diff --git a/include/grpc++/channel_arguments.h b/include/grpc++/channel_arguments.h
index 68f24cde4af..7b17830a86a 100644
--- a/include/grpc++/channel_arguments.h
+++ b/include/grpc++/channel_arguments.h
@@ -59,8 +59,9 @@ class ChannelArguments {
   void SetSslTargetNameOverride(const grpc::string& name);
   // TODO(yangg) add flow control options
 
-  // Set the compression level for the channel.
-  void SetCompressionLevel(grpc_compression_level level);
+  // Set the compression algorithm for the channel.
+  void _Experimental_SetCompressionAlgorithm(
+      grpc_compression_algorithm algorithm);
 
   // Generic channel argument setters. Only for advanced use cases.
   void SetInt(const grpc::string& key, int value);
diff --git a/include/grpc++/client_context.h b/include/grpc++/client_context.h
index 4bad20de42b..6b8d7211d1a 100644
--- a/include/grpc++/client_context.h
+++ b/include/grpc++/client_context.h
@@ -110,15 +110,12 @@ class ClientContext {
     creds_ = creds;
   }
 
-  grpc_compression_level get_compression_level() const {
-    return compression_level_;
-  }
-  void set_compression_level(grpc_compression_level level);
-
-  grpc_compression_algorithm get_compression_algorithm() const {
+  grpc_compression_algorithm _experimental_get_compression_algorithm() const {
     return compression_algorithm_;
   }
-  void set_compression_algorithm(grpc_compression_algorithm algorithm);
+
+  void _experimental_set_compression_algorithm(
+      grpc_compression_algorithm algorithm);
 
   std::shared_ptr<const AuthContext> auth_context() const;
 
@@ -179,7 +176,6 @@ class ClientContext {
   std::multimap<grpc::string, grpc::string> recv_initial_metadata_;
   std::multimap<grpc::string, grpc::string> trailing_metadata_;
 
-  grpc_compression_level compression_level_;
   grpc_compression_algorithm compression_algorithm_;
 };
 
diff --git a/include/grpc/compression.h b/include/grpc/compression.h
index dd7e1d0a125..913e553ba96 100644
--- a/include/grpc/compression.h
+++ b/include/grpc/compression.h
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ extern "C" {
 #endif
 
 /** To be used in channel arguments */
-#define GRPC_COMPRESSION_LEVEL_ARG "grpc.compression_level"
+#define GRPC_COMPRESSION_ALGORITHM_ARG "grpc.compression_algorithm"
 
 /* The various compression algorithms supported by GRPC */
 typedef enum {
diff --git a/src/core/channel/channel_args.c b/src/core/channel/channel_args.c
index d45898f2f44..c430b56fa2d 100644
--- a/src/core/channel/channel_args.c
+++ b/src/core/channel/channel_args.c
@@ -124,25 +124,25 @@ int grpc_channel_args_is_census_enabled(const grpc_channel_args *a) {
   return 0;
 }
 
-grpc_compression_level grpc_channel_args_get_compression_level(
+grpc_compression_algorithm grpc_channel_args_get_compression_algorithm(
     const grpc_channel_args *a) {
   size_t i;
   if (a == NULL) return 0;
   for (i = 0; i < a->num_args; ++i) {
     if (a->args[i].type == GRPC_ARG_INTEGER &&
-        !strcmp(GRPC_COMPRESSION_LEVEL_ARG, a->args[i].key)) {
+        !strcmp(GRPC_COMPRESSION_ALGORITHM_ARG, a->args[i].key)) {
       return a->args[i].value.integer;
       break;
     }
   }
-  return GRPC_COMPRESS_LEVEL_NONE;
+  return GRPC_COMPRESS_NONE;
 }
 
-grpc_channel_args *grpc_channel_args_set_compression_level(
-    grpc_channel_args *a, grpc_compression_level level) {
+grpc_channel_args *grpc_channel_args_set_compression_algorithm(
+    grpc_channel_args *a, grpc_compression_algorithm algorithm) {
   grpc_arg tmp;
   tmp.type = GRPC_ARG_INTEGER;
-  tmp.key = GRPC_COMPRESSION_LEVEL_ARG;
-  tmp.value.integer = level;
+  tmp.key = GRPC_COMPRESSION_ALGORITHM_ARG;
+  tmp.value.integer = algorithm;
   return grpc_channel_args_copy_and_add(a, &tmp, 1);
 }
diff --git a/src/core/channel/channel_args.h b/src/core/channel/channel_args.h
index 17321010c51..7e6ddd3997a 100644
--- a/src/core/channel/channel_args.h
+++ b/src/core/channel/channel_args.h
@@ -57,14 +57,14 @@ void grpc_channel_args_destroy(grpc_channel_args *a);
  * is specified in channel args, otherwise returns 0. */
 int grpc_channel_args_is_census_enabled(const grpc_channel_args *a);
 
