Nexus owners to get free unlimited original quality photo backup?

In addition to getting speedy updates and vanilla Android, the best perk of owning a Nexus is reportedly yet to come. According to an APK teardown from Android Police, Google looks set to introduce free “original quality” image back up through its Photos service, meaning Nexus users won’t have to decide between saving an original picture over high quality, the latter of which offers unlimited backup.

For most people, the unlimited backup option is a no-brainer since it provides an easy solution you can just set and forget; it’s the option I rely on to backup my camera roll on a daily basis. However, the high quality option does degrade the quality of pictures, even if they don’t exceed the 16-megapixel threshold imposed by the feature.

Because the Nexus 6P only has a 12.3-megapixel camera, why is free original quality backup such a big deal? Well, not only will your photos not be degraded by algorithms, but you’ll be able to back up 4K videos; as of now, users are only allowed to back up 1080p video through the high quality option.

What’s unclear is whether Google will extend this goodwill to photos not snapped by a Nexus device. Say a Nexus owner with the perk wants to upload photos taken with a digital camera that exceeds the 16-megapixel cap. Will they be allowed to upload the originals, or will they be uploaded in high quality?

Unfortunately, Android Police doesn’t have an answer. Regardless, it sure sounds like Nexus owners who utilize Google Photos will soon get a nice perk.