Nowadays, most Millennials can agree that one of their favourite pastimes is to sit in the comfort of our own home and binge-watch a good TV series.
With popular streaming sites making thousands of international and local shows accessible to us, we can now easily find time out of our busy schedules to enjoy some entertainment without needing to head to the cinemas.
There are many ways we watch our shows, but a popular method is simply through our phones because of how it’s always with us anyway.
But at what lengths do Malaysians go to in order to binge-watch their favourite shows?
We talked to a few Malaysians and found out 6 unconventional methods that they do to watch their TV shows. We’re also partnering with Samsung to find out what features from their latest flagship model, the Samsung Galaxy S10, would be helpful in their unique binge-watching ways.
1) “I like to watch my shows alone while eating out.”
Eating out is a very common Malaysian activity, because it’s become a part of our culture where we bond the best with our peers by eating together.
But even though it’s a nice activity to do in a group, sometimes there are moments when it can be prime time to catch up on our TV shows.
Chen, 26, mentioned that because of his career as a nomad journalist, most of his time is spent at home where there are many interruptions from family and work. So for his binge-watching sessions, he likes to go out to a cafe and enjoy his TV shows over good food.
“I’ve even rejected invites from friends to ‘yumcha’ and gone out to cafes on my own. It’s quite funny seeing the waiters give me funny looks when I spend about 2 hours at their cafe just staring at my phone,” shared Chen.
An S10 feature he’d appreciate: “The HDR 10+ is a pretty cool feature, because I’d love to watch my shows in a more dynamic display. Especially because Netflix added HDR10 certification for all S10 devices.”
2) “I put my phone on the sink and watch my shows while washing clothes.”
Chores can be a bore, that’s why most of us try to use that time to also play something entertaining so that it doesn’t become such a monotonous errand.
Kim, 29, finds washing her clothes more therapeutic now because she plays her TV shows on her phone while doing it.
“I like to hand-wash some of my more delicate clothing so I get it done now while also enjoying my show. I don’t even realise I go through a whole tub of my laundry by the end of an episode sometimes,” said Kim.
An S10 feature she’d appreciate: “The Infinity-O Display is what I’d enjoy because even if I put my phone far away, I can still get a proper full view of the whole show.”
3) “I purposely take longer routes to finish my episodes while driving home.”
Lily, 27, has an office commute of an hour because she lives all the way in Sepang, so to keep her journey entertaining, she enjoys playing shows on her phone while its on her car mobile holder.
“I know it sounds dangerous but I make sure to never actually play shows that have intense plots. I play more comedy shows because it’s just background music, just like those of us who play songs on Spotify while driving,” said Lily.
An S10 feature she’d appreciate: “The stereo speaker sound by AKG would be what I’d look out for because I rely a lot on my audio being clear to enjoy my shows while driving. Think that’ll help make my car feel like a moving theatre haha!”
4) “I play my shows while showering.”
Some of us are guilty in having our phones in our hands all the time. Luqmal, 28, has this habit to a point where he brings in his phone during his shower sessions.
“I’ve found ways to keep my phone in waterproof cases, even putting it in clear bags, so that I can put it near my shower area. My friends think I’m crazy for risking my phone getting water damage but I’ve had no issues with what I’m doing so far,” said Luqmal.
An S10 feature he’d appreciate: “Honestly, the fact that it has an IP68 rating makes it impressive to me because then I won’t have to worry about the phone not being water-resistant enough.”
5) “I focus better at work when I have my TV episodes playing in the background.”
Being a video editor, Reshnu, 29, finds herself stuck at her office desk most of the day. She often stays back in the office late to finish up work, so to keep herself occupied, she’s enjoyed having TV shows play in the background while she finishes up an assignment.
“I realised that I focus better at work when I have TV episodes playing in the background, probably because I like to play interesting documentaries that help my creativity flow. My boss has seen me do this and she has no complaints, because I get all my work done,” said Reshnu.
An S10 feature she’d appreciate: “The long battery life is what I’d appreciate because of the fact that my TV shows play all day, so I wouldn’t want my phone to be dead by the end of the day.”
6) “My friend and I download episodes on two different devices and sit side by side and press play at the same time.”
Ven, 31, and Elly, 27, enjoy the same type of TV shows so they try to find time in their schedules to meet up and watch these programmes together.
Because of circumstances, there’s no one location where they can enjoy watching their shows freely so they now dedicate a day of their week to meet up at different cafe locations so that they can watch together then.
“What we do is basically play the TV show on two separate devices (either phone or laptop) and then we press play at the same time,” said Ven. “It’s quite funny when one of us has a lag in our episode, so we download the episodes to make sure that no one’s ahead of the other.”
The S10 feature they’d appreciate: “Because of the fact that we watch our shows in a number of locations, the Dynamic AMOLED Display is great so that we can a great view of our screens always.”
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Based on these responses, it seems like some of us have quite interesting ways to make sure we’re updated with our TV series and it’s good that technology now has enabled us to enjoy this activity freely.
But now more than ever, it’s become crucial to have gadgets that can support this habit of ours. For those of us who enjoy watching shows on our phone, the S10 becomes a great companion that covers a variety of features that you’d look for when streaming shows on mobile.
With the Galaxy S10, it’s a device that TV show buffs should have for a mobile but truly cinematic experience. Its HDR 10+, Dynamic AMOLED, new Infinity-O Display, and Dolby stereo speakers by AKG features gives the S10 gorgeously vibrant and crisp images, which really makes it the closest thing to the cinema you could have.
- If you’re interested on purchasing a Galaxy S10+, it now comes with 1TB storage at a retail price of RM5,999 and entitled to a free Galaxy A9 worth RM 1,999 and Marvel’s superhero cover worth RM 159 upon purchase at participating Samsung Experience Stores and authorised merchants until the 5th of May.
- For more information on promotions for the Galaxy S10 series, you can click here.
This article is written in collaboration with Samsung.