BritBox Australia review

After a successful launch in the US and Canada, BritBox quietly launched in Australia in late 2020, offering anglophiles access to all their favourite British content. But with its relatively niche content and arrival into an already crowded streaming market, is the BBC and ITV’s joint streaming service really worth yet another monthly subscription fee?

Here, we break down everything you need to know about BritBox Australia, including how it stacks up against the competition.

As far as streaming services go, BritBox is on the cheaper side of the pricing spectrum at $13.99 per month or $139.99 for the full year. There’s only one plan, which massively simplifies things and means you won’t have to pay more for extra streams or better resolution— more on those later.

If you don’t want to commit to that monthly or yearly fee without knowing what you’re getting yourself into, BritBox Australia offers a seven-day free trial. It’s not the longest trial period in the world, but it’s more than enough to give you a sense of the content and features on offer.

BritBox's user interface is user-friendly, if a little minimal. Some recent additions, like three live channels; BBC First, BBC Entertain and BBC Select;  which are presented as tiles that offer a snapshot of currently-streaming shows, and a schedule for the next seven hours of streaming at any time. It's a neat throwback to the days of linear programming and honestly quite nice to have as background noise of an evening when you can't quite decide on what to watch (though a few episodes from the Eastenders vault wouldn't hurt). 

On-demand content is divided into five genres (Drama, Crime Drama, Comedy, Documentary and Lifestyle), so navigating the catalogue of programs couldn’t be easier. There’s also an A-Z list and a search function if you’re after something specific.

Searching for a title on a service like Netflix leads you to the next best thing, even if they don't have what you're looking for. That can be confusing if you're you've only got a vague idea of what you're looking for—  now was it Baby Shark or Baby Reindeer?

Having an A-Z list like BritBox dispels most of that doubt and gives you a clear-as-day picture of what's available.

Sometimes you don't want a recommendation, sometimes you just want to find the jolly old thing you're looking for. Am I right, chaps? 

Like most streaming services, you can create a watchlist of everything that tickles your fancy, but unfortunately, this list will be shared with whoever uses the account as there are no individual user profiles. On the upside, BritBox supports up to four simultaneous streams, which is as many users as the premium tiers for Netflix and Stan allow. 

Clicking on a program will surface every episode of every season available, a comprehensive cast and crew credits list, and a  'More Like This' tab to help you discover new content you might enjoy. Like most streaming services, the 'More Like This' algorithm seems to be fairly basic, working on a rudimentary equation of related genre plus popularity. 

It also suggests the long-running Ann Cleeves adaptation, Vera, a lot. So much so that I'm starting to wonder what I've been missing out on all these years. 

One of the biggest criticisms of BritBox since its launch is that it hasn't seemed too interested in providing 4K fidelity. That's somewhat understandable given one of the major draws is older shows that don't even stream in 1080p HD let alone 4K. However, that's set to change this year when BritBox introduces 4K programming to Australia in August. 

Britbox’s biggest asset is right there in the name; quality British content. From classics like Midsomer Murders and Fawlty Towers to contemporary hits like Luther and Line of Duty, it’s got just about every BBC or ITV show you could want. That said, there are a few glaring omissions - namely, The Great British Bake Off, Sherlock, Downton Abbey and the trio of long-running soaps, Eastenders, Coronation Street and Emmerdale.

Still, it’s a pretty robust collection, Call the Midwife, Doc Martin, the O.G. House of Cards and The Office, not to mention a ridiculous number of docos by David Attenborough and Brian Cox. You’ll also find classic miniseries like a remastered version of the iconic 1995 Pride and Prejudice, allowing you to view a young Colin Firth in glorious HD.

Unless you also happen to be into the royals (like, really into the royals) there’s not really much more to be said about BritBox’s library. While the quality is certainly there, it’s seriously lacking in quantity. In fact, I was able to tick off everything on my watch list in about a month (granted, I spend most of my waking hours watching TV).

Even if BritBox does sound up your alley, it’s worth considering that, at the time of writing, many of its programs are available on other streaming services. For instance, Luther can be found on Stan and Blackadder on Amazon Prime Video.

BritBox started in Australia with just one original and exclusive TV show. Today, there are 14 original TV series available on BritBox and over 40 exclusives inherited from the BBC and other British channels. 

Content limitations aside, BritBox is pretty standard when it comes to device compatibility. All the usual suspects are there, but if you’re used to streaming on your gaming console, you’re out of luck.

We mainly used the mobile app and desktop for testing, using Chromecast to enjoy it on the big screen.

Here’s a full list of devices compatible with BritBox Australia:

• iPhone and iPad
• Android devices
• PC and Mac via most web browsers
• Apple TV
• Google Chromecast
• Fetch TV
• Foxtel iQ box
• Samsung Smart TVs
• LG Smart TVs
• Hisense Smart TVs

How much data BritBox uses is dependant on the quality of your stream. Mobile devices need a speed of about 1.5 Mbps to watch content, which translates to a little over half a gigabyte per hour. For those watching via their browser, Smart TV or streaming device, you’ll need 3 Mbps, which works out to be almost 1.5 GB per hour. If you’re watching in high definition, that speed requirement jumps to 6.5 Mbps, or almost 3GB per hour.

If you’re a frequent binge-watcher and find your stream is constantly buffering, it’s worth taking another look at your NBN plan. We’d recommend going no slower than NBN Basic II speed, which clocks in at up to 25Mbps. However, unless you live alone, we’d suggest opting for an NBN Standard plan which, at speeds of up to 50Mbps, should be more than enough to give everyone in the household a smooth and snappy internet experience.

Here are the most popular NBN 50 plans right now.