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I recently got ahold of an original Google Pixel XL phone so I could upload my large collection of photos and videos to Google Photos without having to (repeatedly, permanently) pay for a storage plan. The battery has been recently replaced and is in great condition, and am planning to take steps to ensure its future endurance (only charging it to 80%, using a slower charger to reduce heat, etc.).

Another thing that concerns me, however, is the endurance of the storage. As some of you may know, flash storage can only be rewritten a limited number of times before it wears out and becomes unusable. (This is why typical, low-cost memory cards fail quickly when used in surveillance systems or dash cams, due to their repeated writes.) I specifically sought out a 128 GB model over the more typical 32 GB model because, by its nature, it has four times the write endurance (as the data now spreads out over four times the memory cells).

However, I'm wondering what exactly this write endurance is. How much data can I write to an original Pixel XL 128 GB before its storage chip eventually fails? In other words, how many terabytes of photos and videos can I back up using the phone before its storage fails and I have to get another one?

gparyani
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  • A good question. But I have never seen an endurance information for a smartphone. Also comparison between SSDs and flash in a smartphone is that you don't know how wear leveling is implemented. Some smartphones just do it in software or using a special file-system. – Robert Oct 17 '21 at 21:05
  • By the way are you aware that the unlimited storage plan is no longer that unlimited as it was if you want the original resolution? https://www.wired.com/story/google-photos-free-unlimited-storage-ends/ – Robert Oct 17 '21 at 21:10
  • Does this answer your question? Is it possible to know the wear level information of a phone, like SSD have with SMART? – alecxs Oct 17 '21 at 21:21
  • @Robert Original Pixels get free unlimited storage for life in original quality. Those are not affected by the changes: https://www.androidpolice.com/2021/06/02/how-to-google-photos-pixel-free/ – gparyani Oct 17 '21 at 21:37
  • @alecxs Not a duplicate. That one asks how to determine how much the storage has been worn out on a given device; this one asks what the overall life is on this brand of device. In this case, I want the info to be public information so others who're deciding if they want to go the same route as me can make an informed decision. – gparyani Oct 17 '21 at 21:46
  • This seems unrelated to Android. Flash storage (eMMC or UFS) chip is usually a part of SoC. But OEMs don't make such minor details available to public. Usually there are a dozen of hardware vendors involved in the manufacturing of a single phone device. So the task is to find the SoC and then eMMC model used in your device, and then find the specs sheet from the eMMC vendor to know the max P/E cycles. 3000 is a common figure you'll find in many specifications. But from my personal experience I don't think it's correct. – Irfan Latif Oct 18 '21 at 07:10
  • @IrfanLatif Questions about hardware that runs Android are on-topic. The second example there is about hardware in a specific Android device, and was deemed on-topic by a then-moderator in the answer. – gparyani Oct 18 '21 at 21:15
  • @gparyani Please don't encourage other people to take this route, it just reduces the stock of available devices and increases the likelihood that Google will find some loophole to end the program. Spoken as someone who just recently got a 128GB device for this very reason. – Michael Jan 15 '22 at 01:24
  • @Michael I'd say this question discourages others from taking this route, since it makes it clear that these devices have a finite storage endurance (and battery life) and will eventually wear out. If the answer is that it's on the lower side, it'd be even more so. – gparyani Jan 15 '22 at 02:39

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