Pictures will eat your smartphone alive. You may think you got a deal with that 500GB or 1TB monster storage but you will be shocked at how fast it’s consumed.

You’ve probably heard of Dropbox and maybe even considered using it to store all those photos and give your smartphone some breathing room. 

After all, it fills up fast. When you think about the cameras that come on these smartphones nowadays, including high-efficiency, ProRAW, Smart HDR, Live Photos, Scene Detection, and a massive array of other settings, they can take up space in a hurry.

Is Dropbox Good For Storing Photos?

Dropbox is good for storing photos because It saves all of your images bit for bit exactly as they were before you uploaded them to Dropbox. Other cloud storage services – especially free ones – will often significantly compress your photos to save space. 

Dropbox does not reduce the quality of your photos in any way so when you download them to your device again, the quality is just as good as when you took them. 

However, when you look at a preview of your photos on Dropbox, they may look as though they have been compressed. But they haven’t. Dropbox just serves a scaled-down version of your photos so they load faster.

Compared to other offerings out there Dropbox is a good choice for storing photos. You only start with 2GB, which isn’t much. However, you can refer friends and stack free storage or jump on a subscription plan, starting with 2TB for $10/mo.

One of the advantages of Dropbox is its referral system. Every friend you refer successfully gets you an additional 500MB of storage and you can work to max it out at 16GB. Sure, that’s a lot of friends but nothing in life is truly free. 

Dropbox also offers a few tiers in terms of its subscription service. The first tier is $10/mo for 2TB, which is pretty substantial if you’re just sticking with photos. The next tier is $17/mo and comes with the option to share the account with up to six friends and 3TB of storage.

Is It Safe to Store Photos on Dropbox?

Dropbox is generally safe to store photos. But a lot of how secure it is is up to you, make sure you are using a strong, unique password that you have not used for anything else, and use two-factor authentication. Many of the hacked accounts you hear about are from people who don’t follow these practices.

At the end of the day, Dropbox is a cloud storage service and there is no such thing as a 100% secure cloud storage service. Dropbox claims that its service is substantial in terms of security. Your cloud storage comes with SSL/TLS encryption, which is industry standard. 

They also require a login and an optional two-factor authentication (2FA). They also include web browser authentication. The 2FA option is something that everyone should go with. It may be a pain in the rear to get an email or text code but it’s the added layer of security you should feel comfortable about.

As it stands, the security that Dropbox offers is pretty decent and if you use the 2FA feature, which you really should, it essentially doubles the existing security layers. However, it’s not going to blow anyone’s socks off. It’s definitely not an armored tank of virtual security.

Related Article: Does Dropbox Keep Video Quality? (Explained!)

How Long Will Dropbox Keep My Photos For?

According to Dropbox, your photos will remain on Dropbox forever, so long as your account is active. If it’s inactive (as in, you haven’t paid the bill or accessed the site), all of your content is subject to deletion after a year is up. 

Notice that Dropbox uses the word “subject.”  That basically means that once your account is inactive for a year, all of your stuff will be deleted when Dropbox gets around to it. That might be a month or it might be a year.

What are the Disadvantages of Using Dropbox to Store Photos?

Dropbox is a pretty solid option if you really need some extra space to store your photos. However, the only truly secure option is to purchase a thumb drive. It will cost you less in the long run and you can keep it secured at home.

One disadvantage is the quality Dropbox serves when you want to view your pictures in their app. It’s pretty low-res and far from the quality you’d be expecting.

However, when it comes time to download your photos again they will be in the resolution you uploaded them to Dropbox in.

Another disadvantage comes with the free storage portion. Of course, they are offering a service, so no one should get too bent out of shape because they don’t offer a massive service for free. However, with only 2GBs of storage, you’re not going to get very far. 

The refer-a-friend option is pretty cool but not everybody has that option and most friends are cool about it when you bring it up and never use it themselves. Dropbox will also let you know up front that they can wipe your free account anytime they want.

Will they actually do it? Very unlikely, but you still mightn’t want that hanging over your head. The business side of Dropbox is a little on the costly side. If you want to save photos as a part of your business, it’s $15, $20, and $25 per month.

Bottom Line

Dropbox is not a bad alternative when it comes to cloud storage. If you’re an Apple owner, stick with iCloud as it’s fully integrated with Apple devices.

For android owners and professional photographers, Dropbox is a decent option, with plenty of storage if you decide on a subscription plan.