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Google Pixel users / potential buyers: Important changes on Google Photos unlimited FREE storage you should know

Google Pixel 3 unlimited storage on Google Photos jilaxzone.com

Google giving demo on Google Photos Unlimited FREE storage

One of the benefits and one of the most sought features of buying and owning a Google Pixel phones is the capability to take photos and videos as many as you like without worrying the storage, that’s because Google is giving unlimited FREE storage for any photos and videos taken by Google Pixel phones to Google Photos – Google cloud storage for everything photos and videos.

But since November 2020, Google announced and has made some changes to its Google Photos’ unlimited free storage policy. The changes are impacting everyone – including you who are using Google Pixel phones.

So, without further ado, here are the important changes you should know as Google Pixel phone owners or potential buyers.

Google Photos: Original Quality vs High Quality

Before the important changes, you should first know the differences between original quality vs high quality so that you can make better informed decision.

Google Photos – No more FREE and Unlimited Storage for most but not Pixel users

Original Quality: All photos and videos are stored in the same resolution that you took them. Recommended for photos that have more than 16MP and videos with more than 1080p.

High Quality: Photos are compressed to save space. If a photo is larger than 16MP, it will be resized to 16MP. Videos higher than 1080p will be resized to high-definition 1080p. A video with 1080p or less will look close to the original. Some information, like closed captions, might be lost.

Google Pixel: Important Changes to Google Photos‘ Unlimited FREE Storage

There are so far 7 generations of Google Pixel phones, starting with the original Google Pixel and Pixel XL back in 2016.

Google Pixel ModelOriginal QualityHigh Quality
Google Pixel / XLUnlimited FREE StorageNA
Google Pixel 2 / 2 XLUnlimited FREE Storage until 16 Jan 2021Unlimited FREE Storage
Google Pixel 3 / 3 XLUnlimited FREE Storage until 31 Jan 2022Unlimited FREE Storage
Google Pixel 3a / 3a XLCount towards your Google Account StorageUnlimited FREE Storage
Google Pixel 4 / 4 XLCount towards your Google Account StorageUnlimited FREE Storage
Google Pixel 4a Count towards your Google Account StorageUnlimited FREE Storage
Google Pixel 5Count towards your Google Account StorageUnlimited FREE Storage

“Count towards your Google Account Storage” means any photos or videos uploaded, will eat up your account storage.

For your information, each Google Account (E.g.: Your Gmail account) comes with 15GB of FREE storage.

Google Pixel users & potential buyers, so how?

To owners of Google Pixel 3 and before, you can still enjoy unlimited free storage for original photos until the specified time. While after the specified time and for the rest of Google Pixel phone series, there’s still unlimited free storage for photos and videos uploaded in high quality mode.

Google Photos – this what happens if your Google Account Storage full

For me personally, Google Photos’ High Quality mode is still considered ok and even still more than good enough – where photos uploaded each can have size of max 16MB and videos uploaded each can have resolution up to 1080p.

What about you? Do you take / plan to take photos and/or videos bigger than what Google Photos’ High Quality mode offers?

For potential Google Pixel phone buyers, are you buying the Google Pixel phone?

Do give your comments and thoughts down below on the comment section.


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