Not even speaking about all the ads in the default YouTube app without a subscription.
The app is basically useless in my opinion. It defaults to freaking 240p for every video. My phone is definitively not the problem, also not the Internet connection. Watching in Firefox on the same connection gives me normal expected quality.
This was better on some “feature phones” without touchscreen!!! YouTube app works and playback is in 720p / 1080p
But this is a real issue. Video playback on my phone usually starts at 480p but on my laptop it starts at 1080p. Both are connected to the same network.
And how many pixels wide is your phone in the direction you watch videos?
Its a full HD screen same as my laptop (similar number of pixels but much higher pixel density for the phone)