-/** Returns the compression level set in \a a. */
-grpc_compression_level grpc_channel_args_get_compression_level(
+/** Returns the compression algorithm set in \a a. */
+grpc_compression_algorithm grpc_channel_args_get_compression_algorithm(
     const grpc_channel_args *a);
 
 /** Returns a channel arg instance with compression enabled. If \a a is
- * non-NULL, its args are copied. N.B. GRPC_COMPRESS_LEVEL_NONE disables
- * compression for the channel. */
-grpc_channel_args *grpc_channel_args_set_compression_level(
-    grpc_channel_args *a, grpc_compression_level level);
+ * non-NULL, its args are copied. N.B. GRPC_COMPRESS_NONE disables compression
+ * for the channel. */
+grpc_channel_args *grpc_channel_args_set_compression_algorithm(
+    grpc_channel_args *a, grpc_compression_algorithm algorithm);
 
 #endif /* GRPC_INTERNAL_CORE_CHANNEL_CHANNEL_ARGS_H */
diff --git a/src/core/channel/compress_filter.c b/src/core/channel/compress_filter.c
index 93b9b203e52..3d85ed41c5c 100644
--- a/src/core/channel/compress_filter.c
+++ b/src/core/channel/compress_filter.c
@@ -31,6 +31,26 @@
  *
  */
 
+/** Compression filter for outgoing data.
+ *
+ * Compression settings may come from:
+ *  - Channel configuration, as established at channel creation time.
+ *  - The metadata accompanying the outgoing data to be compressed. This is
+ *    taken as a request only. We may choose not to honor it. The metadata key
+ *    is given by \a GRPC_COMPRESS_REQUEST_ALGORITHM_KEY.
+ *
+ * Compression can be disabled for concrete messages (for instance in order to
+ * prevent CRIME/BEAST type attacks) by having the GRPC_WRITE_NO_COMPRESS set in
+ * the BEGIN_MESSAGE flags.
+ *
+ * The attempted compression mechanism is added to the resulting initial
+ * metadata under the'grpc-encoding' key.
+ *
+ * If compression is actually performed, BEGIN_MESSAGE's flag is modified to
+ * incorporate GRPC_WRITE_INTERNAL_COMPRESS. Otherwise, and regardless of the
+ * aforementioned 'grpc-encoding' metadata value, data will pass through
+ * uncompressed. */
+
 #include <assert.h>
 #include <string.h>
 
@@ -277,11 +297,9 @@ static void init_channel_elem(grpc_channel_element *elem, grpc_channel *master,
                               int is_first, int is_last) {
   channel_data *channeld = elem->channel_data;
   grpc_compression_algorithm algo_idx;
-  const grpc_compression_level clevel =
-      grpc_channel_args_get_compression_level(args);
 
   channeld->default_compression_algorithm =
-      grpc_compression_algorithm_for_level(clevel);
+      grpc_channel_args_get_compression_algorithm(args);
 
   channeld->mdstr_request_compression_algorithm_key =
       grpc_mdstr_from_string(mdctx, GRPC_COMPRESS_REQUEST_ALGORITHM_KEY);
diff --git a/src/core/channel/compress_filter.h b/src/core/channel/compress_filter.h
index 3a196eb7bf0..8d9c3ba697d 100644
--- a/src/core/channel/compress_filter.h
+++ b/src/core/channel/compress_filter.h
@@ -40,11 +40,7 @@
 
 /** Message-level compression filter.
  *
- * See <grpc/compression.h> for the available compression levels.
- *
- * Use grpc_channel_args_set_compression_level and
- * grpc_channel_args_get_compression_level to interact with the compression
- * settings for a channel.
+ * See <grpc/compression.h> for the available compression settings.
  *
  * grpc_op instances of type GRPC_OP_SEND_MESSAGE can have the bit specified by
  * the GRPC_WRITE_NO_COMPRESS mask in order to disable compression in an
diff --git a/src/cpp/client/channel_arguments.cc b/src/cpp/client/channel_arguments.cc
index b271650673c..92ac5ea6fd6 100644
--- a/src/cpp/client/channel_arguments.cc
+++ b/src/cpp/client/channel_arguments.cc
@@ -37,8 +37,9 @@
 
 namespace grpc {
 
-void ChannelArguments::SetCompressionLevel(grpc_compression_level level) {
-  SetInt(GRPC_COMPRESSION_LEVEL_ARG, level);
+void ChannelArguments::_Experimental_SetCompressionAlgorithm(
+    grpc_compression_algorithm algorithm) {
+  SetInt(GRPC_COMPRESSION_ALGORITHM_ARG, algorithm);
 }
 
 void ChannelArguments::SetInt(const grpc::string& key, int value) {
diff --git a/src/cpp/client/client_context.cc b/src/cpp/client/client_context.cc
index cc5f51d618f..c81f06186aa 100644
--- a/src/cpp/client/client_context.cc
+++ b/src/cpp/client/client_context.cc
@@ -79,13 +79,7 @@ void ClientContext::set_call(grpc_call* call,
   }
 }
 
