HBO Max has nearly everything I want from a video streaming service. Throughout its various name changes, the Warner Bros. platform has held onto an excellent mix of premium HBO shows, new originals, and a trove of popular and classic movies, cartoons, and anime. It also features live sports and a large library of terrifically trashy reality shows from sibling service Discovery+. Better still, the pricing hasn't changed dramatically, whether you want the affordable ad-supported tier or the Ultimate plan featuring a beefed-up 4K library. With its massive mix of highbrow, lowbrow, and everything in between, HBO Max is a well-rounded streaming video service that's worth your time and money. It remains one of my personal favorites, a go-to option when I don't know what to watch. HBO Max is just slightly outclassed by Editors' Choice winners Hulu, Netflix, and Tubi, services that have either better features or prices.

HBO Max vs. Max vs. Discovery+

HBO Max's branding confusion has persisted for years, thanks to earlier streaming services that used the HBO name. So, let's clear it up. If you paid for Max (the service's old name) or have HBO through your cable provider, you can use the same credentials to log in to HBO Max without changing your subscription or paying extra.

(Credit: HBO Max/PCMag)

HBO Max fully replaces Max. However, HBO Max doesn't replace sibling service Discovery+. Although HBO Max has the vast majority of Discovery+ content, it doesn't have everything. At only $5.99 per month, Discovery+ costs less than the cheapest HBO Max tier, so it still has some standalone appeal.

Plans and Prices

HBO Max offers three tiers: an ad-supported plan for $10.99 per month (Basic With Ads), an ad-free plan for $18.49 per month (Standard), and a top-tier plan for $22.99 per month (Premium). College students can sign up for Basic With Ads for just $5.49 per month. Annoyingly, people who subscribe to the Standard tier cannot download content for offline viewing on mobile devices, stream 4K content, or watch any of the same-day Warner Bros. movie releases. Likewise, the Standard plan no longer offers 4K programming, which is a bummer. You want the full package? You must go Premium. It increases concurrent streams from two to four, gives you 100 offline downloads, and unlocks a library of more than 1000 4K UHD movies and shows.

Like Disney+ and Netflix, HBO Max no longer offers a free trial, but you can save money by paying for an annual subscription. An annual subscription to the Premium, Standard, and Basic With Ads plans costs $229.99, $184.99, and $109.99, respectively. For comparison, Apple TV+ costs $99.99 per year. Netflix doesn't offer annual plans in the US, but you'd end up paying similar (if not higher) prices than HBO Max if you multiplied its monthly plans by 12.

You can subscribe to HBO Max via a mobile app store (App Store, Google Play), another video streaming service (Hulu or YouTube TV), or cable and broadband partners (including AT&T, DIRECTV, AT&T U-Verse, Spectrum, and Verizon Fios).

Several on-demand video streaming services I've reviewed, such as Disney+ ($11.99 per month) and Prime Video ($8.99 per month), cost less than or equal to HBO Max's Premium 4K plan. Netflix's Standard plan (the minimum tier we recommend) is more expensive than HBO Max's ad-supported plan at $17.99 per month, but it is ad-free and lets you download titles for offline viewing. Netflix's cheaper, ad-supported version is just inferior all around. Skip it.

Other ad-supported streaming tiers are equal or cheaper, too. Hulu and Paramount+ start at $11.99 and $8.99 per month, respectively. Discovery+'s ad-supported plan is $5.99 per month, while NBC's Peacock costs $7.99 per month.

You don't need to pay for your video-streaming entertainment. Our roundup of the best free video streaming services includes options with on-demand and preprogrammed content. Our top pick in this category is Tubi for its large library of mainstream shows and movies.

In addition to watching HBO Max in a web browser, you can download it on mobile devices (Android and iOS), media streaming devices (Android TV, Apple TV, Fire TV, and Roku), Samsung TVs, and gaming consoles (PlayStation and Xbox).

What Can You Watch on HBO Max?

HBO Max's content library is deep and expansive. The service combines current and classic HBO shows, new originals, and select shows and movies from other brands, including CNN, DC, Looney Tunes, New Line Cinema, Rooster Teeth, the Turner library, and Warner Bros. Like all streaming services, the library is constantly in flux. For an updated list of streaming content, check out our feature on everything coming to HBO Max.

Starting with HBO’s original shows, the list of available titles includes Barry, Big Little Lies, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Chernobyl, Deadwood, Game of Thrones, Insecure, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Mare of Easttown, My Brilliant Friend, Oz, Real Time with Bill Maher, Sex and the City, Silicon Valley, Six Feet Under, Succession, The Sopranos, The Wire, Veep, and Watchmen. This premium content trove is the backbone of the service and may be tempting enough on its own to attract subscribers.

HBO Max includes several Max Originals, including the Clone High revival; Looney Tunes Cartoons, a collection of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Tweety Bird, and Wile E. Coyote cartoons; Love and Death, starring Elizabeth Olsen; and On the Record, a documentary about the sexual abuse and assault allegations against Russell Simmons. Other original shows include entries in the Adventure Time: Distant Lands series, The Dog House, Doom Patrol, Frayed, the rebooted Gossip Girl series, and Perry Mason.

