HBO Go Asia is dead. All hail HBO Max Asia.

Yes, for the longest time, well, a couple of years anyway but it does still feel like a long time, Western audiences had HBO Max while the Asian locations were just stuck with HBO Go. While they may seem relatively similar, there were a few things that did had Asian audience look over at what Warner Bros. was giving to Western audiences and made us sneer with envy. Well, that’s all over now as Warner Bros. finally decided to kill of the Asian version of HBO Go and give us HBO Max.

Now, I was a subscriber to HBO Go but only because I previously had Discovery+ because my mom loves watching HGTV and Food Network programs. Sadly, Warner Bros. discontinued Discovery+ in the Philippines. As a consolation for ending the service well into my yearly subscription, they did give me a discount code for HBO Go. While I never really needed HBO Go before, I thought I might as well take the discount for a year and see if its worth it. Well, before my yearly subscription even ended, Warner Bros. ended HBO Go and transferred all accounts to HBO Max, mine included. So, yeah. I have myself an HBO Max account now.

But I still want to see if its worth it. Once again, the only reason why I have this HBO Max account is because I wanted my mom to have access to the HGTV and Food Network programs. And HBO Max does have those. So, is this weird roundabout way of reacquiring Discovery+, HGTV and Food Network shows going to be worth it all?

So, one thing I have to mention is the overall price tag for the HBO Max service. I will say it’s very competitive, at least when you compare the lowest tier subscriptions, the Mobile tier, to other streaming services in Asia, such as Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video. A monthly subscription for a single user goes for P149 Philippine pesos, which is around $2.52 USD. A yearly single user subscription is priced at P1,040 Philippine pesos, or $17.61 US dollars. That’s pretty affordable, I think. However, when it comes to “heavy users” just need to have full HD and 4K viewing experiences as well as those with families with a need to have multiple access to the same account, the pricing does become a little more absurd.

The programming also leaves much to be desired. I didn’t really use HBO Go that much because, simply put, there wasn’t much on it for me in the first place. Sure, HBO Max gives me access to HBO exclusive shows like House of the Dragon and The Penguin but I didn’t have a burning need to watch them even while they were available on HBO Go! However, I am grateful that I can finally start watching My Adventures with Superman, a show I’ve been wanting to watch for quite a while.

But this is where Warner Bros. decided to kind of skimp on the content. Only the first completed season of My Adventures is Superman is available on HBO Max Asia. The second season, which already concluded way back in July, isn’t. This also seems to be the case for the HGTV and Food Network shows my mom liked to watch when we had Discovery+!

Some programs, like Bargain Block, is distressingly missing from HBO Max Asia’s lineup. Sometimes, the latest show isn’t updated promptly and, what’s even weirder, some of the seasons aren’t available either! They will have something random like seasons five and seven for some Food Network program available but won’t have the earlier seasons or season six! What are you trying to hide, Warner Bros.?

The HBO Max app essentially building off HBO Go’s user interface and it does feel snappy… when you do get in. One of my issues with the previous HBO Go app is how slow it is to launch. You’re stuck on the logo for a good minute before finally getting ushered into the viewing experience. HBO Max also suffers from the same problem but it does seem to shave off a second here and there. Thankfully, I haven’t experienced it crashing at startup, which is what would happen to HBO Go before on my Google Chromecast. Hopefully, they worked out the bug which caused that before.

So, with all of the available streaming services available in Asia now, is there room for HBO Max? I would say it kind of depends if you’re already satisfied with the streaming services you already have. If you already have something like Amazon Prime Video or Disney+ and whatnot and you’re already spending a good chunk of your time actually watching the programs there, I don’t see the need for another streaming service. If you’re like my mom and really enjoy home improvement and cooking shows, I do say you should get HBO Max since the home improvement and cooking programs in those other streaming services weren’t cutting it for her.

Me personally? I can’t really justify paying for another monthly or yearly subscription to the ones I already have. Especially since I’ve had HBO Go for almost a year and I really didn’t use it all that much. I will keep the Mobile subscription to HBO Max for now… but it’s mostly for my mom. I guess I can say it’s my early Christmas gift to her?

Have you tried out HBO Max? What did you think of it? How does it stack up to the other streaming services you already have? Let me know in the comments section below!