Microsoft Movies and TV for Xbox: What You Need to Know

A great feature of Xbox consoles is that you can download movies and TV shows to your hard drive. It is simple, fairly painless, and a great way to watch movies and TV shows. And they're all available in high-definition. Even better, you can stream them instead of downloading the entire video, which means you can start watching right away. 

Why Use Xbox Movies and TV Instead of Netflix?

The obvious question is why you should buy or rent videos through the Microsoft Store instead of just using a streaming service like Netflix. Selection is the biggest reason.

Just about every movie or TV show you could want is on the video marketplace, but not necessarily on standalone streaming platforms. Movies and TV also gives you the option of buying a movie and watching it over if you want.

Both options have their benefits, but Movies and TV is a better option for new releases and flexibility.

Renting vs. Buying

Many movies and shows are available to rent digitally two weeks before they're available to buy on Blu-Ray or as a digital download, so if you want to watch a hot new release you can see it earlier on Xbox than if you waited for the physical version.

Rentals only give you a 48-hour window to watch a video, though. If you want to keep a movie longer, you can also buy a movie or TV show and download it to your hard drive so you can watch it as much as you want. 

Watching TV Shows on Xbox

Microsoft has partnerships with dozens of TV networks to bring you their latest and greatest shows.

For example, you can download the latest South Park just a few days after it airs. You can watch condensed versions of NASCAR races. You can download ESPN’s College Football Game of the Week. You can even get the entire series of Lost if you want to.

There's a ton of content here, and it's all just a button press or two away on your Xbox console. Many of these same networks also have separate video apps you can use to watch their content as well. Or you could always use Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, or any number of other apps if you wanted. You have lots of options these days.

These TV shows aren’t free, though. A season pass can set you back anywhere between $15-40. That comes out to about what a season of a show costs when you buy it on DVD or Blu-Ray, so it isn’t too bad. Once you buy a season pass of a TV show, those episodes are yours and won't expire.

Watching Movies on Xbox

Microsoft has also made partnerships with movie studios to bring you full-length movies. Most of the big studios are represented, and you can download many movies the same day they're available in stores.

Many movies available in high-definition only on Blu-Ray are available for download on the Xbox network in full HD or even 4K. The cost of downloading these movies is about the same as a movie rental.

Other Considerations

Broadband internet speed matters a lot when it comes to streaming video. The better your connection and speed, the higher quality the video that can come true. You need at least 3Mb/s to effectively stream video. If you download full videos instead of streaming them they can fill up your hard drive pretty quickly. Make sure you have plenty of space beforehand.