-void ClientContext::set_compression_level(grpc_compression_level level) {
-  const grpc_compression_algorithm algorithm_for_level =
-      grpc_compression_algorithm_for_level(level);
-  set_compression_algorithm(algorithm_for_level);
-}
-
-void ClientContext::set_compression_algorithm(
+void ClientContext::_experimental_set_compression_algorithm(
     grpc_compression_algorithm algorithm) {
   char* algorithm_name = NULL;
   if (!grpc_compression_algorithm_name(algorithm, &algorithm_name)) {
diff --git a/test/core/end2end/fixtures/chttp2_fullstack_compression.c b/test/core/end2end/fixtures/chttp2_fullstack_compression.c
index 19658ed38f3..0a9a3122968 100644
--- a/test/core/end2end/fixtures/chttp2_fullstack_compression.c
+++ b/test/core/end2end/fixtures/chttp2_fullstack_compression.c
@@ -80,8 +80,8 @@ void chttp2_init_client_fullstack_compression(grpc_end2end_test_fixture *f,
   if (ffd->client_args_compression != NULL) {
     grpc_channel_args_destroy(ffd->client_args_compression);
   }
-  ffd->client_args_compression = grpc_channel_args_set_compression_level(
-      client_args, GRPC_COMPRESS_LEVEL_HIGH);
+  ffd->client_args_compression = grpc_channel_args_set_compression_algorithm(
+      client_args, GRPC_COMPRESS_GZIP);
   f->client = grpc_channel_create(ffd->localaddr, ffd->client_args_compression);
 }
 
@@ -91,8 +91,8 @@ void chttp2_init_server_fullstack_compression(grpc_end2end_test_fixture *f,
   if (ffd->server_args_compression != NULL) {
     grpc_channel_args_destroy(ffd->server_args_compression);
   }
-  ffd->server_args_compression = grpc_channel_args_set_compression_level(
-      server_args, GRPC_COMPRESS_LEVEL_HIGH);
+  ffd->server_args_compression = grpc_channel_args_set_compression_algorithm(
+      server_args, GRPC_COMPRESS_GZIP);
   if (f->server) {
     grpc_server_destroy(f->server);
   }
diff --git a/test/core/end2end/tests/request_with_compressed_payload.c b/test/core/end2end/tests/request_with_compressed_payload.c
index 0c1b065bd80..2599f796d22 100644
--- a/test/core/end2end/tests/request_with_compressed_payload.c
+++ b/test/core/end2end/tests/request_with_compressed_payload.c
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ static void end_test(grpc_end2end_test_fixture *f) {
 static void request_with_payload_template(
     grpc_end2end_test_config config, const char *test_name,
     gpr_uint32 send_flags_bitmask,
-    grpc_compression_level requested_compression_level,
+    grpc_compression_algorithm requested_compression_algorithm,
     grpc_compression_algorithm expected_compression_algorithm,
     grpc_metadata *client_metadata) {
   grpc_call *c;
@@ -133,10 +133,10 @@ static void request_with_payload_template(
   request_payload_slice = gpr_slice_from_copied_string(str);
   request_payload = grpc_raw_byte_buffer_create(&request_payload_slice, 1);
 
-  client_args = grpc_channel_args_set_compression_level(
-      NULL, requested_compression_level);
-  server_args = grpc_channel_args_set_compression_level(
-      NULL, requested_compression_level);
+  client_args = grpc_channel_args_set_compression_algorithm(
+      NULL, requested_compression_algorithm);
+  server_args = grpc_channel_args_set_compression_algorithm(
+      NULL, requested_compression_algorithm);
 
   f = begin_test(config, test_name, client_args, server_args);
   cqv = cq_verifier_create(f.cq);
@@ -256,7 +256,7 @@ static void test_invoke_request_with_exceptionally_uncompressed_payload(
     grpc_end2end_test_config config) {
   request_with_payload_template(
       config, "test_invoke_request_with_exceptionally_uncompressed_payload",
-      GRPC_WRITE_NO_COMPRESS, GRPC_COMPRESS_LEVEL_HIGH, GRPC_COMPRESS_NONE,
+      GRPC_WRITE_NO_COMPRESS, GRPC_COMPRESS_GZIP, GRPC_COMPRESS_NONE,
       NULL);
 }
 
