’s ad-supported plan.

The “ultra-premium” plan is $3/month less than the similar offering from Netflix. As mentioned above, no other on-demand streaming services have this 3rd tier.

You don’t get 4K without upgrading to the highest tier, while Prime Video, Hulu, Apple TV+, and Peacock all include UHD 4K content with their entry-level plans.

Aside from paying extra for 4K video quality, you also need to pay more for more simultaneous screens. Another tactic only employed by Netflix.

What sets Max apart from other streamers—and what Warner Bros. Discovery is betting on—is the premium original content exclusive to HBO and Max. And that’s what you’re paying for. 

What kind of content does Max have?

Max boasts an impressive catalog of content that caters to a diverse range of interests, especially with the addition of Discovery+ content.

Its identity is still very “HBO”—edgy, mature, high-quality dramas—but it’s a lot more varied and family-friendly than the traditional HBO brand. After all, it’s the streaming home of Sesame Street, Cartoon Network, and Studio Ghibli.

But if you’re looking for the best streaming service for families with young kids, check out our Disney Review. And if network TV shows are more your speed, Peacock or Paramount+ might be a better fit.

Original content on Max

Max has its own original programming, such as Tokyo Vice, The Flight Attendant, and Hacks, but it also gets every HBO show. So, like most everyone does when counting Emmy nominations, we include HBO originals as well. 

That means Max is home to a plethora of original shows and movies, showcasing high production values and engaging storytelling. From Emmy-winning series like The Handmaid’s Tale and Succession to genre-defining shows like The Sopranos, Sex and the City, and Game of Thrones, Max has a wealth of compelling, exclusive original content. 

Here are some of the best original shows on Max.

• Curb Your Enthusiasm (since 2000)
• True Detective (since 2014)
• Euphoria (since 2019)
• The Righteous Gemstones (since 2019)
• The White Lotus (since 2021)
• House of the Dragon (since 2022)
• Tokyo Vice (since 2022)
• The Last of Us (since 2023)

Movies on Max

While HBO has been making movies for over 40 years (its first original film was The Terry Fox Story in 1983), its forte is producing high-caliber shows that keep audiences tuned in for years.

Like most streaming services, HBO is owned by a movie studio (or a huge corporation that evolved from, merged with, or acquired a movie studio).

In 2021, WarnerBros released all of its theatrical releases for the year simultaneously on HBO Max. With Covid restrictions loosening, it changed tack in 2022 and ditched the concurrent releases in favor of a 45-day window.

That window closed of course, and WB theatrical releases are no longer guaranteed to hit Max first (or at all). But there’s still a wide selection of movies to choose from as well as a back catalog of classic Turner movies

Some of the most popular movies on Max right now are:

• Avatar: The Way of Water
• Coraline
• Dune
• Elvis
• Harry Potter Franchise
• Howl’s Moving Castle
• Magic Mike’s Last Dance
• Ready Player One
• Reality
• Shazam: Fury of the Gods

TV shows on Max

The big draw of Max, in our opinion, is the slate of original shows that you can’t watch anywhere else. However, HBO hasn’t been afraid to ink deals for third-party content—which include some of the biggest TV shows in history.

Here are some of the non-original TV shows on Max:

• The Big Bang Theory
• The Boondocks
• Friends
• The Nanny
• Pretty Little Liars
• Rick and Morty
• South Park
• The Vampire Diaries
• The West Wing
• Young Sheldon

Live TV on Max

Max does not have live TV and it does not get you access to any of HBO’s linear multiplex channels like HBO East, HBO West, or HBO Comedy.

If you’re looking for an on-demand streamer that includes real live TV, check out our Peacock Review and Paramount+ Review to see if one fits the bill. The premium plan for each includes your local NBC or CBS affiliate, respectively. 

Kids content on Max

The phrase “Kids and HBO Don’t Mix” could easily have made it onto t-shirts, coffee mugs, or bumpers stickers back in the day. But just like Vegas is no longer just for gamblers, bachelor parties, and mobsters, HBO is no longer just for adults.

In addition to being the streaming home of Sesame Street (even going so far as to brand it a “Max original”) and Studio Ghibli, there are plenty of other shows and movies for kids.

Some of the popular shows and movies for kids and families on Max right now are:

• 13 Going on 30
• The Lego Movie
• Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai (Max Original)
• Family Matters
• Full House
• Looney Tunes
• Scooby-Doo Where Are You!
• Teen Titans Go!

Sports on Max

HBO hosted the HBO World Championship Boxing for 45 years, starting with Foreman vs. Frazier in Jamaica in 1973. It served up some of the most memorable fights in history, including the Rumble in the Jungle, Thrilla in Manila, and The Battle of the Ages with Holyfield vs. Foreman in ‘91.

Even with these great fights, sports were never really a priority for HBO. Outside the ring, sports on HBO have mostly been movies, documentaries, or commentary shows.

But in the past couple of years on-demand streaming services started expanding into live sports, and Max is no exception.

In 2022, WarnerMedia signed an 8-year deal with the U.S. Soccer Federation for the rights to stream live matches for the U.S. Women’s Soccer National Team (USWNT) and Men’s National Team. Some are exclusive to Max, while the rest are simulcast on Warner TV stations TNT and TBS.

On October 5, 2023, Max launched its B/R Sports add-on, featuring live MLB, NHL, NBA, and NCAA games, as well as other international sports. It made the add-on free until February 29, 2024, after which it’s $9.99/month on top of your Max subscription.

Max interface and usability

Navigation

The platform offers a user-friendly interface, enabling easy navigation through various categories, personalized recommendations, and curated collections.

The main menu, which changes position depending on your device, has 5 categories: Home, Series, Movies, HBO, and New & Notable. The HBO category seems a bit superfluous, as you’ll get to all that content via every other option. 

