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Binge review: Is Foxtel’s streaming app any good?

Binge offers a buffet of content and a better app, but Foxtel is holding back on some key ingredients.

Binge
Binge
3.8 out of 5 stars
3.75
  • pro
    Premium HBO drama and local comedy
  • pro
    Blockbuster movies
  • pro
    Clean app with 4K streaming
  • con
    Occasional video quality issues
Plan
Free Trial
Monthly Price
Devices
Ads
Max. Stream Quality
More info
Binge Basic$101YesStandard Definition (SD)
Binge Standard$192NoHigh Definition (HD)
Binge Premium$224NoUltra High Definition (4K UHD)
Brodie Fogg
Feb 16, 2024
Icon Time To Read4 min read
Binge app on a smartphone
Our verdict: Is Binge any good?

Subscribing to Binge is a little like visiting one of the last remaining all-you-can-eat Pizza Hut restaurants. All your favourites are here, the meaty Game of Thrones, the gourmet Leftovers, and even sweet treats like Real Housewives. But the quality leaves something to be desired, and after a few turns at the stale old menu, you start wondering if you're getting the most bang for your buck. 

Long after launch, Binge is far from perfect on a technical level but the introduction of 4K does season the already decent deal quite nicely. 

pro
What we like
pro Some of the best television shows ever made
pro User interface is modern and intuitive
pro Reasonable pricing
con
What could be better
con Video quality varies wildly

Back in 2020, Foxtel revealed a new streaming destination for its premium TV and movie selection, Binge. Positioned as an "alternative" to Foxtel Now, Binge is a slick app and a second home for some of Foxtel's most popular television. But is Binge the buffet of content Foxtel claims it to be? Or is it a subpar second serving of prime cut entertainment?

Binge pricing: How does it compare?

Family value

​The promise of Binge is Foxtel's award-winning content at a price that compares favourably with Netflix. On that much, it delivers. Binge will set you back between $10 and $22 per month, depending on the quality you're after and the number of devices at your table. There's also a 7-day free trial if you're looking for a taste test.

Binge is priced more competitively than Netflix and Stan, and is way better value than Foxtel's packages. At it's cheapest price, you still get ads which is just one of the things stopping Binge from being a five-star experience (more on those in a tick.) 

Here's how Binge's pricing stacks up.

Binge vs Netflix, Stan and more

Service
Details
Monthly price
More info
Binge LogoBinge Standard plan
4K streaming
2 streams
Deal: 7-day free trial
$19/mth
Foxtel Now | 2022 logo | Reviews.org AustraliaFoxtel Now Starter Bundle
HD streaming
2 streams
Access to over 35 channels
Deal: 10-day free trial
$35/mth
Apple TV+Apple TV+ plan
4K streaming
6 streams (Family Sharing)
Deal: 7-day free trial
$12.99/mth
Disney PlusDisney+ Standard plan
HD streaming
2 streams
Deal: $139.99 for 12mths
$13.99/mth
BritBoxBritbox plan
HD streaming
5 streams
Deal: 7-day free trial
$9.99/mth
NetflixNetflix Standard + Ads
HD streaming
2 streams
$7.99/mth
StanStan Basic plan
SD streaming
1 stream
$12/mth
Paramount+Paramount+ Basic with ads
HD streaming
1 stream
Ads: Yes
$6.99/mth
Kayo SportsKayo One Plan
HD streaming
1 stream
Deal: 7-day free trial
$25/mth
ShudderShudder plan
HD streaming
1 stream
Deal: 7-day free trial
$6.99/mth
Disney PlusDisney+ Premium plan
4K streaming
4 streams
Deal: $179.99 for 12mths
$17.99/mth
Paramount+Paramount+ Standard
HD streaming
2 streams
Ads: No
$9.99/mth
Paramount+Paramount+ Premium
4K/HDR streaming
4 streams
Ads: No
$13.99/mth
NetflixNetflix Standard
HD streaming
2 streams
$18.99/mth

What devices is Binge available on?

Most of the usual suspects.

Most people will have at least one Binge-compatible device, but it might not necessarily be the device you want to stream on.

You've got the streaming device staples; smartphones and tablets (iOS 12+ and Android 7+), and computers via a web browser (Chrome, Safari, Edge, and Firefox), Apple TV, and select Android OS Smart TVs can download the Binge app too. Lastly, those who invested in the TV-smartifying Google Chromecast can cast directly from the app.

