HDR Netflix comes to the OnePlus 7 and Huawei P30
One of the slightly confusing thing about phone specifications is that just because you get one with an HD screen and HDR, doesn’t mean Netflix will necessarily support them.
That’s thanks to the app’s use of DRM and other technologies to prevent piracy. As a result, every phone brand has to be individually certified to ensure compatibility before the upgrade is rolled out. And now Netflix has added HD support to 25 phones and tablets, along with HDR for six handsets.
The phones getting HDR are all reasonably recent. You’ve got the brand new OnePlus 7 and 7 Pro; the Huawei P30 and P30 Pro; the Honor Play and the Razer Phone 2. All six of these will benefit from more natural looking images.
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The 25 phones getting HD certification is a strange mix, combining handsets that are approaching their second birthday (Pixel 2, Pixel 2 XL) as well as the ones mentioned before in the HDR column which are fresh off the production line.
Three generations of Pixel now support HD content (2, 3, 3a), as well as five flavours of Samsung Galaxy A (A10, A20, A30, A40, A50). The Huawei P Smart Plus rounds off the list of HD smartphones.
Then there are tablets that now get the HD treatment – arguably more significant, given the extra screen real estate. These are the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, the 17-inch Samsung Galaxy View 2, the Honor WaterPlay 8, the Huawei MediaPad T5 10, the Huawei MediaPad M5 10 and its ‘Lite’ variant.
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Of course, having a certified device isn’t the only requirement. To get HD, you need to be on Netflix’s £8.99 per month ‘standard’ plan, and to get HDR you need to be subscribed to the £11.99 ‘premium’ version. On top of this, you need a 5mbps connection to run things in HD or a 24mbps one to get HDR.
Does this upgrade affect you? Let us know on Twitter: @TrustedReviews.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
