Weekly poll results: 128GB is the new sweet spot for base storage, microSD cards still important

21 February 2021
A bit over two years ago 64GB was considered a fine starting point, but now people are aiming at 128GB and higher.

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Dometalican, 21 Feb 2021Bingo. It doesn't hurt people to offer it as an option... moreExactly. It doesn't make a phone anything worse when it has a micro SD card slot than when it doesn't, does it?

Same thinking to those people who are in favor of removing the headphone jack, and now it became a standard for all flagship phones to omit it, leaving audiophile users no other choice but to settle for an inferior wireless audio system or mess with the hassle of a dongle.
Because of the removal of the jack, people's $3000 wired headsets are now totally useless, like wtf?

I just hope Sony won't leave the Mobile Business for good. They're the only one left with having sensible minds to offer every necessary feature in a flagship phone today, and ironically still retain the IP rating that other companies claimed as the reason for doing such bogus tactics.

    AnonD-844232, 21 Feb 2021I believe soon or later android phone manufs will remove sd... moreClone is NOT as fast as directly switching the micro SD card from an old phone to the new one in like less than a minute, where it would take no less than 10 minutes to transfer a thousand or more GB worth of files through wireless connection.

    Do you even consider the other factors or are you simply embracing new things to be better just because they are new?

    We now have wireless audio devices, yet professional sound engineers still prefer to use wired audio peripherals. Why? Because analog is just so much more convenient and practical.

    It's not "forward-thinking" if you're leaving the others behind into consideration in all the things that you want to happen.

      Though I agree that people are moving towards 128 GB becoming the mainstream, with indications of 256 GB & 512 GB being the norm sooner after, I really do not understand if are storage systems becoming equivalent faster? Not that we are not moving to high speed storage systems like UFS, but are makers complying to the standard when implementing bigger storage, or are they cutting corners by using low-speed memory controllers because they are cheaper, but still marketing the 128/256 GB storage, though of slower variety? I get reminded of this because when USB-C arrived, I was greatly optimistic that storage systems will become faster too, however makers cut corners by implementing USB-C with USB 2.0 specifications instead of the USB 3.1 that we envisioned. Not that the chipsets cannot support the speeds, but makers are happy to skip that & go with plain old USB 2.0 not just for low-end but also for higher mid-range smartphones like Galaxy A51 / A71. I wish GSMArena reviewed that aspect of storage systems, both from in-built memory controllers to USB controllers & how makers are cutting corners in there.

        AnonD-844232, 21 Feb 2021I know expand storage but, when I take picture or short vid... more"Automatically uploaded in the cloud"
        -That is, if you're always in an area where there's an internet connection. Then again, what if you go somewhere far from the urban city and is totally out of reach of network providers? With micro SD cards, you can save a lot of files ANYWHERE you go, and storing them in the storage is just as fast, if not faster than cloud storage systems.

        "You can buy now cloud plenty GB for little money annually"
        -Little money is like half the price of a high-capacity micro SD card, and even then, you'll obviously pay more in the long run compared to simply paying one-time with a micro SD card.
        What if you stop paying annually? Your cloud storage will most likely be gone, while with a micro SD card, you can keep it for as long as you can, and most of them are very durable enough to last for more than decades, for as long as you handle them with enough care at all times.

        "You see iphone users magically don't complain"
        -Oh really? Last time I've checked, a lot of iPhone users still wish that Apple would consider having micro SD card slots someday. Also, they don't complain simply because they don't have a choice anymore. They've been complaining and asking for it since years, and they simply lost faith in Apple that they would ever listen to them.

        "Why would u keep movies on phone?? I watched movies only on my TV.. with proper sound"
        -Why not? Is it illegal to watch movies on phones? Spotify and Netflix can save locally downloaded movies straight to your micro SD card, and if you happen to have a 512GB one, then you can store so many of them and still have plenty left with your internal storage.
        You don't bring your TV in a train station or while sitting out in the park just to watch movies, do you?

        "Not many ppl spending time watching movies on phone... And today we barely stay offline .. we are constantly online"
        -And by not many, you obviously mean that there are still who do it. Just to give you an idea, more than 50% of the people in my country watch movies on their phones, especially when they're on the go, so I don't even know where your vague argument came from, lol.
        It's a given that it's better to watch movies on larger screens, of course, but when not at home or you occassionally wanted to watch movies while outside, then watching movies on a smartphone is a nifty thing that you privileged people sadly cannot appreciate. :))

        "And today we barely stay offline .. we are constantly online now"
        -That is, if everyone in this world actually has access to the internet. Not many regions have internet connection, let alone a fast and stable one, so the ability to have something downloaded offline and stored internally in a micro SD card is very advantageous to those who desperately need it, and even the ones who are always online can still benefit from using it, so why should micro SD cards go away?
        It's already obvious in the poll that many people still need the micro SD card slot on smartphones, and I don't see a problem with it, especially if it won't affect the usability overall.

