What do you get with YouTube Red?
YouTube Red is a new paid-for streaming service, but what exactly do you get for your money?
YouTube Red is a new service that aims to transform the world’s most popular video-streaming site into a premium platform. For a fee, users will have ad-free access to their favourite YouTube content and the ability to download videos for offline viewing for up to 30 days.
YouTube Red is not yet available in the UK – but it is already live in the US and, oddly, Australia, New Zealand, Korea and Mexico. We contacted YouTube support to find out when the company is planning on making the service available here, but the company refused to comment. However, YouTube did hint that some time in 2017 was a possibility.
One of the advantages YouTube Red has over competitors such as Netflix and Spotify is that it crosses the dividing line of music and video. YouTube Red allows background playback too, so customers can use their mobile devices to stream music while using other apps. This immediately gives YouTube Red the biggest music library of any premium streaming service.
How is YouTube Red different to regular YouTube?
YouTube Red offers services that definitely appeal to regular YouTube users. Below is a list of all the services you get with YouTube Red.
- Ad-free videos and music
- 720p offline playback (for up to 30 days)
- Bespoke content from popular YouTube stars such as PewDiePie
- Access to 4K video
How much does YouTube Red cost?
The price of YouTube Red in the US is $10/mth. And while no UK price has yet been confirmed, we expect YouTube to follow in the footsteps of other major tech companies and match the sterling price to dollar. Our early prediction is that UK customers should expect to pay £10 per month for YouTube Red
YouTube Red is a latecomer to the paid-for video-streaming market and will be competing with Netflix, Amazon Instant Video, Now TV and Sky Q here in the UK.
Competitor prices:
- Netflix: £5.99-8.99 per month
- Amazon Video: £7.99 per month
- Sky Q: £99 setup fee + £44 per month (set-top box included)
- Now TV: £6.99-36.99
What do you get with YouTube Red: Verdict
If the £10/mth price is confirmed, YouTube Red looks a little expensive. Whether it’s worth it or not depends on how much you use, or plan to use, the service. After all, YouTube has a vast library of content, and being able to download some of this library without ads is a very good thing.
It all comes back to what you want from a paid-for YouTube subscription. In my opinion, Spotify is still the best option in terms of a music-streaming service, while both Netflix and Amazon offer much more polished video libraries. That said, the appeal of an ad-free and downloadable version of YouTube will be compelling to a lot of people.