TheGoogle Onesubscription delivers excellent value for all your storage needs. You not only get the cloud space you pay for, but Google also bundles some handyGoogle Photos editing featuresand a safety toolthat monitors the dark webfor your personal details. Google One is a feature-packed service with many perks that go up well against Apple iCloud+. However, it doesn’t come without issues. Its real problem isn’t the feature list, but the storage options themselves.
Why the wide gulf?
There’s nothing between 200GB and 2TB
If you just purchased one ofthe top Android flagshipsand have been playing with its camera to take lots of photos and 4K videos, it is very easy to fill up the 200GB space. I give it no more than a few months, especially if you share the space with your family members. After hitting the ceiling, you will consistently see that red marker inGoogle Driveand Photos, with Google incessantly reminding you to either offload some stuff or buy more storage.
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But upgrading to a higher tier means your only option is to increase your storage space 10x and go all the way to 2TB. For home needs, there is a good chance you don’t need ten times the storageright awayand could easily go with, say a more reasonable, 500GB plan. This way, you also get the flexibility to upgrade your plan as you go over the months and years. But nope, you must pay for the 2TB plan even if it means that most of it remains unused for a very long time.
Google knows how tiers work
Professionals already get far more options
Google Drive isn’t solely used by home users for saving photos and videos. It is popular among professionals, freelancers, and small teams as well for storing large files and making use of Google’s fantastic sharing features. Google’s business offerings are often far more robust and fleshed out, and that’s exactly the case with Google One.
Beyond 2TB, there are several tiers starting from 5TB to 30TB. This is a much better system for content creators who could progressively jump to the higher tier as their needs grow. Unfortunately, Google isn’t as thoughtful about its lower-end users who use Google Drive and Photos for basic stuff. There is a wide gap between 200GB and 2TB that Google could easily fill and deliver the kind of value people actually want.
While many can do away with the 200GB plan if they use the storage saver mode for backing up their photos and videos, there is a whole section of users who could benefit from more tiers above that. While 1TB is an absolute must-have for people who don’t need 2TB of space, I reckon there should be a 500GB plan as well for people who need something to jump to after they fill up their 200GB storage.
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The 200GB plan costs $3 a month, while it’s $10 for the 2TB plan. That gives Google enough room to price the 500GB and 1TB plans at a much more reasonable $5 and $8 a month, respectively, with their annual plans saving you even more.
Google One’s competition
What are Microsoft and Apple doing?
Microsoft 365 offers a flat 1TB ofOneDrivestorage on its personal and family plans, but it is a far better value considering the company also bundles the Office suite with the plan. EvenApple iCloud+better caters to people with lower storage needs with a 50GB starter plan that costs just $1 a month — though iCloud, too, jumps straight from 200GB to 2TB.
Taking everything into account, Google has little incentive to offer more tiers between 200GB and 2TB when it can push people to pay for the pricier plan. However, if it does want to be the bigger brand, it could lead the way and introduce more granular plans that others aren’t as inclined to offer right now.
