I have a Google Pixel XL 128gb that just died. It...

I have a Google Pixel XL 128gb that just died. It had 65% battery power and was on OEM charger. Screen went black and will not power on. Contacted Google Support. Google will replace the phone with a certified phone, but will not assist with recovery of my data. I have unlimited data via Verizon Wireless and do not have Wi-Fi at home nor at work. Could not find an option to allow phone to sync over cellular data.

I have lost 5 months of work images and memos. Google suggested that I back up frequently to Google Drive; after the fact. This does not help when I have over 30gb of information on my Pixel. What would have helped is a micro SD card slot on the Google Pixel / Pixel XL model line up. All other manufacturers of Android (OS written by Google) devices have micro SD card slots that are formatted to read upto 2TB!

Up until this incident, I loved....LOVED....my Pixel XL. However; the loss of my work information, not to mention my niece's 6th birthday pics & vids, is unforgivable. I have treated my Pixel XL like gold and it is in flawless condition (not so much as a scratch). Now I have to decide between Motorola, LG and Samsung (all devices I owned previously) for a new device after only 9 months of owning the Pixel XL. What I find so disturbing, is that the creator of the Android OS - Google - refuses to allow users to save their valuable data in any other source other than Google's Drive. I suggest future purchasers look long and hard at all options available when purchasing a new Android device.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: It is my belief that Google, like Apple, are purposefully refusing to develop the external memory slot feature on their devices in order to force users to pay for cloud storage space. This is a huge revenue stream for these companies. Imagine the profit being generated each month by over 223 million cellphone users in the USA (115 million Android and 93 million Apple) who must purchase cloud storage space. If only 1/10 of 1% of all users in the USA purchased the lowest cost additional cloud space, the revenue generated would be over 2 million dollars annually. Additionally, of the 2.5 billion smartphone users around the world over 1.8 billion of them use cloud space. If only 10% pay for additional space, this equivalates to over 2 billion dollars annually. Now we know why neither Google nor Apple want to allow customers to utilize an external memory option. #thingsthatmakeyougohmmmmm!