Weekly poll: how much storage do you use on your phone? Are microSD slots still important?

19 June 2022
Camera resolutions keep rising, phones can now record 8K video, mobile apps are becoming more complex - all of that takes up more and more space on your phone.

Sort by:

  • D
  • AnonD-844232
  • Cx@
  • 21 Jun 2022

Honor, 21 Jun 2022Just because you don't use up your 256GB, it does not ... moreEevery phone manuf has its own cloud and you can purchase storage quite cheap nowadays
Cinematographs will not use poor smartphones to do professional stuff but PROPER cameras and 4k or 8k video cameras .. Smartphone isn't for professional work .. it is for phoning and occasional holiday pics and videos..

    • D
    • AnonD-844232
    • Cx@
    • 21 Jun 2022

    Nick, 21 Jun 2022I, too, have years of memories that I wish to view on my ph... moreTell this to phone manufacturers especially iphones and flagship android phones.. Has no sd slot
    I have made phone finder filter smartphones from year 2020 sd card slot with 256gb and up and found only 30 phones which I don't want ..
    https://www.gsmarena.com/results.php3?nYearMin=2020&nIntMemMin=256000&idCardslot=2

    Sooo I have no option .. only go OTG .. I use enclosure where I can use many 256GBs ssds these are for free from scrap laptops .. just illustration and I like it ..
    https://imgur.com/tfcKXny
    https://imgur.com/0WgVsmo

      Frank, 20 Jun 2022More like you. You are simply spitting out senseless things... moreI'm talking facts. You are the ones who simply can't handle the truth and move on. But I guess it's easier to live in the slow past.

        • H
        • Honor
        • RIL
        • 21 Jun 2022

        AnonD-844232, 21 Jun 2022This is not happening every day my friend Normal people no... moreJust because you don't use up your 256GB, it does not mean that others do not. The world is very big, app sizes are different across the world. For instance, in China, apps use up a lot of internal storage. Messaging apps like Telegram and WhatsApp rely on internal storage to function, not the cloud like messenger and Facebook. Syncing and file-sharing services also use gigabytes of internal storage. Music libraries for people who have downloaded many hundreds of songs over the years takes up space as well. One 320kbps MP3 is approximately 10MB, images of today's smartphone cameras are 4 times the size they were when the first smartphones came out due to AI processing and enhancement. A .jpg on my phone's native camera with AI turned off is 5MB, and my phone is from 2017, so I can't imagine how much storage space today's phone takes up. Not to mention, Android itself is bigger and bigger every year.

        Another thing is that phone storage is flash storage, and flash storage works well only below 70-80% capacity. It slows down and affects performance once you cross the threshold because of the distributed way data is stored in the cells. So you're not actually able to utilize the full storage space unless you want the phone to slow down.

        These are some things that "normal" people use. I didn't even mention 4k images of videos that photographers and cinematographers use. Bottom line is, if everything is moved to external storage, then you are severely limiting what you can do on your phone. The point of a phone is to be more portable, so the data should stay on the phone for ease of access.

          • N
          • Nick
          • RIL
          • 21 Jun 2022

          AnonD-844232, 21 Jun 2022Am talking about large storage where is your entire sht do ... moreI, too, have years of memories that I wish to view on my phone. Currently on a 128GB phone with no MicroSD slot. The struggle is real, USB OTG is finnicky and cumbersome.

          A microSD slot is superior to OTG because:

          1. (Compact) Nothing is dangling on your charging port, you can travel around with just your phone and nothing else.
          2. (Practicality) You can charge your phone simultaneously.

          On the issue of data being lost, it can happen with any storage solutions, and OTG is by far the worst of them all. I myself have lost a few files here and there whenever the connection gets loose momentarily. To prevent this data lost, a sensible person would backup the data to long-term storage like an HDD.

          Don't forget, the main point of a MicroSD card is to let you VIEW your data on your phone, not STORE your data forever. You should always do external backups. But the backups are sitting there collecting dust and not able to be viewed on your phone whenever or wherever, whereas with a MicroSD, you can.

            • D
            • AnonD-844232
            • 39y
            • 21 Jun 2022

            YUKI93, 21 Jun 2022Oh yeah, let's bring more items in the pocket. Why bot... moreThis is not happening every day my friend
            Normal people not doing so much sht every day so you not gonna have phone internal storage full every day so?
            This is like once in 6 months or even once a year.. Again I don't need to carry it.. I don't go anywhere other than work..
            I said if you have phone full once in while you will copy sht to external storage at home. And you have empty phone storage again to make new sht in many years..
            You would have to be youtuber or journalists or whoever to have storage full every day..
            I was obsessed with sd card in past when manufacturers were making phones always with sd slot.. But I realised that mine sd card was empty all the time not used only for backup if I wanted to reset phones ro factory default that's was all..

