michael here and today why i'm giving directv stream a second look and more importantly should
you flashback to august 2021 i tested out directv stream after the name change from
at t tv and i uploaded this review the live tv service positioning itself as a premium
cable tv replacement only a few months after i published that video news of more changes began
filling up my inbox new pricing and upgraded cloud dvr and tweaks to the user experience look at this
graphic from directv streams website the service is taking aim at competitors youtube tv hulu live
and sling tv the question is should you switch to directv stream number one plans and pricing
this is the newest and most significant change as of this recording so let's take a closer look
i'm back on directv streams website and there are four plans available they range in price from 70
to 150 a month after a january 2022 price increase no contracts or hidden fees with these plans
but taxes may be added depending on your location focus on the base plan called entertainment this
is the only plan that did not see a price increase it remains at 69.99 per month and it includes more
than 65 channels plus your local stations i'll link to the full channel lineup below
now 70 bucks a month is steep for cord cutters who are out to save money and that's why i've
not recommended this plan in the past but at the time of this recording it's around the same price
as other premium live tv streaming services like youtube tv and hulu live sling tv is still much
cheaper but you'll need an antenna to pick up your locals the other directv stream plan that
i want to highlight today is the choice plan it's now 89.99 per month up five dollars a month after
the price increase and the draw of this plan is that it includes regional sports networks that
the other services have dropped so ask yourself this are the regional sports networks worth an
extra twenty dollars a month because that's the difference you're looking at with directv stream
directv stream blames its latest price hike on higher programming costs and just days before it
went into effect there was a surprise that i did not see coming and we'll talk about that change
next number two unlimited cloud dvr if you watched my previous review you know that directv stream
used to offer only 20 hours of cloud dvr storage in the base plan and it gives you the option to
pay 10 a month for unlimited cloud dvr storage but now unlimited cloud dvr storage is included in all
plans no extra charge this is a big deal because the dvr was one of the biggest drawbacks of the
service when i signed up for directv stream again in early 2022 i went to my dvr recording screen
just to confirm that this was really true and you see it right here on the screen unlimited hours
although directv streams dvr includes unlimited storage know this your recordings are only kept
for 90 days and if you're recording a series a maximum of 30 episodes will be stored aside
from those limitations more fine print here on directv stream's website i noticed that it
says unlimited cloud dvr is only available to new customers but as a returning customer i was able
to get the unlimited dvr and i'm not sure what's stopping existing customers from just canceling
and signing up again leave a comment below if you have any idea now you may be wondering why exactly
is unlimited dvr storage such a big deal mainly because unlimited dvr storage has been youtube
tv's not so secret weapon and other services like hulu live and sling tv make customers pay more for
upgraded dvr storage and it's still not unlimited remember when i showed you that chart from directv
stream's website with the competitors let me put it back up on the screen i've got one more point
to make so here's my take i'm not sure that many youtube tv or sling tv users will have compelling
reasons to switch to directv stream at least not at this point but perhaps some hulu live customers
may want to switch and here's why hulu live raised its starting price in december 2021 the base plan
is 70 a month just like directv stream hulu live includes the disney bundle in that price
basic hulu disney plus and espn plus but hulu live makes customers pay extra for an upgraded dvr
and unlimited screens get both your bill goes up to 85 dollars a month
meanwhile directv stream includes unlimited dvr and 20 in-home streams no upgrades necessary
so if you've got hulu live and you pay for those add-ons you may be better off with another service
especially if you don't take full advantage of the disney bundle let's move on number three
user experience i've been using a roku ultra for my testing so let me show you some of the
settings and features that other services have left out not all of this is new but some of it
is when you launch directv stream it takes you directly to the last channel that you watched and
this is something i get asked about a lot for my roku i click the down arrow and you can then see
directv's home screen i want to focus on the live guide so i'll arrow to the left and click down to
expand it in the upper left corner you see the time and below that there are various filters
for the live guide including favorites watch as i navigate to a channel logo and press and hold
ok on my remote now it's added to my favorites list i noticed a change with the descriptions
from my last review when you highlight a program from the live guide a description will appear
at the top of the screen so as i scroll through channels the description area doesn't move much
better look here you can scroll to the right to preview upcoming content or just use the jump
today option click on any live program from the guide and you're taken directly to it
then you can arrow left and right from the live tv to channel surf other options arrow up to see
recent channels or click back to return to the live guide here's a throwback channel numbers i
get asked about this a lot too and it's a sorting option for this service along with alphabetical
and that brings me to directv stream's own streaming media player i haven't tried it but some
people really like this device it's optimized for directv stream and includes a number pad
which explains the channel number sorting option that i just showed you five dollars a month i've
covered the big changes pricing unlimited dvr and user experience but there's one thing that i wish
directv stream would have changed unfortunately not yet you could sign up for directv stream
online in just a few clicks but canceling not so easy when i followed the cancellation prompts
from my account settings i was directed to chat with a representative to finish up the
process the same thing happened when i tried the service the last time your other option is
to cancel by phone so it is not just a one-click cancellation which would be best for consumers
let's hope they change that in the future direct tv stream is not a service for cord cutters on a
budget in fact it has doubled in price since i first reviewed the service as directv now
back in 2016 but i still think that this service makes sense for a few types of people people
who want regional sports networks people who need unlimited dvr storage and nearly unlimited streams
and people who want a cable-like look and feel i don't know about you but i'm finding
the price of these cable 2.0 services harder and harder to justify because in reality some of the
best content these days is premiering on on-demand services like netflix hbo max and the rest but you
can still cut the cord and save money compared to cable watch this video to learn my strategy