When our iPhone with a base storage of 64GB was running out of space, we decided to expand our Google Photos storage limit with Google One. When we discovered all the features of Google One, we renewed the subscription every month and it was indeed worth the price. Here’s everything you need to know about Google One and all of its features that were decisive factors in our case. Let’s start from the beginning.
What is Google One
Google offers 15GB of free-to-use storage for Drive, Gmail, and Google Photos put together. While this is still better than the measly 5GB of free storage that iCloud offers, it won’t be too late to exhaust the free storage, thanks to the ubiquity of Google’s services – most files, photos, and documents are shared through Google Drive and Google Photos. Google not only decided to offer a few options to expand the cloud storage but also bundled in a few more features for the price you pay. This package is called Google One. You can purchase the subscription for Google One and use all the features on any device, be it an Android device, an iPhone, a Windows, or a Mac machine.
Best Features of Google One
Here are some of the best features that Google offers with the subscription to Google One.
1. Google Drive, Gmail, and Google Photos Storage
Google One primarily offers additional storage for Drive, Gmail, and Photos. The storage options start at 100GB and go as high as 30TB of storage. The expansion of Google Cloud storage is especially helpful if you are using an old smartphone with low storage space. Even better, if you are using an Android device, all the photos can be backed up to the Google Photos app which also acts as the native gallery app in most cases.
2. Google One VPN
Recently, Google announced a VPN service in the Google One subscription. Well, Google One VPN is like any other VPN in terms of functionality. But since it comes from the house of Google, you can trust their claims of offering a secure and reliable VPN to browse the internet. Google One’s VPN hides your IP address and blocks all the trackers and also provides a dark web monitoring service. However, it does not let you change your virtual location like other VPN services to access region-specific content on the internet. But if you’re looking for a VPN that you can count on, you will certainly benefit from this feature of Google One.
3. Photo Editing Tools
With the launch of Pixel devices, Google announced the magic eraser feature that could accurately remove objects from a photo. But the feature slowly made its way into Google Photos and anyone could use the feature provided they have a subscription to Google One. Therefore, if you use Google Photos with the Google One subscription, you get access to a slew of additional editing features for photos. We are fans of these photo editing tools and regularly use them to enhance photos. Apart from the standard photo editing tools on Google Photos, here are the extra features you get on Google One:
Magic Editor: Remove unwanted objects with ease using this tool.
You have a bunch of options that let you adjust the overall lighting, vibrance, and brightness of the image with one click to completely enhance the photo.
4. Family Sharing on Google One
Sharing is caring and Google helps you abide by this motto with Google One. You can share all the benefits of Google One with up to five family members without any additional cost. You can share the pool of storage with your family members, and this certainly makes file and photo sharing easier.
5. Help From Experts at Google
With a Google One subscription, you get instant access to all the experts at Google. You can chat with an expert for your queries regarding any Google product and expect a response in two or three minutes. If you are using an array of Google products in your life, say a Chromebook, the latest Pixel device, and rely on Google Photos and Drive for file sharing, this feature is certainly a benefit.
6. Google Store Rewards and Credits
If you own a Google One subscription, you are rewarded with credits occasionally that can be redeemed in Play Store to purchase books, music, movies, apps, and games. Hence, if you find any exciting title on the Google Play store, credits earned through such rewards can help you complete the purchase without any cost.
7. Google Store Cashback
If you purchase any Google One plan above the 2TB storage option, you get up to 10% cashback as credits that can be used on the Google Store to buy any product. Indeed, a sneaky attempt to onboard you onto the Google ecosystem. However, the cashback is offered to an account once and is subject to an expiry date.
8. Hotel Deals (US Subscribers Only)
If you are a US resident with a Google One subscription, you may find some deals for hotels. You may find a discounted price on Google hotel search that states ‘One Member Price’ which is exclusive to Google One subscribers. That is everything you need to know about the best features and benefits of Google One. If they ended up tempting you, here’s how the subscription is priced.
Google One Pricing
Unless specified, you can avail all the features and benefits of Google One with any subscription plan. Here’s how they are all priced in the United States.
Is Google One Worth It
For all the additional perks along with the expansion of storage, Google One is certainly worth it. If you are using an Android device, backing up photos to Google Photos is seamless. However, the subscription will work best only if you are glued to the Google ecosystem or are around people who use Google’s services. We hope this article helps you make a choice! The above article may contain affiliate links which help support Guiding Tech. However, it does not affect our editorial integrity. The content remains unbiased and authentic.
