Free unlimited Google storage with S9

[Theot]

Pics not as much. Video -- definitely.

Yeah, it makes me want to get a pixel 2, but I don't love the design of that phone and I don't need the P2XL and its drama. Maybe I should just suck it up and pay for more storage lol.

 

[Almeuit]

Yeah, it makes me want to get a pixel 2, but I don't love the design of that phone and I don't need the P2XL and its drama. Maybe I should just suck it up and pay for more storage lol.

Most people prob. won't mind the high quality. I have many friends that use it without much issue.

 

[B. Diddy]

Yes high quality photos/videos are compressed down some. Still usable but not the original quality.

I was thinking that @TMavC5 meant that if you choose "Original Quality" for backup, even those get compressed somewhat. Did I misunderstand that?

 

[Almeuit]

I was thinking that @TMavC5 meant that if you choose "Original Quality" for backup, even those get compressed somewhat. Did I misunderstand that?

Ah -- if he did then that is not correct. As per the support page from Google they are stored 100% at their original quality and that is why they take away from your Google Drive/Account storage.

Source: https://support.google.com/photos/answer/6220791?hl=en

* Limited free storage that uses storage in your Google Account. Check your storage here. If you go over this limit, learn how to buy storage.
* 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.
* Recommended for printing large banners

For the Pixel 2 XL you get unlimited Original Quality uploads for all uploads until Jan. 16, 2021.

If you have the Pixel 2, you get free unlimited Original quality storage for photos and videos uploaded from Pixel before Jan 16, 2021. After that, new photos will be uploaded at High quality for free. If you upload new photos at Original quality, it will count against your storage. Photos uploaded before Jan 16, 2021 will remain free at Original quality.

 

[TMavC5]

At the time this is where I got my information from. I didn't want to take any chance with my 4K video and photos.

https://www.phonearena.com/news/Goo...ts-the-difference-and-should-you-care_id93938

Most might not care, but for me it's important to me that I have my original video and photos.

 

[Almeuit]

At the time this is where I got my information from. I didn't want to take any chance with my 4K video and photos.

https://www.phonearena.com/news/Goo...ts-the-difference-and-should-you-care_id93938

Most might not care, but for me it's important to me that I have my original video and photos.

In that article he says the same thing as the Google source I linked.

Original quality:

Limited free storage (15GB)
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.

 

[B. Diddy]

@TMavC5, that article doesn't mention anything about Original Quality downgrading from the original source file -- it's all about the difference between High Quality and Original Quality. So as far as I can tell, Original Quality is still unchanged and uncompressed.

I just wasn't sure if your main point was that backing up in High Quality compresses the photo (which is definitely true) or that backing up in Original Quality still compresses the photo a little (which isn't the case). As I read your posts again, I think you meant the former, right?

 

[TMavC5]

@TMavC5, that article doesn't mention anything about Original Quality downgrading from the original source file -- it's all about the difference between High Quality and Original Quality. So as far as I can tell, Original Quality is still unchanged and uncompressed.

I just wasn't sure if your main point was that backing up in High Quality compresses the photo (which is definitely true) or that backing up in Original Quality still compresses the photo a little (which isn't the case). As I read your posts again, I think you meant the former, right?

Correct. Thanks for correcting. I made the switch a long time ago and haven't been paying much attention what was changed on Google end. It was the time, I wanted to be sure all my photos and video are saved in Original format larger than 16MP. I found my solution with MS One Drive so I made the switch.

 

[Ry]

Yeah, it makes me want to get a pixel 2, but I don't love the design of that phone and I don't need the P2XL and its drama. Maybe I should just suck it up and pay for more storage lol.

Doesn't first gen Pixel get unlimited original quality storage for life (vs. 2 years for Pixel 2)?

 

[Almeuit]

Doesn't first gen Pixel get unlimited original quality storage for life (vs. 2 years for Pixel 2)?

Correct. I believe they thought about it and decided to impose a limit. I'm glad it's a reasonable one.

