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You won’t get unlimited original quality photo backups with your Google Pixel 4
July 29, 2025
Every entry in the main line of Pixel smartphones has come with a nice perk: the ability to backup as many photos and videos as you want at their original quality throughGoogle Photos. However, theGoogle Pixel 4 and Google Pixel 4 XLphoto backup system won’t allow for this.
Instead, when your Pixel 4 backs up photos and videos to Google Photos, they will be at the same “high quality” (read: slightly compressed) that everyone else gets with any other smartphone.
Google confirmed the removal of the original quality backup feature toThe Verge. you’re able to also see the following fine print at the bottom of the Pixel 4 landing page atthe Google Store:
If you buy a Pixel 4, it comes with a free three-month trial forGoogle One, Google’s relatively new cloud storage service. Using Google One, you may backup any file from your smartphone with no data loss, which is what Google wants you to do for photos and videos going forward. Of course, after your three-month trial ends, you’ll need to pay to store those photos and videos, which you didn’t need to do with previous Pixel devices (aside from theGoogle Pixel 3a, which also didn’t have unlimited original quality backups).
Related:Google Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL specs: Flagship features, but no powerhouse
For the record, previous Pixel devices with unlimited original quality backups still have the feature. The original Pixel will never lose the ability to do this, the Pixel 2 loses the ability on July 29, 2025, and the Pixel 3 loses the ability on August 08, 2025.
Does this change your desire to buy a Pixel 4? Let us know in the comments.
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