What's up guys, I'm back again! Today I'll be talking about Youtube Red, what you get, and if it's worth the price. So without further ado, let's get started!
Just in case you didn't know, Youtube Red is a subscription-based 'premium' youtube that you can pay $10 a month for. Right off the bat, the first thing I noticed is that the price point seems a bit steep for what you get, which I'll get into later.
Just in case you didn't know, Youtube Red is a subscription-based 'premium' youtube that you can pay $10 a month for. Right off the bat, the first thing I noticed is that the price point seems a bit steep for what you get, which I'll get into later.
Ad-free videos
I feel like this is one of those features that sounds really good and worth picking up on paper, but is ultimately unnecessary. Don't get me wrong, it's nice to have no ads on the videos I watch, but I have found that I've gotten used to the ads on youtube and just accept them as part of the experience. Besides, most of the video ads that are shown are skippable after 5 seconds anyway. And to top it all off, you can get Adblock Plus from the Chrome Web Store for free! Overall, it just feels like they are trying to monetize on us with a feature that is already offered for no cost whatsoever.
So, I'm pretty sure you already know what this is. Basically, it lets you play videos and music from youtube in the background or without the screen on with your mobile device. Another feature that can be obtained for free through other means. Hey YouTube, ever hear of SoundCloud? Well, they're offering this FOR FREE with their app. Why would I pay you to have this feature when I can just use a different (and far better) music application/service? See, here's the thing: the service that people will be gravitating to is the one that offers the best possible experience for the least possible cost. Why wouldn't you want to provide that to your users? After all, for people like me it takes far more than just brand recognition to get us to use your service. Plain and simple; if SoundCloud is the music app that provides the best experience, then that's the one that I'll be using from now on. Lastly, background play is a feature that was already in YouTube for mobile a few years ago, and they thought it would be a brilliant idea to strip it from the free version and lock it behind a $10/month paywall. I don't understand this behavior, it just seems greedy to me. Anyway, another feature that is not worth paying for at all.
Background Play
So, I'm pretty sure you already know what this is. Basically, it lets you play videos and music from youtube in the background or without the screen on with your mobile device. Another feature that can be obtained for free through other means. Hey YouTube, ever hear of SoundCloud? Well, they're offering this FOR FREE with their app. Why would I pay you to have this feature when I can just use a different (and far better) music application/service? See, here's the thing: the service that people will be gravitating to is the one that offers the best possible experience for the least possible cost. Why wouldn't you want to provide that to your users? After all, for people like me it takes far more than just brand recognition to get us to use your service. Plain and simple; if SoundCloud is the music app that provides the best experience, then that's the one that I'll be using from now on. Lastly, background play is a feature that was already in YouTube for mobile a few years ago, and they thought it would be a brilliant idea to strip it from the free version and lock it behind a $10/month paywall. I don't understand this behavior, it just seems greedy to me. Anyway, another feature that is not worth paying for at all. Save Offline
Finally, the YouTube Red service allows you to download videos offline and watch them later without a data connection in a resolution of your choosing. And I have to admit, I can actually see this being the main reason to subscribe to Red. Although it's difficult to predict how much use this feature will see, it is handy when you're away from home and don't have any wi-fi. On top of this, since people have created playlists for music albums, you can download any music you want with this feature, which means you won't ever have to pay for music as long as you stay subscribed to YouTube Red. Overall, this is a feature that at the end of the day, I can see the usefulness in.
On top of what's being offered in YouTube with this service, it also gives you Google Play Music Unlimited, which is basically Pandora One that lets you download and listen to any music you want off of Google Play. You also get ad-free stations and unlimited skips as well.
My Verdict...
YouTube Red is a paid service that seems to be worth the $10 per month at first, but quickly shows that it's not. Almost everything offered in this package seems trivial for the price, and it doesn't help that most of these features can be obtained for free with other applications. The only thing that saves it in my eyes is the Offline Play, but it certainly isn't worth paying full price for one useful feature. Altogether, stay away from this one. NOT WORTH YOUR MONEY.
Well, I hope you guys enjoyed this review, and have a great day!
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