        You don't need it? Then you don't have to use it. But leave the option to those who need it. Simple as that. SD cards will NOT go away even if the whole world becomes completely covered by internet connection.

          Shanti Dope, 21 Feb 2021Consistency is only an issue if you buy micro SD Cards from... moreBingo. It doesn't hurt people to offer it as an option. Don't use it? Fine, don't touch it. You don't HAVE to use it and it doesn't hurt you when you don't use it.

          Just like how I never use Dual SIM. Do I think manufacturers should remove it because 'I' don't care? No. That's being selfish.

            for me and most people im sure that we would like an sd card slot, like no one is gonna complain about having it but they don't care much about it - its nowhere near essential

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              • AnonD-844232
              • m5u
              • 21 Feb 2021

              Shanti Dope, 21 Feb 2021Consistency is only an issue if you buy micro SD Cards from... moreI believe soon or later android phone manufs will remove sd card from phones in near future.
              For transferring all sht from old to new phones you have phone clone nowadays.. Or backup phone into cloud .. then restore form the cloud...

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                • AnonD-844232
                • m5u
                • 21 Feb 2021

                Jhon998, 21 Feb 2021Wow inserting a micro sd card is so hard lol, anyway you do... moreI know expand storage but, when I take picture or short video it will auto upload into cloud...
                You can buy now cloud plenty GB for little money annually ..
                You see iphone users magically don't complain :)
                Why would u keep movies on phone?? I watched movies only on my TV.. with proper sound..
                Not many ppl spending time watching movies on phone... And today we barely stay offline .. we are constantly online now...

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                  • AnonD-940827
                  • 8pQ
                  • 21 Feb 2021

                  Rose killed jack! Get over it and move on.! Kids.

                    Anonymous, 21 Feb 2021Hey I remember you from Phone Arena, r u Note8isBoss, Note1... moreYes sir it all started from Note4Is Boss, to Note5Is Boss and S6EdgePlus Is Boss to S8Plus IsBoss to Note9Is Boss, Note10Plus IsBoss, Note20Ultra IsBoss, and my TabS2 IsBoss to my present time TabS7Plus 5G IsBoss I'm such a well known legend on the Android platform. Hope you are well 👍

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                      • Anonymous
                      • 7sq
                      • 21 Feb 2021

                      Shanti Dope, 21 Feb 2021Consistency is only an issue if you buy micro SD Cards from... moreOh C9a, I use SanDisk etc, and trouble in last few years. They now last so little before corruption in the high capacity cards, which use multi level flash. The levels drift over time, and even from other bits changing near it. I keep finding pictures slowly getting corrupted in recent years. On older flash not really an issue. Be careful. Demand 3D xpoint memory cards, write to Intel and micron. They last many times longer, many times better too. Wasted just on luxury desktop/server markets.

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                        • Anonymous
                        • YQC
                        • 21 Feb 2021

                        AnonD-844232, 21 Feb 2021For me micro SD card in pohne is totall obsolete.. When I h... moreI agree man, don't know why people are so obsessed with an sd card support, but it's their choice I guess. For me the phone storage is enough given that it's big which is common these days so Sunny find the requirement for an sd card

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                          • AnonD-844232
                          • m5u
                          • 21 Feb 2021

                          Anonymous, 21 Feb 2021Just because you do not use it does not mean it is useless.I said for mee pls read

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                            • Wayne
                            • 7sq
                            • 21 Feb 2021

                            What poll!

                            Who designed that? It could be that 65.8% of people voted for 256GB, because you had two categories of 256GB, and 79.18% want 256GB and above. Where dues 128GB come into it then? I want multiple terabyte myself, but wasn't an option. Maybe all those 512GB people wanted that, and most other people, but it wasn't an option?

