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Google made a surprise announcement this week about the price of its cloud storage service. No, the price didn’t go up. Instead, the price of cloud storage dropped significantly so storing your photos, files, emails and more in the Cloud is going to be less expensive.
Soon users will pay less for cloud storage from Google. Google gives all of its users 15 GB of storage for free, and they’ll have options for more storage at a lower cost. The company is doubling the cloud storage amount to 2 TB at the same monthly rate it currently charges for 1 TB of storage. (1 TB = 1000GB)
By using a cloud storage service you may be able to protect your files in case your device gets lost or stolen, and save space on your phone, tablet and computer. So if you’re looking for cloud back-up of a lot of files, videos, full resolution photos, documents and more, this news from Google may be very good news for you.
Google Drive to Google One
Google is not only changing the price of its cloud storage service, it’s also changing the name of the service from Google Drive to Google One. If you already use Google Drive, your account will automatically be converted to Google One when the transition is made later this year.
Also see => 22 Amazing Announcements from Google I/O Conference 2018
New Storage Price and Options for Google One
Google One adds a new cloud tier of 200 GB. Storage tiers include monthly prices of:
- 100 GB for $1.99
- 200 GB for $2.99
- 2 TB for $9.99
The 1 TB option, which currently costs $9.99/month, is being eliminated by Google.
Learn more at => What Is the Cloud and How Can I Use It?
Other Benefits of Google One
If you’re on the fence about getting a paid Google One subscription, you may be persuaded to sign up because of other benefits Google One will include in its monthly fee.
Google One will also provide access to experts who can help you with other Google consumer products and services. So if you’ve ever wanted expert help from Google with Android, Gmail, Google Maps or the many other services Google offers, Google One may be the solution for you.
Google One may also pay for itself with deals on apps, music or other items in the Google Play store. Paid subscribers to Google One will also receive deals on certain hotels found on Google search.
The company has promised additional Google One benefits in the future. Will Google One soon be competing with Amazon Prime with the benefits offered to its subscribers?
Sharing Is Caring
Google One will be available for multiple family members. For example, if you sign up for the 2TB plan but don’t think you can fill all of that cloud storage space, you can share your Google One account with other members of your family.
According to Google, when you share your Google One account with up to five other members of your family, “everyone gets their own private storage space as well as the additional benefits of Google One.”
Google Photos
Google Photos offers unlimited storage of photos of “high quality photos” up to 16 MP and videos up to 1080p. By purchasing a Google One storage plan, you may be able to store all of your photos and videos at “original resolution”. This is helpful if you’re a professional photographer or take photos and/or videos that are at a very high resolution.
Note that people who take photos and videos with their phone cameras may not need the higher quality of original resolution on Google Photos. See, Huffington Post Does Google Photos Compress The Life Out Of Your Pics? Here’s What Our Experiment Revealed.
Will Other Cloud Storage Services Match Google One Pricing?
A big question raised by the Google One announcement is whether other cloud storage services will offer the same or better prices? Will Dropbox, Box, Apple, Microsoft and others try to compete on price? Even if they do compete on prices, will they be able to compete with the other benefits Google One offers?
We will have to wait to see whether a price war has begun. If so, we all may win!
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What Else You Need to Know about Google One
Google One will be available later in 2018 and will roll out to the US first, then to other countries. You can sign up to be notified when Google One is coming to your area at: Google One Blog.
Your Thoughts
Are you excited about Google One’s new pricing? Are the benefits of Google One attractive to you? What other benefits would you like Google One to offer?
Share your thoughts in the Comments section below!
Hi as a professional photographer with a huge collection of images I have struggled to find decent cloud storage so welcome this news. When you say you will be able to store higher resolution images and videos does that mean you will be able to store raw files ? cheers David
Hi David, Thanks for your comment with your excellent question. Google Photos does allow uploading of some RAW files. Here is the link to the support page for Google Photos explaining which RAW files can be uploaded to Google Photos: Google Photos Support page.
I hope this helps!
Thanks so much for the quick reply Carolyn. This is fantastic news as many of the cloud storage facilities I have found previously didn’t take raw.
Happy to help, David. Thanks for being a Wonder of Tech reader!
Hello
Carolyn,
Google drive is one of the best cloud storage services. Great to know that Google will change the name of the Google Drive to Google One. The new pricing of the Google One’s looks good and it is better than before. Happy to know that Google doubling the cloud storage of Google one’s to 2TB at the same monthly rate that they charges the same for 15GB.
I like its sharing option where we can share our Google One account with other family members.
Thanks you so much for sharing this information.
Have a grear day ahead.
Praveen verma
Hi Praveen, Yes, it’s great when the consumer benefits from announcements from tech companies. So often companies raise prices or slash benefits. But Google is adding benefits and cutting prices. How great is that?
Hi Carolyn, I read about this earlier today and it sounds great, especially the family sharing since my wife is getting close to her limit of 15gb. I still have my free 100gb plan until the two years end this coming fall, so this is great timing for me.
I had a Pixel phone for a year and used their one on one support chat and it was great. Doubt I would have a need for help with Drive, but this type of support will be great for newbies and switchers. Thank you for sharing this detailed information.
Jeevan Shetty
Hi Jeevan, Yes, even if you don’t need technical support, it’s great to have it available just in case you ever need it.
It sounds as if the family sharing part of Google Drive may arrive at a perfect time for you.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us, Jeevan.
Doubt I would have a need for help with Drive, but this type of support will be great for newbies and switchers Thank you for sharing this detailed information
Hi Bhumika, Yes, it would be great to never need tech support, but it’s always comforting to know it’s available!
This is great news, due to my line of work, I need to store massive files in my Google Driver and this makes me really happy.
Thanks for the information, Carolyn.
Hi Thomas, I’m so glad this news was good news for you. Enjoy the new benefits of Google One!