@@ -264,16 +264,14 @@ static void test_invoke_request_with_uncompressed_payload(
     grpc_end2end_test_config config) {
   request_with_payload_template(
       config, "test_invoke_request_with_uncompressed_payload", 0,
-      GRPC_COMPRESS_LEVEL_NONE,
-      grpc_compression_algorithm_for_level(GRPC_COMPRESS_LEVEL_NONE), NULL);
+      GRPC_COMPRESS_NONE, GRPC_COMPRESS_NONE, NULL);
 }
 
 static void test_invoke_request_with_compressed_payload(
     grpc_end2end_test_config config) {
   request_with_payload_template(
       config, "test_invoke_request_with_compressed_payload", 0,
-      GRPC_COMPRESS_LEVEL_HIGH,
-      grpc_compression_algorithm_for_level(GRPC_COMPRESS_LEVEL_HIGH), NULL);
+      GRPC_COMPRESS_GZIP, GRPC_COMPRESS_GZIP, NULL);
 }
 
 static void test_invoke_request_with_compressed_payload_md_override(
@@ -296,19 +294,17 @@ static void test_invoke_request_with_compressed_payload_md_override(
   /* Channel default NONE, call override to GZIP */
   request_with_payload_template(
       config, "test_invoke_request_with_compressed_payload_md_override_1", 0,
-      GRPC_COMPRESS_LEVEL_NONE, GRPC_COMPRESS_GZIP, &gzip_compression_override);
+      GRPC_COMPRESS_NONE, GRPC_COMPRESS_GZIP, &gzip_compression_override);
 
   /* Channel default DEFLATE, call override to GZIP */
   request_with_payload_template(
       config, "test_invoke_request_with_compressed_payload_md_override_2", 0,
-      grpc_compression_level_for_algorithm(GRPC_COMPRESS_DEFLATE),
-      GRPC_COMPRESS_GZIP, &gzip_compression_override);
+      GRPC_COMPRESS_DEFLATE, GRPC_COMPRESS_GZIP, &gzip_compression_override);
 
   /* Channel default DEFLATE, call override to NONE */
   request_with_payload_template(
       config, "test_invoke_request_with_compressed_payload_md_override_3", 0,
-      grpc_compression_level_for_algorithm(GRPC_COMPRESS_DEFLATE),
-      GRPC_COMPRESS_NONE, &none_compression_override);
+      GRPC_COMPRESS_DEFLATE, GRPC_COMPRESS_NONE, &none_compression_override);
 }
 
 void grpc_end2end_tests(grpc_end2end_test_config config) {
diff --git a/test/cpp/end2end/end2end_test.cc b/test/cpp/end2end/end2end_test.cc
index c086d66a7c3..b3523b8330b 100644
--- a/test/cpp/end2end/end2end_test.cc
+++ b/test/cpp/end2end/end2end_test.cc
@@ -271,7 +271,7 @@ static void SendRpc(grpc::cpp::test::util::TestService::Stub* stub,
 
   for (int i = 0; i < num_rpcs; ++i) {
     ClientContext context;
-    context.set_compression_level(GRPC_COMPRESS_LEVEL_HIGH);
+    context._experimental_set_compression_algorithm(GRPC_COMPRESS_GZIP);
     Status s = stub->Echo(&context, request, &response);
     EXPECT_EQ(response.message(), request.message());
     EXPECT_TRUE(s.ok());
diff --git a/test/cpp/end2end/generic_end2end_test.cc b/test/cpp/end2end/generic_end2end_test.cc
index e9d86cc9f75..8fe0d6886a4 100644
--- a/test/cpp/end2end/generic_end2end_test.cc
+++ b/test/cpp/end2end/generic_end2end_test.cc
@@ -227,7 +227,7 @@ TEST_F(GenericEnd2endTest, SimpleBidiStreaming) {
   GenericServerContext srv_ctx;
   GenericServerAsyncReaderWriter srv_stream(&srv_ctx);
 
-  cli_ctx.set_compression_level(GRPC_COMPRESS_LEVEL_HIGH);
+  cli_ctx._experimental_set_compression_algorithm(GRPC_COMPRESS_GZIP);
   send_request.set_message("Hello");
   std::unique_ptr<GenericClientAsyncReaderWriter> cli_stream =
       generic_stub_->Call(&cli_ctx, kMethodName, &cli_cq_, tag(1));