Are these original titles enough to compete with the massive and ever-growing number of original series created by Netflix and Prime Video? Maybe. Unlike Apple TV+, HBO Max can rely on its past content to attract potential subscribers.

Other HBO Max shows from the wider media landscape include Adam Ruins Everything, The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, Conan Travel Specials, and Rizzoli & Isles, among others. HBO Max also has streaming rights to other big-name shows, including Friends, Luther, Rick and Morty, South Park, The Big Bang Theory, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and Whose Line Is It Anyway? Friends, in particular, should appeal to all Netflix subscribers who bemoaned the show's loss. Babylon 5 Remastered is also available to stream, too.

No video streaming service is complete without a library of on-demand movies. HBO Max is no slouch in this category either, thanks to content partnerships with in-house (New Line Cinema and Warner Bros.) and external content sources (such as The Criterion Collection). The lineup is always changing, but popular films on the service at the time of our latest review include Blade Runner 2049, Dune, The Fast Saga, Joker, The Matrix, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Ponyo, Shazam!, and Spirited Away.

HBO Max also features classic films, such as 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Streetcar Named Desire, Casablanca, Citizen Kane, Gone with the Wind, Rebel Without a Cause, and The Wizard of Oz. Film fans should check out our roundup of the best movie streaming services and explore options like Curiosity Stream and Mubi.

(Credit: HBO Max/PCMag)

Classic and contemporary animated series, including Adventure Time, Dexter's Laboratory, The Flintstones, The Jetsons, The Powerpuff Girls, Samurai Jack, and Steven Universe, also appear on HBO Max. We hope more classic cartoons will eventually make their way onto the service.

With Crunchyroll no longer part of an AT&T- or Discovery-owned subsidiary, HBO Max hasn't retained all its anime content. Dedicated anime streaming services offer far more content. Hulu and Netflix. feature more expansive libraries of anime content. The Studio Ghibli movies are still a huge draw, though.

Nearly all the shows and movies from DC Universe moved to HBO Max, including Stargirl, Titans, and Young Justice. Some of the series currently on HBO Max include Batman: The Animated Series, Doom Patrol, Harley Quinn, and Teen Titans.

The addition of Discovery+ series has only made HBO Max's catalog even bigger with cooking shows like Chopped, 90 Day Fiancé, and all the Property Brothers you can imagine. With HBO Max, there's a seemingly endless amount of stuff to watch.

However, the merger has dramatically changed HBO Max's future. Streaming libraries change constantly, with new content added as old content leaves. Still, the controversial current regime has ruthlessly scaled back HBO Max's original output, removing episodes of Sesame Street and canceling Batgirl and other nearly finished films.

News and Live Sports

For news junkies, HBO Max lets you watch select on-demand CNN shows featuring famous faces like Anthony Bourdain, Anderson Cooper, and Stanley Tucci. However, CNN live TV streams have been removed from HBO Max to push users to subscribe to CNN All Access. Live news was a great complementary feature to the rest of the library, so it's disappointing to see it go.

Fortunately, HBO Max is still expanding its live sports content. One new and upcoming content avenue for HBO Max is the result of the broadcast deal between Turner Sports (owned by Warner) and the NHL. Under this agreement, TNT and TBS gain NHL broadcast rights to 72 regular-season games and select postseason series, and, more importantly, the deal extends streaming rights to HBO Max as well. ESPN Select also recently announced streaming rights to a significant number of NHL games. HBO Max also streams live women's and men's US soccer games under a similar eight-year deal. Other live sports on HBO Max now include MLB matchups and the NCAA Men's March Madness tourney. Live sports come included with Standard and Premium subscriptions, but not Basic With Ads.

An increasing number of primarily on-demand streaming services have expanded into live sports over the last few years. For instance, Prime Video has Thursday Night Football and the WNBA; Paramount+ includes Sunday afternoon NFL games, PGA Tour events, NCAA basketball coverage, and the UFC. Even Netflix airs major sporting events live, such as the NFL Christmas games and stunt boxing matches.

Web Interface

HBO Max's web interface features an elegant, dark design with black-and-white accents. The large thumbnails of shows and movies stand out and aren't overcrowded on pages. You navigate HBO Max via a top menu. Sections include Home, Series, Movies, HBO, and New & Notable. Further down the page are hubs for all the other content on the service (such as CNN, DC, Food Network, and Studio Ghibli).

(Credit: HBO Max/PCMag)

At the top of the page, you also get a persistent search bar and a profile icon. You can search by movie or show name, as well as by other terms that appear in a title's description and details sections (such as cast members, directors, and writers). Clicking your profile icon opens My List, a way to organize the shows you want to watch, as well as the Continue Watching sections. Here, you can manage your account and billing details, see what devices are logged in with your credentials, change parental control settings, and switch, edit, or create new profiles. HBO Max lets you create up to five profiles. Disney+, by comparison, lets you create six profiles.