 

[B. Diddy]

Doesn't first gen Pixel get unlimited original quality storage for life (vs. 2 years for Pixel 2)?

You're correct. I think I might have incorrectly said somewhere that the 1st gen's unlimited original quality backups would also stop at the end of 2020, so please disregard that. https://support.google.com/photos/answer/6220791

 

[arunma]

True, but then you have to worry about the SD card. SD cards don't last forever, and they're prone to corruption. I always recommend to people not to rely on an SD card as the sole storage for important information. Always back it up regularly to some more reliable storage, like an external hard drive (or two, if the information is really​ important), if you're averse to using the cloud.

Yeah I agree. While I store all my photos on my SD card, I periodically back them up to a hard drive at home. I also store them on Google Photos and Microsoft OneDrive because I've got no privacy-related issues with the cloud (I mean...who cares if creeps hack my photos of my wife's culinary masterpieces or my vacation pics?), but between the Google Photo's resolution downgrading and OneDrive's constant threats to revoke the extra free storage it gave me a few years ago, I feel safer having a physical backup.

 

[Almeuit]

but between the Google Photo's resolution downgrading

It only down grades if you select High Quality. If you select Original it won't.

 

[arunma]

Good point, and I did select this when. But how much storage do you get with original quality?

 

[Almeuit]

Good point, and I did select this when. But how much storage do you get with original quality?

Account starts at 15 GB. You can pay for more if need be (or if you have a Pixel 2 you get original quality uploads for free until Jan 16, 2020 which after that date any new original uploads count again storage again).

It is the same storage you have when you go to Gmail on the desktop and go to the bottom left and it says "You are using (X) of (Y)".

 

[arunma]

Account starts at 15 GB. You can pay for more if need be (or if you have a Pixel 2 you get original quality uploads for free until Jan 16, 2020 which after that date any new original uploads count again storage again).

It is the same storage you have when you go to Gmail on the desktop and go to the bottom left and it says "You are using (X) of (Y)".

Ah, OK, so we're talking the Google Drive storage. That's a bit of a problem for me, and for the dumbest reason. Back in grad school, for reasons that now elude me I decided to store my PhD thesis and all related research materials on my Google Drive, and blew through 8 gigs of my allotted 17. And now, years later, I don't have the heart to get rid of that stuff. So I've sadly got a much smaller Google Drive than the average Joe. Oh well.

 

[Almeuit]

Ah, OK, so we're talking the Google Drive storage. That's a bit of a problem for me, and for the dumbest reason. Back in grad school, for reasons that now elude me I decided to store my PhD thesis and all related research materials on my Google Drive, and blew through 8 gigs of my allotted 17. And now, years later, I don't have the heart to get rid of that stuff. So I've sadly got a much smaller Google Drive than the average Joe. Oh well.

It is pretty cheap. I pay for the 100 GB plan right now. Costs me $20 a year. I have a Pixel 2 XL though so right now photos isn't taking my drive space. Hard for me to complain on the $20 though for the stuff I have in Drive.

 

[arunma]

It is pretty cheap. I pay for the 100 GB plan right now. Costs me $20 a year. I have a Pixel 2 XL though so right now photos isn't taking my drive space. Hard for me to complain on the $20 though for the stuff I have in Drive.

Wow, $20/year is definitely not bad! For me at least, it might become necessary soon since I've got 34 GB of photos and videos on my SD card, backed up between my Google Drive, Microsoft One Drive, and Samsung Cloud. I think I'll look into this, because $20/year is a small price to pay to consolidate my photos and videos. Thanks for the tip!

 

[yarnsrj]

True, but then you have to worry about the SD card. SD cards don't last forever, and they're prone to corruption. I always recommend to people not to rely on an SD card as the sole storage for important information. Always back it up regularly to some more reliable storage, like an external hard drive (or two, if the information is really​ important), if you're averse to using the cloud.

Totally agree. My brother who, had years of pictures on his phone's SD storage, lost all of them when the SD card became corrupt. Lesson learned. I told him always back up to a hard drive, and/or cloud storage, which is readily available.