How to Watch American Amazon Prime Video outside US

Amazon Prime Video, (previously known as Amazon Instant Video On Demand, Amazon Unbox, and LOVEFiLM Instant) is a video-on-demand service that’s taking over the world by storm. The service is available on a global scale, but its library is distributed unequally due to copyright reasons.

Amazon Prime Video’s US version is reported to be the richest one in terms of content. It might seem unfair to people in other regions, but we’re here to turn the tables. So, if you got a minute or two, go through this guide and learn how to watch US Amazon Prime Video wherever you are.

Unblock Prime Video Anywhere – Full Walkthrough

Amazon Prime Video is a global phenomenon, which is why we have a lot to talk about. You can find everything about the channel, its blocking mechanism, and how to get it on any device in this full review:

Prime Video – Global, yet Restricted

Amazon Prime is a very popular service around the world. In fact, it’s the second biggest channel after Netflix in terms of subscribers. As of April 2021, Prime has more than 200 million paid subscribers.

The channel was made available almost everywhere on December 14, 2016, except in countries such as Mainland China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, and Syria.

Now, when it comes to content, copyright deals play a very big role in what you get to access in your region. That’s Amazon Prime’s version of geo-blocking.

Once you launch its website or app, it’ll examine your IP address to determine your location, and accordingly assign you with a local catalog.

If you happen to be traveling, the content changes, and you won’t be able to access what was available back home – and vice versa.

For example, if you live in Canada and want to watch a title that’s only available in the US, Amazon Prime will present nothing but an error message that looks like one of these:

• “This title isn’t available in your location.”
• “Traveling? Some titles might be unavailable in your location.”
• “Traveling? Prime Video may look a little different while you’re out of town. Not to worry though, everything will be right where you left it when you return.”
• “Service Area Restriction. This video isn’t available due to geographical licensing restrictions. Error 4601.”
  

Fortunately, the steps provided above are more than enough to get you the US version of Amazon Prime Video in your country. Just follow them carefully and you’re good to go.

VPN 101 – Inside Virtual Private Networks

A Virtual Private Network (VPN) has the ability to reroute your internet traffic and make it seem to be coming from a different country of your choosing.

It all depends on the server you connect to. If you connect to an American server, you’ll appear to be browsing the web from the United States. Furthermore, once you connect, the VPN will encrypt your data, hide your IP address, and assign you a new one in the US.

As a result, you’ll be able to enjoy services and internet television that are restricted to the US. Expats outside the USA (Australia, Canada, UK, Germany, Spain, France, and Dubai) can also greatly benefit from the many advantages of VPN:

• VPN allows you to anonymously surf the web so that websites won’t be able to track your activity.
• VPN will encrypt all your online data and thus shields you from hackers and spies.
• The software will give you access to various geo-restricted services and applications such as American Amazon Instant Video, Hulu, US Netflix, Crackle and many more.
• You can easily change and hide your IP address using a VPN.
• Connecting to a VPN server can help you get around some of the restrictions that your ISP might impose on your browsing or streaming activities (Throttling, DNS hijacking, and transparent proxies).

Beware that some VPN services can hugely impact your internet speed. So be careful when choosing your VPN provider. You should also pick a VPN that offers excellent speeds for streaming. You don’t want to end up witnessing buffering notices every few seconds.

Prime Video – A Prime VPN Blocker

Before you choose the first VPN you stumble upon in your search results, you have to know that not every provider works with Amazon Prime Video.

Just like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video can detect and block VPN traffic. If the provider is not credible enough, its access can easily be terminated by the channel.

We tried dozens of VPN services, and unfortunately, most of them failed to get the job done. All we got during our tests is this proxy error:

“Your device is connected to the internet using a VPN or proxy service. Please disable it and try again.”

According to our VPN evaluation, Amazon Prime applies a strict VPN ban. However, we managed to find a couple of VPNs that unblocked the channel.

