YouTube TV now supports 4K streaming, but it comes at a price
The new 4K Plus plan adds at least $10 to your YouTube TV subscription.
YouTube TV has been around for more than four years, but it's been missing a pretty key feature: the ability to stream in 4K. YouTube committed to fixing that in a blog post earlier this year, and now the company is making good on its promise. Starting today, YouTube TV will have a new add-on called "4K Plus." As the name suggests, it'll enable 4K streaming, assuming you have a compatible TV and streaming device. The 4K Plus add-on also includes the ability to download recordings from your DVR to a phone or tablet, a feature that should be pretty useful for people as they start traveling more this summer.
4K Plus also lets you stream YouTube TV from "unlimited" devices when you're at home. The basic YouTube TV package can stream on three different devices simultaneously, but if you have a large household relying exclusively on the service, this should make sure no one gets locked out.
Unfortunately, this all comes at a fairly steep cost. The 4K Plus add-on costs $19.99 per month, on top of whatever your existing YouTube TV plan costs. (Right now, the basic YouTube TV plan starts at $64.99 a month.) The price of YouTube TV has risen significantly over the past few years, and now if you want 4K, you're easily in the same realm as a comprehensive cable TV package. YouTube TV may have its own benefits over traditional cable, but pricing sadly is not one of them.
That said, if you act quickly, you can get a price deal on 4K Plus — YouTube is offering a one-month free trial to new users, after which you can sign up for $9.99 per month, a pretty good deal over the standard price.
The good news is that everyone using YouTube TV is also getting an upgrade in the audio department, as the service will soon support 5.1 Dolby audio, regardless of what plan you're on. There aren't a lot of details about how it'll work, though — YouTube says it'll "start rolling out to select devices over the coming weeks," but we don't know exactly what devices they're talking about.