From there, it’s your standard streaming layout, with rows of categories. Continue Watching is right at the top, which is where it should be. (We hate streamers that bury it beneath rows of their recommendations.) It’s followed by For You and My List (not our preferred order), then Featured, Just Added, and Brand Spotlight, which has icons for content hubs.

In the browser, there are icons for Search, My List, and Account settings in the top-right corner, which simplifies navigation even further.

Playback

Like most streamers, playback options can vary from device to device. In web browsers, the playback menu has buttons to advance or rewind 10 seconds. In media players like the Fire TV Stick 4K, there’s still the 10-second option in either direction, but you can also rewind and fast-forward at 4 settings up to 4x speed.

Skipping back or ahead, stopping, and playing is quite accurate, and a thumbnail above the progress bar makes it easy to find the scene you’re looking for.

Language settings

The streaming service is still catering to a very domestic audience. Most shows have subs and dubs for English and Spanish, but nothing beyond that. Unless, of course, the program is a language other than the “Big Two”. However, these don’t have the best delivery.

For example, Spy/Master is in English and Romanian (plus some German and Russian), and there are a lot of (European) subtitle languages available. For audio, you can choose English, Hungarian, Polish, Romanian, or Spanish. However, choosing English subtitles and Romanian audio gives you subtitles for everything. Even the English dialogue. 

You can browse by Audio Description, which scores points for accessibility. Although, we’d really like to streamers take a page out of the Apple TV+ playbook and offer both subs and dubs in multiple (ie: 20+) languages for every show and movie. 

Parental controls

Parental controls on Max are good enough to satisfy most parents, although there are no options to limit/monitor screen time or check viewing history.

You can create Kid profiles that require a PIN to exit and they can be set to one of 5 ratings:

• Little Kids: TV-Y
• Big Kids: TV-Y7, TV-Y7-FV
• Big Kids Plus: TV-G, G
• Pre-teens: TV-PG, PG
• Teens: TV-14, PG-13

Max account sharing and simultaneous screens

Service shareability is a deciding factor for some people, especially those with big families. Here’s what Max offers in terms of concurrent screens and multiple profiles.

How many people can watch Max at once?

Max is not the best choice for large households. It lets you stream on 2 devices simultaneously with the $10 and $15 monthly plans. If you need more screens, you’ll need to upgrade to the $20/month Ultimate Ad-Free plan, which gets you 4 screens.

How many profiles can you make on Max?

You can create up to 5 profiles per account. This lets 5 members of your household have their own personalized recommendations, saved shows, and viewing history. 

Creating a profile is done in the app and doesn’t require adding accounts or emails like some streamers, such as Apple TV+.

There is no add-on to increase the number of profiles you can make, so 5 is the max you can have.

Max supported devices

Max supports the most popular platforms, so there’s a good chance you’re covered. It also has native desktop apps for the top 3 OSes, meaning you don’t need to watch it in a browser on your computer.

• Media players: Apple TV, Fire TV, Roku
• Phones & tablets: Android, iOS, Fire Tablet
• Cable & satellite: None
• Smart TVs: Android TV, Hisense, LG, Samsung, Vizio
• Smart home: None
• Game consoles: PlayStation, Xbox
• Desktops & laptops: Mac, Windows, Chromebook, Major browsers
• Blu-ray players: None

The above refers to the general device makers, so always check the official website for specific models and the most up-to-date list. 

Max streaming quality

When it comes to streaming quality, HBO Max offered a reliable and high-quality experience. But things got a little less reliable after the merger and name change.

Subscribers to the Ad-Free plan before the change—when there were only 2 plans to choose from—had the Legacy Ad-Free plan, which supposedly kept the old features (4K, 4 screens, etc.) for at least 6 months. After that, an upgrade was required to keep 4K. To encourage the upgrade, WBD increased the library to 1,000+ titles, which was almost 800% more than before.

Existing HBO Max subscribers will still have access to their current plan features for a minimum of six months following launch.

Warner Bros. Discovery (May 22, 2023)

But the Legacy Ad-Free plan didn’t deliver as promised. The issue appeared to be device-related and resulted in plenty of unhappy customers, as seen in Reddit’s curdcutters sub. (New subscribers were unaffected.)

Aside from those reported issues, we’ve found Max to consistently deliver a high-quality stream with minimal buffering at the start of shows.

Is there a Max free trial?

No.

When HBO Max first launched, it offered a 7-day free trial that quickly disappeared into the ether. But all hope is not lost. Free trials for Max pop up now and then, as do deals where it’s included with another service for “free”.

When signing up for a 30-day free trial for Amazon Prime, you can add a 7-day free trial for Max through Prime Video Channels. Also, new or existing Hulu subscribers can get a 7-day free trial by going to Manage Add-Ons in their settings and adding Max.

You can get Max for free when you sign up for a mobile plan with Cricket Wireless. It’s included with their $60/month plan and gets you the Add-supported plan.

Verdict: Who is Max good for in 2024?

Max is best for those who love HBO’s signature originals. From groundbreaking shows like The Sopranos, Sex and the City, and Game of Thrones to Euphoria and Succession, HBO has been delivering water cooler content for decades.

It’s a good option for movie lovers, particularly those looking for documentaries and Hollywood classics. But there are far more affordable streaming options with large movie libraries out there.

Parents who want new episodes of Sesame Street for their kids need Max as it’s the exclusive streamer of new episodes of Sesame Street. However, Warner yanked 200+ episodes from the platform in 2022, so it may not be the sole reason to sign up. There are other ways to get older episodes. There are also better streaming platforms for families and kids and they don’t cost as much.

Overall, Max offers a compelling streaming experience with a diverse content library and user-friendly interface. But it’s the HBO Originals that we see as the main draw—which is enough for us.