One of the great features of last year's Pixel phones was the promise of unlimited photo backups at original quality to Google Photos. This differentiated from the unlimited "high quality" backups on non-Google phones. For the Pixel 2 and 2 XL, this feature is still available but with the small limitations that it's only for photos taken before the end of 2020. Any pictures taken after that will be backed up with the same "high-quality" option that other devices have.
Google used the same "for life" promise when discussing the original Pixels, but we've found out that's a little different from the Pixel 2. Android Police reports that any photos taken with the 2016 Pixels will still be uploaded in their original quality with no time restraints. Meaning the new three-year (or so) original quality limit put in place for the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL doesn't retroactively apply to the original Pixels.
It's a bit odd that the older phone gets a better deal than the newer one, but this is a nice gesture to people who bought the first Pixels expecting lifetime unlimited original backups.
Are you excited to still have unlimited original-quality photo backups? Let us know down below!
