its true vpns aren't a one stop solution but its better than nothing as long as you put in a little bit of effort on top of it. like the video you mentioned outlines, its actually a bit of a chore to maintain true anonymity but totally doable if you really committed to changing your browsing habits.
you can't know for sure of course but you can make reasonable assumptions based on vpn providers who have actually been put in the hot seat by governments (eg expressvpn) or have passed audits by 3rd parties (like nord and several others). my opinion is at least with a vpn you have a chance there's no logs. without a vpn you're guaranteed there's logs from your isp. easy choice if you ask me.