Google Photos unlimited storage not for Pixel 3a

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vibecatalin

Senior Member
Jul 6, 2008
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97
Hello! I'm coming from Pixel 2 where I had unlimited photos storage at original quality untill 2021, on my Pixel 3a that option is gone. Where did you store the photos at original quality? Or are you happy with the high quality from Google?
 

sic0048

Senior Member
Jun 25, 2010
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Google Pixel 7
Google Pixel 8 Pro
The Pixel 3 series was the last phone that Google offered the free unlimited photo storage at original quality. Even the Pixel 4 series does not offer that benefit.

You have two choices: 1) save photos in high quality or 2) continue using unlimited storage and eventually have to buy more storage from Google.

Since the "High Resolution" option saves photos up to 16MP and the camera in the 3a is a 12MP camera, you should be able to use this option without any loss of photo quality. Videos will only be saved at 1080p, but honestly that is fine for archive purposes. If you need 4k for editing purposes, you are likely pulling that footage off the phone and not using the Google Photo version to edit with.

So unless there is some real reason you need videos archived at 4k, the "High Quality" option is completely fine with the 3a series.
 
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vibecatalin

Senior Member
Jul 6, 2008
1,033
97
Thanks for your answer, I've read that besides the limitation of 16MP the photos made with let's say 12MP aren't loseless. 1080p for videos it's ok for me, but with photos I like to have the original quality. In the meantime I've switched to OneDrive for backup. I have 40GB there.