[louzer]

It looks like the S9 and S9 Plus will have the same Google Photos perks as the Pixels!

[strikeIII]

It looks like the S9 and S9 Plus will have the same Google Photos perks as the Pixels!

It says high quality which is always free. But they didn't mention original quality. Hmm, one can only hope.

[B. Diddy]

I agree -- the distinction between "high quality" and "original quality" is very important here.

[Almeuit]

It looks like the S9 and S9 Plus will have the same Google Photos perks as the Pixels!

Original high quality is already available for every Android phone.

The Pixel phones gets unlimited original quality storage. .

That's the difference so no the S9 won't be getting the Google perks. It wouldn't make much sense for Google to give that perk to a competitor when it's one of the advantages to the Google phone.

[chanchan05]

I don't think they're doing the Google perks because Samsung has that deal with Microsoft. They're giving you 100GB on OneDrive, where you can store your full res photos.

[anon(5630457)]

Sorry bud. High quality photos mean it's actually at a lower resolution than the original photos. The Pixels get unlimited storage at original resolution.

[WSH90]

Well, the high quality is actually photos being compressed, preserving most of the detail (to a layman like me), while the original quality is the same resolution that you took them (according to Google).

[matther22xdroid]

Grab a 256gb or 400gb micro sd and you should never have to worry about the cloud!

[D13H4RD2L1V3]

Every Android phone with Google services has had the ability to backup an unlimited amount to Google Photos.

The difference is that on other phones, it is usually compressed in a lossy format that retains as much detail as possible without ruining the photo itself at up to 16MP and videos up to 1080p.

The Pixels have the ability to backup the original photos and UHD video recorded on the device without additional compression. It's lifetime for the OG Pixel and up to 3 years for the Pixel 2

[B. Diddy]

Grab a 256gb or 400gb micro sd and you should never have to worry about the cloud!

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.

[Almeuit]

Grab a 256gb or 400gb micro sd and you should never have to worry about the cloud!

Just have to worry about losing your device (or if it is stolen) then it is all gone! :P.

Seriously though -- use some kind of backup. Don't only trust on phone / in phone storage.

[zahernahhas]

Would be great

[TheGeekNextDoor]

If any of you use Plex for streaming media, you can use a plex server in your house and backup your photos and videos to your own server for the cost of running the machine. I push to google photos in high res, full res to my plex server, and full res to my microsoft onedrive account (because I have office 365). This gives me great piece of mind. I just wish microsoft had a decent photo experience. It is horrible and nothing close to what google offers.

The beauty of the plex solution is that if you use it for multimedia in your home, you see the photos and videos you took rather quickly on your big screen at home.

[Theot]

IDK, I don't see any big difference in quality with the original pics vs the high quality backups. They still look good to me. I've got blurry and blotchy pics and video from back in the blackberry curve days that look way worse so I happily accept the free storage.

[TMavC5]

I remember seeing VBlog somewhere, your original pictures/video will be reduced from the original.

[toneofark]

I remember seeing VBlog somewhere, your original pictures/video will be reduced from the original.

Will there be a visually noticeable difference?

[TMavC5]

Will there be a visually noticeable difference?

Most definitely if you have 4K TV and wanted to watch your video on a larger screen. I end up subscribed to Microsoft Office $69 a year and get 1TB OneDrive. Once its full, i moved them away from my cloud to my home Cloud.

[B. Diddy]

I remember seeing VBlog somewhere, your original pictures/video will be reduced from the original.

I'd be curious to know where you read this. The official site says specifically that the resolution is unchanged (although they don't confirm that there is no compression whatsoever): https://support.google.com/photos/answer/6220791?hl=en

[Almeuit]

IDK, I don't see any big difference in quality with the original pics vs the high quality backups. They still look good to me. I've got blurry and blotchy pics and video from back in the blackberry curve days that look way worse so I happily accept the free storage.

Pics not as much. Video -- definitely.

[Almeuit]

I remember seeing VBlog somewhere, your original pictures/video will be reduced from the original.

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

[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/Goog...u-care_id93938

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