Neestream Review: Should you subscribe to the Malayalam exclusive platform?

Neestream is an Indian subscription-based video-on-demand streaming service launched in 2020 by NeST Technologies Corp which is a part of US based firm JKH holdings. Neestream is the first global streaming service in Malayalam.

Platform supported by: Android, iOS, and Desktop

Download and Onboarding experience: The size of the Android app is 13 MB and the download experience is straightforward. .

Subscription Plan:

The subscription plans for Neestream are as follows:

What to expect:

Neestream has the following sections:

• All
• Originals
• LiveTV
• Movies

The ‘All’ section is divided into a carousel and widgets for the following:

• New
• Trailers
• Live TV
• Originals
• Trending
• Movies
• Short films
• Shows

The ‘Movies’ section is divided into a carousel of movies and widgets for:

• Drama
• Family
• Thriller

The ‘Originals’ section is divided into a carousel and widgets for:

• Documentary
• Instagraamam web series
• Neestream Music
• Talk Shows
• Crime Story

The ‘LiveTV’ section is divided into a carousel and widgets for:

• Entertainment
• News

Design and experience:

The design of the platform is simple and uncluttered, divided into a plethora of widgets. This makes searching for content from the widget of your choice effortless . The ‘See All’ icon for each widget, helps the user discover more content from a particular genre/category.

The ‘Movie Detail’ page has the following elements:

• Poster
• Language
• Certification
• Release Year
• Runtime
• Genre
• Synopsis
• Cast
• Crew
• Related Movies
• Buy option

The ‘Show Detail’ page has the following elements:

• Poster
• Language
• Certification
• Release Year
• Synopsis
• Season number
• Episodes

The ‘Live TV’ page has the following elements: 

• Language
• Related Channels
• Option to add to Favorite
• It features popular TV channels such as Asianet news, Mathrubhumi, MediaOne, Reporter, and Kairali

Recommendation Engine:

The platform does not account for the user's preferences and there is no recommendation engine to suggest any movies, shows, live content or songs to a user, based on their preference or watch history.

Search:

• Users can search for movies, shows, trailers and live TV
• The search displays relevant results . For instance, when the title ‘Aanum Pennum’ was keyed in, the title that appeared was a relevant result.
• The search suggests results when a few letters of the title are keyed in

Sign in/Sign up:

One can sign in or sign up at any point using:

• Email ID and password

Pros & Cons:

Pros

1. The platform has sections that are divided into widgets, thus making it easier for users to find the content of their choice
2. Neestream has a collection of its exclusive original content
3. There are various subscription options that a user can choose from
4. Apart from movies and shows, the platform also has Live TV
5. The UI is relatively smoother when compared to its initial rollout
6. It has a niche collection of critically acclaimed movies

Cons

1. There are no filters for genre, release year etc. which makes it difficult for a user to filter out content, based on their preference
2. There is no separate section for shows as there is for movies
3. The catalogue is not very extensive
4. The media player’s functionality is not as smooth as one would expect from a streaming service

Suggestion for the platform:

1. The platform can add IMDb ratings to the movie/show detail page so that users can make an informed decision while choosing what to watch
2. The catalogue can be increased so that users have more option to choose content from
3. It does not require a filter for ‘language’ as there is only one language available on the platform.

Why should one subscribe?

1. Neestream is the first global streaming service in Malayalam.
2. Neestream has their original content on the platform as well to stream

Rating:

Weighing the pros and cons, the platform is rated 6/10.

A Neestream subscription is recommended for those in search of a platform catering to Malayalam content which includes movies, TV shows, short films, and live news from popular Malayalam channels.