All the ways you can watch Amazon Prime Video on your TV
Amazon Prime/YouTubeThere are many ways to stream Amazon Prime Video on your TV.
- An Amazon Prime subscription includes access to a large library of video.
- Rather than watching Amazon Prime Video in a web browser, you can watch it on your TV in a number of different ways.
- If you have a smart TV, it almost certainly includes a Prime Video channel.
- Older TVs can get Prime Video through a streaming device, a Chromecast, or even by connecting your phone or tablet with an HDMI cable.
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Amazon Prime is Amazon's popular subscription service that gives members free shipping on many products in the store. But the subscription (currently $119 a year for most people, though there is a discounted student plan) includes a lot more than just shipping - you get a slew of discounts, streaming music, streaming video, and a lot more.
If you are an Amazon Prime subscriber and looking for ways to get your free streaming video on a television, you're in luck - there are a lot of options.
Smart TVs
First and foremost, most smart TVs - TVs with a built-in ability to display streaming services - support Amazon Prime. If you're shopping for a smart TV, you should make sure that it has an Amazon Prime channel built in - but virtually all do, making this step pretty simple. Brands like Samsung, LG, TCL, Toshiba, Sony, and more include Amazon Prime Video.
Streaming players
If your TV isn't "smart" - or if you have a smart TV that doesn't, for some reason, include Amazon Prime, you can add Amazon Prime Video by connecting a streaming player to your TV. There are a large number of streaming players available, and like smart TVs, virtually all include the ability to play Amazon Prime Video.
Amazon sells its own family of streaming players, all of which feature Prime Video - the Amazon Fire TV. In addition, you can look for any of the Roku players, an Apple TV, and others.
In addition, some home theater components have streaming video built in as well. If you are shopping for a replacement DVD or Blu-ray player, be aware that many of these disc players also allow streaming video like Amazon Prime.
Stream from a Chromecast
Google's Chromecast is a unique device that lets you wirelessly "cast" content from your phone or tablet to your TV. Like most ordinary streaming players, the Chromecast plugs into an HDMI port on your TV. But it then plays video (and other content) wirelessly from your mobile device. That means you can play Amazon Prime Video on your phone and "cast" it to your TV using a Chromecast.
Connect a phone or tablet to a TV
With the right cable, you can connect your tablet (like an iPad) or even your phone directly to a TV. For an iPad, for example, you need to get a Lightning to Digital AV adapter, which is available from any Apple store on online. For details on how to make the connection, read our article "How to connect an iPad to your TV in two different ways."
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How to connect your Roku device to a TV and set it up for streaming
How to connect your Roku device to the internet via a wired connection or WiFi