Despite a misleading quote, Google hasn’t dropped unlimited Google Photos backup for life on original Pixels

Ben Schoon | Oct 10 2018 - 8:09 am PT

With yesterday’s Pixel 3 reveal, Google confirmed that, once again, it would be offering unlimited backups on Google Photos for the device. However, it also seemingly backtracked on how long it would last for the original Google Pixel devices. Thankfully, that’s not the case.

One of the big selling points about any Pixel phone to date has been the fact that unlimited Google Photos storage is included with each device. Being able to back up every photo at full-resolution, even including 4K video is no small offer, and Google isn’t shy about advertising it. The original Pixel devices were launched with the promise of unlimited backup forever, meaning as long as the phone works, the backups work.

For good reason, many were surprised yesterday when a comparison table seemingly revealed that Google had silently slapped an end date on that offer of 2020. Reddit users quickly spotted the change alongside mentions of the Pixel 2’s end date of 2021.

Yet, Google isn’t changing its mind as Android Police has been able to confirm. Google quickly responded to the reference and clarified that both the original Google Pixel and Pixel XL would both continue to have unlimited storage forever. The page has since been updated as well, but the original text can be seen below.

Thanks for flagging. The reference to Pixel 1 and Pixel 1 XL was an error. To clarify, Pixel 1 and Pixel 1 XL customers will continue to have unlimited storage forever.