Audible Review That You should Read
Audible is a highly popular audio-book membership. It is so popular that many people are not even aware of any other services in this class. It offers a large book selection and is a very well-though-out app which are 2 of the top reasons as to why it is rated as one the top-rated subscription services in this price range.
Information On The Membership
Audible offers a plan which offers 2 credits every month for just $11.48 per credit. The deal is great value, but due to the fact that you only receive 1 to 2 credits every month, you might just find that you spend your time navigating through the website in order to arrive at the very best deal.
There are many people who favor the unabridged and longer books to arrive at the most content that is possible for a single credit. Most users also agree that they spend a lot more time shopping on Audible before choosing an audio-book for downloading compared to other sites as they want to ensure they don’t waste their credit on titles they may not enjoy.
One of the best ways to avoid this issue is to use the Annual Plan options on Audible which offers immediate access to 12 or 24 credits, opposed to having to wait for a single credit every month. This particular option may seem costly upfront but is the best way to do away with buying anxiety for those committed listeners.
One of the stand out benefits associated with Audible is that while the other types of audio-book subscription websites only provide a way to borrow the books on offer, the books that are downloaded from Audible will be yours forever. Even if you decide to cancel the membership at any time, you are still able to access the books you have already downloaded through the app.
Amazon is the company that has owned the Audible app since the year 2008, but you won’t require a Prime membership in order to enjoy their services. However, if you make the decision to sign up for a Prime membership you are offered with exclusive and free content. The Audible website also offers a 1-month free trial. The process of cancellation is really easy and is the reason why it is highly recommended to try the trial out for those who have an interest in audio-book memberships.
The Store And Library
The stand out advantage of why Audible is recognized as one of the better audio-book membership services has to do with their massive store. Research has revealed that listeners really hold value in the ability to access the types of books that are really interested in reading over just about anything else and this includes above the price. Audible is the home to more than 180,000 titles, that is about double when compared to the inventories of any other current library membership services. This company is also renowned for its exclusive content and high-quality audio production
Audible also stocks the latest releases that come from most major-publishing houses. In a research that set out to test the overall quality of the service library, a list was compiled of the books which were the most popular in the year 2016. The test then searched for these books in all the stores. Audible featured 95% of these titles on this list, which was higher than any of the other reviewed stores.
However, it comes as a surprise that Audible on average is the more expensive service in comparison to other services. Even though $14.95 may sound like a fair price for 1 audio-book, you are unable to purchase more credits at this cost. If you decide you would like to purchase a 2nd book, the Audible website offers members a 30% discount from the listed price. After comparing other service providers, the store price on Audible is around $3 higher compared to most of the others.
Due to the fact that you are unable to purchase more credits at the price of $14.95, Audible is more suited for those who are only going to listen to 1 to 2 books in a month. If you listen to more, you can definitely find a more affordable or better suited deal elsewhere.
Easy To Use
Many users state that they really enjoyed Audible’s downloadable and free app. It is simple to navigate and well organized. In addition, the print is also very easy-to-read, while the settings are fully customizable. This allows for a way to adjust the variable-playback speed and the sleep-timer which means you can fit this app into your personalized listening style.
The Audible website does feel a bit clunky when it comes to browsing through the different titles, especially if you compare the site to the other services which display their book covers in a Netflix-like way which is much cleaner. However, even though the overall interface may seem a bit on the cluttered side, their search function is far more detailed compared to similar sites, which is really useful when it comes to finding a specific book that you are interested in reading.
In addition, each of the books offers a product-page which offers important information about the narrator, the length of the book along with essential reader and critic reviews. In addition, the Audible site also offers recommendations when it comes to similar titles.
While the website and app does a great job when it comes to making sure all the content you have downloaded is synced across all devices, Audible’s DRM (Digital Rights Management) protection has attracted a bit of criticism when it comes to a few consumers. It is the DRM that allows Audible a way to put limitations of the device numbers that you are able to share or play your audio-books on.
Other types of audio-book membership sites like Audiobookstore.com along with Audiobooksnow.com are both DRM-free. Over and above these limitations, Audible will still allow a way for you to share your downloaded books with friends or family. However, this will require an Amazon account so that you can register other members in the same household to this site.
Audible has also gone onto innovate the ways in which to listen to the audio books. For example, you may enjoy synching it to Amazon’s Alexa device, where you can then listen to any of the audio-books with more than one person at a time. The latest feature also now allows for a way to switch between the audio version and eBook of the books.
In addition, Amazon’s Whispersync for Voice is a tool that follows the audio-book which means you can even listen while you conduct your household chores as well as way to pick-up from where you last left off using your eReader before you go to bed at night. Even though the feature is regarded as useful, it is still regarded as a luxury as you will be required to buy your book twice, which will include the audio-book and then the eBook format.
Help And Support
Due to the fact that the majority of the audio-book memberships services happen to be digital, it is essential for these companies to offer a good return policy. The better services will allow for a way to return your audio-book if you find out that you accidentally bought the wrong type or when you find you are not enjoying the title you have just purchased after listening for a few minutes.
Audible offers a contract with users known as GLG (Good Listening Guarantee) that provides you with an easy way to return any of the audio books you feel you didn’t enjoy. While the stores that provide unlimited access when it comes to their libraries are regarded as better, the GLG promise is able to alleviate purchase anxiety and buyer’s remorse.
In a number of reviews, consumers mention that when it comes to returning an audio-book, Audible will ask a few questions on the title that is purchased along with the users account information. The book will then be removed out of the users’ library and the credit will be restored. The entire process is easy to do through their live-chat option.
Audible also offers a 24-hour customer service that is a lot more than many of the other service providers’ offer. The website offers phone number, live-chat and email contact information. The website also offers a comprehensive FAQs section along with a search function and user forums.
Conclusion
Audible is definitely the better choice is you know you can only listen to 1 or 2 audio books every month and you want easy access to a really large library. It offers great services with outstanding customer-support options, along with an affordable deal on their audio books. However, if you are the type of person that listens to more than 2 audio books and you don’t mind having fewer options, you might want to try one of the library-based free audio-book options like Hoopla, Overdrive or Playster on Netflix.
