Remember when YouTube Premium was called YouTube Red? Let’s all laugh together
Though the name has changed the premise of YouTube Premium is the same. More content, less ads.
The online community has been vocal about the incessant advertising on YouTube. There are countless memes detailing the daily struggle of watching not one, but two ads which equates to longer than the clip you’re after in the first place.
While this may be quite the first world problem, YouTube Premium offers a first world solution which may just be worth the money for heavy YouTube watchers. Below we take a look at everything you need to know about the platform.
- What is YouTube Premium?
- What do you get with a YouTube Premium subscription?
- YouTube Premium cost
- YouTube Premium free trial
- How much data does YouTube Premium use?
- How can I watch YouTube Premium?
What is YouTube Premium?
YouTube Premium is YouTube’s premium service. Please hold your shock and awe.
Premium aims to alleviate the pain points within the free service offering ad-free videos, downloads, background playback, and YouTube Music Premium.
It’s not rocket science. If you pay your subscription fee (blood money) you’ll get all the best parts of the YouTube experience without the rest.
What do you get with a YouTube Premium subscription?
There are four main benefits to a YouTube Premium subscription; ad-free videos, downloads, background play and YouTube Music.
Ad-free playback
Ads have become ubiquitous across the platform which in turn disrupts the user experience. Although most ads are less than 30 seconds long, if you’re an avid YouTuber those half-minute intermissions can really add up.
Video downloads
Downloading clips to watch offline is another feature similar to what you see on a Netflix or Spotify subscription. Saving videos to your phone allows you to minimise data usage when you’re out and about, which in turn can effectively help soften the blow of your phone bill.
Read our guide on how much data YouTube uses to see how much data you could save.
Background play
Another great feature is background play which lets your video and its accompanying audio continue to play while you use your phone, or you continue to not use your phone. Without this feature you really need to commit to watching YouTube on your mobile device, it’s that or nothing - but background play is a great feature that not only helps conserve battery life but lets you get more out of your YouTube experience.
Allowing the application to operate in the background can also help conserve data usage as streaming audio is far less intensive than streaming video. More on that later.
YouTube Music Premium
Lastly you’ll get access to YouTube Music Premium included in your premium subscription. YouTube Music Premium is ostensibly Google’s answer to Spotify and Apple Music. Alongside the audio of artists you’ll also get access to accompanying music videos.
Just like its other musical competitors, YouTube Music lets you create and share playlists, download music and will make suggestions based on your listening habits. Ordinarily this platform would set you back $11.99 per month, but instead is bundled with your regular YouTube extras.
YouTube Premium cost
The subscription model is similar to those like Spotify and Apple Music - a singular fee unlocks everything without exceptions. Other subscription services like Netflix, or Binge have tiered payment structures where paying more gets you higher definition content or more screens to use at the same time.
A YouTube Premium subscription costs $14.99 per month, although if you’re signing up through an iOS device we have seen subscription fees of up to $19.99 - thanks Tim. We would recommend for Apple users to sign up through a browser rather than using iTunes billing. Unless you want to pay more I guess.
Discounted options for students and families are also available starting from just $4.59 per user.
YouTube family memberships go for $22.99 per month and allow up to five family members to operate under your account. You’ll need to register your family members and have proof that you live at the same address. Not real proof of course, just the audacity to all write the same billing address into the registration form. Naturally we do not condone this. But I’m just a faceless writer behind a different screen, I can’t tell you how to live your life.
Student subscriptions cost $8.99 per month and require annual verification to make sure you’re still studying. In order to verify your student status you’ll need to upload a copy of your student ID, transcript, or other school-issued document that shows your full legal name and proves your enrolment.
YouTube Premium free trial
The platform offers a bunch of free trials with differing longevity depending on the device you sign up with.
As Google owns YouTube, the mothership tends to dish out extra free months for loyalists. At the time of writing, these were the free trials available on a handful of popular devices.
| Device | Free trial length | Subscription fee |
|---|---|---|
| iPhone | 1 month free | $19.99 |
| Google Pixel | 4 months free | $14.99 |
| Samsung Galaxy | 4 months free | $14.99 |
| OPPO | 2 months free | $14.99 |
| Desktop | 2 months free | $14.99 |
Note that these trial lengths should be taken with a grain of salt. In our testing we found seemingly innocuous variations in what free trial offer you’d get depending on email address and device used. All we can say for certain is that iPhone users would be better off hiding that detail.
Go on. Spin the wheel and see where you land.
How much data does YouTube Premium use?
When using background play on YouTube Premium, our testing revealed that the application uses just 8MB per hour.
Of course using background play is pretty similar to running an audio-only application which are all significantly less data intensive than those running video. Compared to the data usage when watching video on the platform, which can go so high as 2.7GB per hour, these figures are negligible.
Considering that you now won't need to leave your device open and playing videos to get those tunes, it represents a significant difference in data usage potential.
Read more about how much data YouTube uses here.
How can I watch YouTube Premium?
There are no limitations to how many devices you can be signed in on with YouTube Premium. Anywhere you use YouTube, you can log in and use your account to access all the benefits whether it be on your handheld device, desktop, laptop, or compatible smart TV.
Anula Wiwatowska
Offsite Editorial Lead | Instagram
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