I love YouTube Premium – but it still needs these 5 upgrades in 2026 to make it perfect

If you're a long-time TechRadar reader then you'll know that I've previously written about how great YouTube Premium is. It's probably the last digital subscription I'd give up, and that includes the likes of Netflix and my Google cloud storage – that's how much value I get from my £12.99 a month ($13.99 in the US, and AU$16.99 in Australia).

I won't go into detail again about everything that I love about YouTube Premium, but never having to sit through a single ad transforms the viewing experience – sign up for a free trial or test the service for a month and you'll see what I mean. Once you go back to the ad-supported tier, it's incredibly jarring.

There are a whole host of extra bonuses too, including the ability to download videos to devices for offline viewing, and ...