                            Maybe more A than up to B, would be better. More than 64GB up to 128GB, for example. I think putting 128GB and 256GB in the same category confuses things. The people who want 128GB and those who want 256GB, are likely a lot different. 128GB is low for video recording 4k at quality, 256GB is better. You don't have to run to a machine as often to backup footage before your phone runs out of memory. 80mb/s is 144GB at four hours, but maybe 32GB of the 128GB is gibe in Google and app data and downloads, meaning less than 3 hours of recording space. You wish you bought your laptop for your phone backup on a holiday. "Quick kids, smile and act happy quickly, your father's on a time budget for the next week with his crappy cardless phone". Not saying all iPhones are crappy. But sure these guys that design these things might want you to backup all your data to the cloud, but they need some smarts, how much is it going cost somebody to backup 1 TB of video to the cloud. They need to allow people to write out their files via at least USB 3-3.2-usb 4 port full speed to an external direct connect drive with a adaptor power cable (to power the drive separately). Once we go 3D xpoint memory, they can dumped to continuously at very high speed, and lost unlike flash. Flash cards quickly start corrupting, so your one year old microSD card phone maybe in trouble.

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                              • Anonymous
                              • GQU
                              • 21 Feb 2021

                              Note20UltraIsBoss, 21 Feb 2021256 on board storage out the with sdcard support essential ... moreHey I remember you from Phone Arena, r u Note8isBoss, Note10isBoss,Note20ultra is boss??

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                                • Anonymous
                                • GQU
                                • 21 Feb 2021

                                256 for me, I do a lot of game emulators on my phone.

                                  Anonymous, 21 Feb 2021I agree. Never used mine. Can't beat the consistency a... moreConsistency is only an issue if you buy micro SD Cards from unknown and unreliable brands lol. None of my SD Cards have had issues with reliability even after so many years.

                                  Speed is definitely not going to match the in-built storage, but it doesn't really have to do so. The main purpose of external storage is for you to keep your personal files there and reserve the internal storage entirely for the whole system of your phone. In any case, wouldn't that actually help improve the speed of your device, as you're freeing up your internal storage? Besides, how much read and write speeds do you really need just to quickly access your photos and videos from the external storage? Even my non-UHS SanDisk micro SD Card is fast enough to handle 4K videos shot from my camera, and it has never corrupted any files ever since I began using it.

                                  Come to think of it, you can still use your phone perfectly fine even when it has a micro SD card slot, and you can just leave it empty if you don't feel like utilizing it. But you did not consider those who still have old micro SD cards containing their important files and they need to transfer them to their new phone, but they can't do so because the new one doesn't have any slot for it.
                                  A minimal sacrifice in speed for the huge benefit of reliability and convenience, but your so-called "evolved mindset" is favoring the hassle for the others just to get you satisfied, hahaha.

                                    AnonD-844232, 21 Feb 2021For me micro SD card in pohne is totall obsolete.. When I h... more1. Cloud storage is great in areas where the internet connection is always available and strong. How about those that are out of reach of internet connections? Or what if unexpected calamities occur and shut down all forms of internet connectivity in your area? Oh wait, you don't experience those problems since you're living in a developed country, so you shouldn't care about those anymore, right? Lol the level of privilege and close-mindedness.

                                    2. You don't have to frequently open and close your card slot when you have memory storage, so where did that vague idea came from? Obviously it's a made-up claim to make SD Cards seem like a bad idea altogether to support the inferior cloud storage system. Besides, having the option to expand the storage whenever you want or need to is an absolutely nice option, and anyone with a sensible mind would surely agree with it. It's funny to see how you're so negative about something that would actually help you in times when you don't expect to need such useful feature.

                                    3. Phones can still benefit greatly from having micro SD card expandability. You can transfer all your personal files there, like your photos, documents, music, etc. and then be able to transfer them immediately to another phone by simply swapping it out of your phone and inserting it to the other.
                                    Too inconvenient to you, eh? Since when was the last time did manually plugging in and out the micro SD Card became too much of a hassle for you? You should definitely get worked up sometimes, you know? It's not good for your health.

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                                      • Anonymous
                                      • sUS
                                      • 21 Feb 2021

                                      AnonD-844232, 21 Feb 2021For me micro SD card in pohne is totall obsolete.. When I h... moreJust because you do not use it does not mean it is useless.

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                                        • Freddy
                                        • uQ5
                                        • 21 Feb 2021

                                        Jhon998, 21 Feb 2021Wow inserting a micro sd card is so hard lol, anyway you do... moreI agree more with you for those who say micro sd card is obsolete will start to panic once their so call big 128gb or 256gb memory is almost filled especially these days media content is getting bigger not too mentok the apps & games. You need to pay more for storage option for cloud online what is data last minute is un assessable to end it additional micro sd card is bru helpful mostly for those who wanna offline huge memories media content.

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