Unlimited original quality uploads to Google Photos was without a doubt one of the best perks of the early Pixel phones. The original Pixel had it, as did the Pixel 2 and Pixel 3. Unfortunately, we knew that perk wasn’t a forever bonus and that it would eventually come to end for those two phones.
The Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL are about to lose unlimited original quality uploads to Google Photos in two days, after January 16. If you haven’t been uploading in original quality through your Pixel 2 or have a trove of photos on a PC that needs to be backed up, you should hurry up and do that. Once January 17 hits, you’ll be switched to high quality uploads, unless you manually choose original quality and don’t mind filling up your Google One space even quicker.
For Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL owners, you have 1 year remaining on your unlimited original backups. Google Photos has started notifying Pixel owners of the future change, which will switch uploads over to high quality after January 31, 2022.
As a reminder, even though Google recently switched its high quality Google Photos backup policy to start counting towards your Google storage, the Pixel 2 and Pixel 3 are exempt from that. Once the original quality benefit goes away, Pixel 2 and Pixel 3 owners will still be able to upload for free in high quality.
// Google Support
Cheers Daniel!