At launch, Binge wasn't available on PlayStation or Xbox consoles but that's since been rectified.  It's also available on NVIDIA’s phenomenal 4K-upscaling Shield TV Pro (which might be your only option for streaming Binge in 4K).

Not every option will give you the same experience, however, and for specific devices, the stream optimisation seems to be undercooked.

Video quality on Binge

No 4K and some serious compression issues

When Binge first launched, it didn't offer 4K, nor did Binge have any plans to offer Ultra High Definition streaming. However, not long before the launch of Hubbl, Binge added 4K to its most expensive plan (while also upping its prices.) 

The addition of 4K at the top-end is a more welcome inclusion than ads at the lower tier but stream quality can still be a little inconsistent. 

While the quality seems to vary between titles, some serious compression issues are most evident in darker scenes (case in point: the famous 'Battle of Winterfell' episode of Game of Thrones). Scenes with limited light sources can become so pixelated as to look like impressionist recreations of your favourite shows. This is a probably Netflix seems to have mastered better than the rest. Even Amazon Prime Video struggles with video compression and that's an app with a lot more money behind it. 

Pictured: Game of Thrones, Battle of Winterfell on Binge

What content does Binge offer?

Signature dishes missing on opening night

If affordable pricing is the appetiser, Foxtel's premium content library is undoubtedly the main course, and Binge has just about every big dish. HBO's biggest TV shows, like Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon and Succession. If you're a freak for WWE you'll find that on Binge too

Then there's the huge library of movies on Binge. It has old favourites like Jurassic Park and The Shawshank Redemption, next to the latest and greatest blockbusters, like Barbie and Oppenheimer and long-running series like Mission Impossible and Harry Potter. 

Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling in Barbie (2023) as Barbie and Ken

Pictured: Barbie on Binge

When it first launched, Binge didn't have quite as many TV shows as Foxtel Now. Lots of new releases and classics from the back catalogue were missing. But it seems these days that Binge has become the premiere streaming destination for anything Foxtel can get it's hands on and we're all better for it. 

The biggest hope for Binge was that it would replace Foxtel Now entirely, but a few years out from launch, we've still got both options for some reason.

That's a shame because, despite a few slight shortcomings, the Binge user interface is a feast for the eyes and an infinitely better experience to using Foxtel Now. 

Binge app, features and accessibility

Surprising features but no subtitles or parental controls.

Any chef worth their salt knows that thoughtful presentation is just as important as preparation. The same goes for a decent streaming service. It can have cracker content, and tempting exclusives, but if the user experience isn't up to scratch, users will be lining up at Pirate Bay to get their fill (or seeking out other means to stream Max.)

The overall sheen of Binge passes the taste test. It's got notes of Kayo Sports, and even an exotic dash of Max, in its design. For the most part, using the Binge app is intuitive and mirrors the simple interface of Netflix and others before it.

What made Kayo Sports so special wasn't just the sports content it housed but also the innovative streaming features it introduced, like SplitView multi-screen streaming, live match statistics, and spoiler-free sports streaming.

Binge does have a few exciting perks, like Binge Centres, content hubs including entire movie and TV collections, and a fun Surprise Me! function that selects an episode or movie at random. But they're nowhere near as innovative as what we've come to expect from Kayo Sports. 

Deals

Stream for free tonight with these trials

Looking for something new to stream tonight? These services offer free trials so you won’t pay a cent unless you decide to keep subscribed once your trial’s up.

Conclusion: Is Binge worth it?

The preferred platform and price for streaming some of the biggest releases in Australia.

Binge is far from the perfect Netflix competitor for Foxtel but it's easily the company's most pleasant attempt yet at a palatable price. Since it first launched, Binge has addressed many of our original concerns: it introduced 4K at the premium tier, expanded device support to PlayStation and Xbox devices, and has managed to keep up with the latest and greatest releases better than it did at launch. 

The video quality can still be hit and miss across different devices, and it's ad-supported $10 tier might be one of the most aggressively implemented ad tiers we've seen. But until we know more about Max's release in Australia, Binge is a comfortable way to stream the best TV and movies Foxtel has to offer via a far-less problematic app than Foxtel Now and Presto before it. 

If you're still not sure, you can always take Binge for a spin with its 7-day free trial offer. 

Brodie Fogg
Written by
Brodie Fogg is the Australian editorial lead at Reviews.org. He has covered consumer tech, telecommunications, video games, streaming and entertainment for over five years at websites like WhistleOut and Finder and can be found sharing streaming recommendations at 7NEWS every month.

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