            And one more thing. Have 10 years of photos in phone and one day you will lost phone you will lose 10 years of whatever you have in phone

              • D
              • AnonD-844232
              • 39y
              • 21 Jun 2022

              YUKI93, 21 Jun 2022Don't you realize that you are actually comparing a PC... moreAm talking about large storage where is your entire sht do you understand?
              Guy below said he had his sht from 10 years and that should be stored at home not on the go.. Am talking about this yes because i have internal storage of phone 256gb and that absolutely enough..
              I have only 50gb used and I have all stored in this ssd enclosure and leave it at home
              And when I am ready I have phone storage to make new sht.. Which mostly people don't do so much everyday.. Only exaggerating.. And then I can connect enclosure to my laptop or my desktop and my phone to I think you forgot wha OTG is.. 🤷‍♂️ I have even small usb c to micro sd adapter very tiny
              https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/275137567083?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=270rv_R-R7m&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=cpDMP2T2RX2&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

                AnonD-844232, 21 Jun 2022Don't tell me you don't have pocket or rucksack t... moreOh yeah, let's bring more items in the pocket. Why bother using only one accessory that can do the whole job brilliantly well and can only reside inside the phone without the need for a constant OTG connection. (/s).

                  AnonD-844232, 21 Jun 2022You really have no idea about prices right? Even cheaper £... moreDon't you realize that you are actually comparing a PC component to a mobile component? NVMe SSD is mostly used on PC and laptops while microSD cards can be used pretty much everywhere, even on a GoPro camera. Even Linux desktop OS can be installed and work properly on microSD cards, which further strengthens its flexibility. Apple can use NVMe because they soldered it directly on the motherboard. Wanna upgrade the storage? Buy a new iPhone.

                    • D
                    • AnonD-844232
                    • 39y
                    • 21 Jun 2022

                    YUKI93, 21 Jun 2022Speak for yourself. Here at my place, we often use local pu... moreDon't tell me you don't have pocket or rucksack to put such small ssd enclosure in
                    https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/393047072284?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=kBYMN9BdTX6&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=cpDMP2T2RX2&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

                      I have 256 GB internal storage in my Note 20 Ultra (down from 512 GB in my Note 9 which was half the price). So a 512 GB memory card is essential for me. I'm 30 so I have a lot of photos and videos and other content on my phone from the past 10 years that I've been using a smartphone and since Samsung shut down their cloud service, I don't have any viable option for storing media because both Onedrive and Google Drive don't have great sync features. This is the only feature which apple does better now and I really don't know why samsung shut down their cloud (except for non-media stuff).

                        [deleted post]Speak for yourself. Here at my place, we often use local public transportation more than cars.

                          AnonD-844232, 21 Jun 2022One 1tb micro SD is 200 bucks 1tb ssd nvme = 100 bucks So... more1tb ssd nvme = 100 bucks? Lol, not gonna happen. Even the cheapest one is still around $150, and you have to get an adapter for it. Plus, not all phones support OTG out of the box, so that further complicates the problem.

                            AnonD-844232, 21 Jun 2022Stop lolling like 12 years old boy maybe you are.. Oh so wh... moreSorry, I never use cloud storage. There are still lots of places with little to no internet connectivity, so I never rely on snail-like internet speed just to upload files for offline use.

                              • D
                              • AnonD-844232
                              • 39y
                              • 21 Jun 2022

                              YUKI93, 21 Jun 2022Just because you don't use it doesn't mean everyo... moreDon't tell it to me tell it to manufacturers which makes phones without sd support 🤷‍♂️

                                • D
                                • AnonD-844232
                                • 39y
                                • 21 Jun 2022

                                YUKI93, 21 Jun 2022Lol, I don't do that. Once I put the card inside the p... moreStop lolling like 12 years old boy maybe you are.. Oh so what's the point you have it there just to make you happy like 512gb internal storage isn't enough plus cloud 🤦‍♂️🤷‍♂️

                                  AnonD-844232, 21 Jun 2022Oh really? And iphones don't have it and majority peop... moreBecause they are forced by Apple's decision in the first place. If the likes of Samsung or Google do the same since day one, you are still going back to square one. So really, no one's winning when the company made the decision and you are forced to deal with it, not the other way around. Sony for example used to remove the headphone jack before for their 2018 and 2019 flagships. Did they continue doing the same in 200? No, they don't. If anything, they keep improving the audio quality. It's the same story when ASUS took out the headphone jack for the ROG Phone 3 in 2020. Not only ASUS bring it back for the ROG Phone 5 in 2021, but they also put a better Quad DAC audio than the one in LG V60.

                                    • ?
                                    • Anonymous
                                    • Kxf
                                    • 21 Jun 2022

                                    AnonD-844232, 21 Jun 2022No i wouldn't carry on.. And I wouldnt because I have ... moredude that's the reason oem want to disable sd card.so you can wear storage ufs limit faster by moving file from internal to external everyday...with sd card you can just directly saved you downloaded recorded video pict whatever to sd card so ufs internal memory can last long

                                      • D
                                      • AnonD-844232
                                      • 39y
                                      • 21 Jun 2022

                                      AnonF-1006353, 20 Jun 2022And btw microSD in a phone makes just as much sense as in a... moreOne 1tb micro SD is 200 bucks
                                      1tb ssd nvme = 100 bucks
                                      So no, i have external enclosure just for 15 bucks

                                        9 of 32