Express VPN, for example, completed the task on the first try. We didn’t witness anything out of the ordinary and the speeds were excellent.

The provider has dedicated apps for Mac, PC, Android, iPhone, and iPad to aid you with your VPN setup. While ExpressVPN is our top recommendation, we have to state that other providers showed very good results as well.

Take a look at the best VPN providers we have tested in order to watch Amazon Prime outside the US.

How to Unlock Amazon Prime Video using Smart DNS proxies

As mentioned in the introduction, a VPN isn’t the only way to bypass regional restrictions. Smart DNS Proxies grant you access to websites, services, and applications that are exclusively available in other regions of the world.

Unlike VPN, however, Smart DNS only redirects some chunks of your connection. Instead of downloading a VPN app, you need to configure your streaming device’s DNS server addresses.

The new DNS codes will be provided to you by your Smart DNS proxy service provider. Here are the main features of setting up Smart DNS on your streaming platforms:

• Smart DNS won’t affect your internet speed in any way. This is mainly due to the fact that Smart DNS does not encrypt your Internet traffic.
• It will allow you to retain your local IP address so that you can still access your local websites while unblocking geographically restricted services.
• Smart DNS grants you the ability to watch multinational streaming services simultaneously. This means you get to watch American Amazon Instant Video and UK’s Now TV at the same time without having to configure your DNS server addresses again.
• Smart DNS works on all devices. Whether you want to unblock channels on your PC, iPhone, PS4, Xbox, Android, or Apple TV, Smart DNS will help you do that.
• If your ISP implements DNS hijacking or transparent proxies, Smart DNS will probably not function properly on your devices.

All of the VPN providers we included in the table above offer Smart DNS proxies as part of their subscription. In the case of Unlocator though, you can save some money by subscribing to their cheaper ‘Smart DNS only’ plan instead of the ‘VPN + Smart DNS’ package.

Unlocator even allows new users to benefit from a free 7-day trial period without asking for billing details during the sign-up process.

How to Create a US Amazon Prime Account

As mentioned, with Amazon Prime Video, you can only use your account in the country where it’s created. In other words, if you want to watch Prime Video USA, you’ll have to create an American account. Here’s how to do it:

1. First, open your VPN and connect to an American server.
2. Launch your preferred browser and head over to Prime Video’s Website.
3. On the top right of the screen, hover over Accounts & Lists, then click on Start Here next to “New Customer?”.
4. Enter the required information and select Create Your Amazon Account.
5. Now, the website will ask you to solve a puzzle. Once you solve it, Amazon will send an OTP to your email address. Submit it and click Verify.
6. Next, enter your mobile number, submit the OTP sent by Amazon via text message, and select Create Your Amazon Account.
7. You’ll be redirected to the main page. Hover over Accounts & Lists and click on Account, followed by Prime.
8. Select Start your 30-Day Free Trial.
9. Enter your billing details and choose “Continue.”
10. Pick your Amazon Prime subscription plan and you’re done.

Please note that if you want to create a US account, you’ll be prompted to use an American Credit card. Since you might be abroad, which you are if you’re reading this, that’s something you lack.

Don’t worry, this is easily fixed. All you have to do is either ask a friend or family member in the US to give your his/her details or create your own Virtual US Credit Card. It’s up to you depending on which is the more convenient method.

How to Watch Prime Video on Any Device

With a US Prime Video Account and a VPN, you’ll now be able to stream the channel anywhere. Now, it’s time to show you how to get the service on any of your devices:

Android, iOS, PC, Mac, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Roku, Chromecast, Apple TV, Samsung, Sony, and LG Smart TVs

Amazon Prime Video – FAQ

Now you know how you can get Amazon Prime wherever you may be. However, there are more questions that need answers, and this section covers it all:

The Bottom Line

Did this comprehensive guide help you access US Amazon Prime Video from overseas? Did you run into any trouble during the setup process or were you able to get it up and running without any issues? Make sure you leave some feedback in the comment section below.