iflix, in partnership with Robi Axiata Limited, launched its subscription Video on Demand (SVoD) service in Bangladesh yesterday giving consumers an exclusive access to a vast library of regional & western content starting from award winning series, movies and documentaries.
Users can easily sign up for a 1 month free beta program via the website, www.iflix.com, to test out the service. As Robi is the exclusive partner, the subscribers will be getting three months of unlimited access to the service.
According to a press release, at launch many of the iflix’s popular movies and TV shows will be offered with Bangla subtitles in order to localize the catalogue in order to reach out to mass audience. I am wondering if dubbing will also be available soon in iflix. If done, jackpot.
iflix Android & iOS App
I downloaded both the iOS & Android app and have found a smooth experience on both of them. It’s fast, easy to use and the user journey is quite simple and nothing complicated. Once you’re in, you’re greeted with hundreds of movies, series and documentaries based on popularity & categories.
I tried out ‘The Flash’ & ‘F.R.I.E.N.D.S’ to see how accurate the subtitles in Bangla were and am quite impressed by the work that was put through. Not all the movies & series have Bangla subtitles added but with time this will surely increase. Common subtitles found in many shows are Indonesian, Malaysian, Sinhalese and of course English.
Users can also easy download movies or TV shows to any phone or tablet to watch offline when not connected to the internet. However, there’s an expiry for the downloaded content which will vanish after a certain period.
Subscription Offer
With one subscription, user can get access to 5 different devices which includes tablets, laptops, desktops, phone and also watch shows parallelly on two different devices.
For a month of unlimited access to iflix in Bangladesh, the monthly subscription is only BDT 300 and if an user opts for an annual subscription, it would only cost BDT 3000.
Anti-Piracy Feature
I wanted to take a screenshot of the Bangla subtitle while the show was running to post it here & also do a screen recording, but failed.
If you are looking forward to recording a show from this app, (call yourself a pirate then), bad luck bro. Only audio will be recorded and all you will see is a black screen. Good to see this app have this feature enabled beforehand when piracy is a big issue here.
Thoughts
Grameenphone recently launched Bioscope, an online TV app via which users can watch live TV and local series & movies as well. It already has gained much acclaim from users countrywide with its brilliant features but is limited to local content only.
With iflix in the market now by Robi, which mainly features foreign content with Bangla subtitles and also possible dubbing in the near future, only time can say which product will be the people’s champ.
In my personal opinion, having iflix now in Bangladesh is a blessing because firstly, you are getting access to your favourite foreign shows and secondly (most important) it’s legal.
The library is quite limited at the moment but for a start, its a good collection. To sustain, constant update of library is required as users will start demanding more.
Downloaded iflix yet? Let us know in the comments below regarding your experience.
