It has been less than a month since Telegram’s owner approved the Premium version. And as of this week Telegram Premium is already a reality. This is a paid version available in regular apphowever, this provides extremely interesting advantages on paper.

However, at Xataka Móvil, we were not content with knowing its theoretical advantages and immersed ourselves in practice. We tried all the news this includes Telegram Premium and in this post we review them, giving our opinion on them and whether they are worth paying the 5.49 euros per month that this version requires.

We are ‘premium’ and others know it

In the purest style of verified Twitter, we can already see how it is as soon as we subscribe to Telegram Premium. a star-shaped badge appears next to our name. This is something that can be seen by others, and those who click on it will see in front of them a list of the benefits of being a premium user and the possibility of subscribing.

Obviously, little or no functionality is beyond “stand out” among others. The same thing happens when we observe that we are. three new icons for the app. One of them is in the form of a star with a colored background, the other has the classic logo of the application, on a black background with stars, and the other in a bluish color, where the Telegram logo looks like a rocket.

Continuing with the special visual elements, we should stop saying this. custom stickers that this version adds and although free Telegram users can see it, they won’t be able to use it if they don’t subscribe. These are the ones you saw in the previous shot, and despite the detail, they still look scant.

New 4GB limit, useful, but not for everyone

Every time we see how the limit for sending files increases in messaging applications. WhatsApp recently implemented the 2GB that Telegram had (and still has) to its regular version. In this ‘Premium’, They offer us up to double to get 4GB.

This limit isn’t bad, considering that beyond sharing with others, it’s a good way to send photos and videos from a mobile phone to a computer and vice versa. Again, not everyone will benefit from it, or at least not constantly.

It must be said that That’s not the only limit Telegram Premium has expandedbecause we also find the probability of writing 10 chats instead of 5, or a 140-character bios instead of 70. Finally, there are a few items doubling their limits, with a full summary of them all in the table below.

What is this bot? oh ok thanks

There are more and better bots on Telegram. They offer all kinds of utilities, from automating a news website feed to downloading TikTok videos without watermarks. However, it has (in our opinion) a function. should be standard and still only for Telegram Premium: Ability to add photos and videos showing how the bot works.

And in this paid version “What does this bot do?” Your information is allowed. Pictures and videos can be added better show the usefulness of the bot. This is an important utility, and especially in bots that are a bit more complicated to use, because the developer can better explain his work and the user can understand it faster and more visually.

Voicemails, we are not afraid of you

Who hasn’t received a voicemail and thought “how lazy”? And yes, we can have a lot of respect for a person, but Listening to your voices is not always good for us.. Either because we’re busy or because we don’t really have a chance to hear at the moment. With Telegram Premium, an option is added: automatically copies sounds.

As you can see, this transcription is faster the shorter the sound, the longer the transcription takes. final result displayed as another text message below the sound. And it also works very well with ‘buts’.

And the thing is, while it’s true that 99% understand this very well, dictation isn’t always perfect and can confuse words. Especially if they are in a different language than the language we are speaking during the audio. Similarly, it only detects the language in which we have configured Telegram, so even English cannot be copied perfectly unless we manually change the language.

Be as much as you can We give this feature a thumbs up. I have to personally admit that I’m a very fond of posting lots of voices throughout the day, so I think I can finally make up for my connections more than myself. However, I’m sure I’ll eventually find a use for it.

There is also a special news for Android (although there is no Android version yet)

At the time of publishing this article, we can only subscribe to Telegram Premium from an iPhone. At least officially. But Telegram itself confirms a special innovation for this system, and although it has not been able to test it, it sounds really good. This is a improved chat preview compared to the free version.

When? pressing and holding a chat we can see a preview of the conversation in addition, it does not leave the double check and therefore it would be as if we did not see the message. This is an action that has been available in the android system for years, but now its possibility scroll in preview This is something iOS Telegram has natively, so we don’t understand why it’s a ‘Premium’ thing on Android.

Other important functions in this Telegram Premium

Beyond what has been mentioned before, other minor innovations that make a good summary of the extra functions This is Telegram Premium and of course we tested it too.

• Special reactions to messages. Some of the most prominent are the dove of peace, the yawning emoji, the whale, a burning heart, and even a hot dog (we don’t know what it is, but really hungry).
• Moving photos, but always. And in this version Free Small video clips or GIFs can be added as profile pictures, but they will only appear if we enter them. With Telegram Premium this photo is always in motion for our contacts (whether they are ‘Premium’ or not).
• More power for group and channel administratorsAbility to manage all login requests individually and with options to accept or reject new members.
• Improved chat management To be able to make it open in a chat folder by default instead of the main view when opening the application.
• Animation when sending large files A very useful function to know the progress of the post as there are files over 2GB which are currently iOS specific and take longer to send.
• ad-free something in the channels that is not usually annoying in itself, but always worth thanking. And what’s more, considering that we pay in the end, this should always (or almost always) be tantamount to not finding ads in the content.

So is it worth paying for Telegram?

As always, we believe it depends on each of these questions. We will not be, or specifically a presenter, to tell someone what they should or should not do. But based on the tests, we can say the following. Telegram Premium will have a hard time getting followers at this price.

Personally, I consider myself a total Telegram enthusiast, to the point of WhatsApp being my primary messaging app. And yes, this paid version makes the free version even better. However, I have a hard time convincing myself that it is worth spending 5 and a half euros for it. functions that I wouldn’t use on a daily basis.

During these tests I found the possibility of duplicating sounds particularly striking, but I wouldn’t use it enough to make up for my subscription either. And more, it has tools that do it for free. And if that comes to me with the option I like best, imagine the rest.

Therefore, we will be clear, answering the question of whether it is worth it: Not worth it for the extras it offers.. Paying for a messaging app in the middle of 2022 comes as a bit of a shock to us at first, and while we can understand that they’re adding interesting functionality, we see them as insufficient. For 1.99 or 2.99 euros or the like maybe they have a place. So we will have to see how this Premium Telegram evolves and how it can make us change our mind.