When you see something on HBO Max you want to watch, hover over it to add it to your list or to view details. Alternatively, you can click a show or movie thumbnail to get to its details page. For movies, this page includes the parental rating, basic audio and video streaming specs, a description, the release year, and the run time. The video player takes up most of the screen. A list of cast members, directors, and other crew members appears beneath the player. The landing page for TV shows looks identical, except that you can browse seasons and individual episodes at the bottom of the page.

Mobile Apps

I downloaded the HBO Max app on an Android phone and had no trouble logging into our account. The app matches the color scheme and design of the web interface. We didn’t encounter any performance issues or lag when browsing content or launching streams. You navigate the app via three icons: Home, Search, and Profile.

The Home section is functionally identical to the web version’s Home section; it displays featured shows and movies, plus curated categories of content as you scroll down the page.

(Credit: HBO Max/PCMag)

The Search section recommends Series and Movies based on what you've already watched, but you can't quickly add them to the My List or download them from that screen. The Profiles section is where you create, switch, and manage viewing profiles (including changing parental control settings). This section includes the My List feature, a list of all the titles you’ve downloaded for offline viewing, and a Continue Watching list. HBO Max makes it easy to manage all the entries in these lists or to clear everything at once.

HBO Max's offline downloads feature works similarly to those of other services, including Disney+, Prime Video, and Netflix. You can download up to 30 episodes or movies at a time. You get 30 days to start watching an episode or film and 48 hours to finish watching it after you begin playback. HBO Max limits you to five copies of the same show or movie across all of your devices. We downloaded and watched an episode of The Wire without issue.

The app’s Settings are accessible via the Profile section. From here, you can manage your account and billing details, set streaming and download preferences, opt out of notifications, and manage all the devices logged in with your credentials.

Playback and Ad Experience

HBO Max’s web playback screen is fairly standard. In addition to typical playback and volume tools, there's a 10-second rewind button and closed caption options. However, there’s no way to select a streaming resolution, which is disappointing.

Most of HBO Max's content is available in 1080p, but select titles, such as The Little Things and Judas and the Black Messiah, are available in 4K and HDR; these movies also support Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision. The Ultimate tier gives you access to the higher-quality versions.

To watch 4K content and to take advantage of these standards, you need a supported media streaming device (Android TV, Apple TV 4K, Chromecast, Fire TV, Roku, or Xfinity) and a fast internet connection. Apple TV+, Netflix's top-tier plan, and Prime Video support 4K content and Dolby’s high-end specs on select platforms, too.

HBO Max says the total ad playtime will not exceed four minutes per hour and that ads will not play during its own content. That's more reasonable than many competitors' ad experiences.

The mobile app looks similar to the web version. Again, there’s no way to select the streaming resolution. You don't get anything similar to Prime Video's IMDb-powered X-Ray feature that lists all the cast members that appear in a scene, along with other show details, on either platform

HBO Max supports up to four simultaneous streams at the highest tier. Discovery+ and Starz also support four concurrent streams per account.

The service does specify that you need internet speeds of at least 5Mbps (download), which shouldn’t be a problem for most users. I tested the streaming performance over my home Wi-Fi connection (140 Mbps download) and, as expected, it did not suffer buffering. Vague video and audio streaming specs aside, an episode of Succession looked crisp and sounded great.

Accessibility and Parental Controls

HBO Max’s closed captioning options are convenient because they are available right from the playback screen on both the mobile and web interfaces. You can change options related to the font (style, color, and size), background (color and opacity), and window. BritBox also makes the closed captioning settings available from the playback screen. Apple TV+ goes one step further with tons of language options.

HBO Max provides audio descriptions for some of its content. Currently, this feature is only available on the web and mobile devices. Apple TV+, Disney+, and Prime Video offer audio descriptions, too. When you enable audio descriptions, a narrator provides an audible description of what is happening in a scene, including changes in setting and character movements. The service also recognizes your default language across accessibility features.

(Credit: HBO Max/PCMag)

Parents should be pleased with HBO Max's parental control options. The first thing you need to do is create a Kids profile, which entails creating a secret PIN and adding your child's birth month and year. HBO Max then customizes the profile with suggested content restrictions, but you can manually specify the TV shows and movies your child can watch. This flexible approach is ideal and something that Netflix offers.

Your child can't switch profiles without entering the PIN you used to create the account. However, I noticed that HBO Max only locked some content rather than omitting it entirely from the kids' experience. For example, if you set up an account for a very young child, the left-hand menu lets them browse (but not watch) titles available to different age groups, such as 13+.

Does HBO Max Work With a VPN?

A VPN is an excellent privacy tool for protecting your internet traffic from the prying eyes of your ISP and other malicious actors on the network. An added benefit of a VPN is that you can use it to spoof your location online. However, this creates potential problems with video streaming services that offer geographically locked content. HBO Max is currently available in the US and 39 territories across the Caribbean and Latin America, the Nordic region, and Spain. So this poses a problem for viewers in other regions who want to subscribe.

Nonetheless, I tried streaming content from HBO Max while connected to a US-based Mullvad VPN server on both a desktop browser and an Android phone. I streamed content on both devices without issue. Even if you do find that your VPN and video streaming service exist in harmony, that doesn't mean they will continue to do so. Video streaming services are constantly working on new ways to detect and block VPN traffic.