For the New Ad-Supported Plan by Netflix, You May Need a Chromecast

The long-anticipated ad-supported plan by Netflix is finally here. Its attractiveness is all about being more affordable than the familiar Premium or even Basic, at just $6.99. Saving $3 a month seems attractive; yet there may be a catch for those using non-supported device. Maybe the need to upgrade will eliminate all the money you plan to save.

The catch is that the ad-supported plan is incompatible with some old hardware. The technology used to implement ads has some requirements not met by older devices. For example, all the Google Chromecast devices manufactured before Chromecast with Google TV (that is, before 2020), will not support this plan. To enjoy it, you may need to upgrade.

Not that it’s too expensive. The HD version of Chromecast with Google TV can be bought for $19.99; this equals the amount you will save by switching to the ad-supported tier for seven months. After that, you will finally start saving money on your plan. It makes no sense to go for the 4K version of Chromecast with Google TV if you only need it for Netflix; on the other hand, you may want to enjoy 4K content from other sources. If you buy the 4K version on the Google store, it will take you 13-14 months to save about its price on the cheaper Netflix plan.

Given that the ad-supported tier provides up to 720p as well as Basic but allows only one device at a time and doesn’t include some titles the Basic one has, this only seems attractive if these $3 really make a difference. So, the necessity to upgrade may make you question whether you need to switch.

Older Chromecast models are not the only ones incompatible with the plan. Neither is PlayStation 3, or all the Apple TV models, though their price and functionality is far beyond what Chromecast offers. If you have any of these, would you think of upgrading in order to switch to Netflix with ads? Does it make sense to you? Tell us what you think about it in the comments!