I attempted YouTube Premium Lite and I am by no means going again

Extra so than some other subscription service, I’ve by no means been extra conflicted about one than YouTube Premium. YouTube advertisements are horrendous; between non-skippable advertisements, pre-roll advertisements, mid-roll advertisements, and so forth., the quantity of promoting it’s important to sit by for a ten or 15-minute video is ridiculous. Absolutely, paying for YouTube Premium to take away these advertisements could be a no brainer, proper?

I’ve subscribed to YouTube Premium for a few months right here and there, however I haven’t been capable of decide to it long run. When the core YouTube expertise is out there totally free and I’ve no use for the included YouTube Music Premium service, paying $14/month to basically use solely half of the subscription’s performance is one thing I’ve had a tough time justifying.

Provided that, you may in all probability think about how Google piqued my curiosity final month when it introduced YouTube Premium Lite. For nearly half the value of the common YouTube Premium subscription, the Lite variant removes advertisements and nothing extra. There’s no YouTube Music Premium bundled in, no video downloads, and some different lacking options. However at simply $8/month, it’s considerably cheaper, too.

After making an attempt YouTube Premium Lite for a few weeks, I can safely say it’s the YouTube subscription I’ve been ready for.

As a lot as YouTube Premium Lite sounded prefer it was designed only for folks like me, the wording on YouTube’s web site made me barely anxious. Google says “most movies” are ad-free, however ads should seem on music content material, YouTube Shorts, or whereas searching/looking for movies. Whereas advertisements aren’t utterly eliminated in Premium Lite, for the best way I exploit YouTube, I hardly ever see them in any respect.

True to Google’s phrase, pre- and in-video ads in all non-music movies are nonexistent with a YouTube Premium Lite subscription. I primarily watch gaming, tech, film evaluate, and private finance movies (plus the common Good Legendary Morning episode). Throughout all of those video varieties, not as soon as have I seen a single advert earlier than or throughout playback. That’s exactly what I needed out of Premium Lite, and it’s absolutely delivered.

There’s been precisely one occasion the place ads performed earlier than a video, and that’s as a result of I used to be making an attempt to look at a music video on Twenty One Pilots’ YouTube channel. Whereas annoying, I very hardly ever watch music movies on YouTube, so getting advertisements earlier than one video out of 100+ others with no advertisements works out fairly darn nicely. I’ve additionally nonetheless seen sponsored movies in search outcomes, nevertheless it takes only a second to scroll previous these, in order that they’ve not been a hassle in any respect.

There’s not far more to say about YouTube Premium Lite. It doesn’t embody any particular options past eliminating most video advertisements, however that’s precisely why I signed up for it within the first place. It’s the ad-free YouTube expertise I’ve at all times needed, and at $8/month, it’s lots simpler to justify than $14/month for the common YouTube Premium subscription.

Whereas that works out properly for the way I exploit YouTube, you might use it in a different way. And if that’s the case, YouTube Premium Lite might not be practically as compelling. As pretty because the ad-free video expertise has been, there are just a few main lacking options with Premium Lite in comparison with the common YouTube Premium subscription.

From a price perspective, not getting YouTube Music Premium included is a giant deal. When you get pleasure from or don’t thoughts utilizing YouTube Music, having the Premium model bundled with YouTube Premium is an outstanding worth for $14/month. However in the event you’re like me and can’t stand utilizing YouTube Music, that will not have a lot of a bearing on you.

What could also be an even bigger consideration is the shortage of video downloads and background playback. Having the ability to obtain YouTube movies for offline use is a pleasant perk, and whereas it’s not one thing I exploit, not having that choice with Premium Lite could also be a dealbreaker for you.

The shortage of background playback has been extra of a nuisance. Once I had common YouTube Premium, the power to lock my cellphone and nonetheless take heed to a video (type of like a podcast) was a pleasant contact. I do often miss that comfort, however not practically sufficient to justify going from Premium Lite’s $8/month worth to $14/month for the total YouTube Premium expertise. And, in fact, splurging for normal YouTube Premium removes music video advertisements and different non-video advertisements you’ll nonetheless see throughout the YouTube app with Premium Lite.

As somebody who doesn’t use YouTube Music and is OK dwelling with out these additional YouTube options, Premium Lite works out completely. Nevertheless it’s vital to know what’s lacking from the service as a result of, in the event you do use these issues, Premium Lite could not make sense for you in any respect.

On the finish of the day, YouTube Premium Lite is the perfect YouTube subscription. A minimum of, in my eyes, it’s. All I need is to take away video advertisements for as low a month-to-month worth as doable. That’s what I get for $8/month — no extra, no much less.

However is YouTube Premium Lite the perfect YouTube subscription for you? All of it is determined by how you employ YouTube. Do you watch quite a lot of music movies? Take heed to YouTube Music? Obtain movies? Take heed to movies together with your cellphone locked? When you say sure to any of these issues, you’re a lot better off ponying up $14/month for YouTube Premium.

And when you have a household that you simply need to share your subscription with, there’s presently no household choice for Premium Lite. Six particular person Premium Lite subscriptions come out to $48/month, whereas the YouTube Premium household plan (which can be utilized by you and 5 different folks) is simply $23/month.

There are quite a lot of components to think about when deciding between YouTube Premium and Premium Lite. If it really works out that the traditional Premium subscription makes extra sense for you, nice! But when your YouTube utilization mirrors mine, Premium Lite is the best way to go.

YouTube Premium Lite is exactly what I’ve needed out of a YouTube subscription for years, and it’s one I’ll fortunately be sticking with for the foreseeable future.