Flashback: the rise (and fall?) of the microSD card
- ?
- Anonymous
- I@H
- 05 Dec 2022
it has been a convenient necessity for me...
i already have some media ripped from my own audio CDs and DVDs...
i also swap it among my devices - audio player, digital camera, other phones, laptop...
there is no need to copy or transfer files and wait eternity via bluetooth or usb...
...
i do not understand why so much hate to people needing one though...
it is not as if it burdens one when there is that slot...
it is better to have one, though you do not need it...
than to not have it, when you need it...
especially when an sdcard slot needs only a very small space... that even giant phones got rid of...
...
but, yeah, eventually people will get what most people let happen...
so, for those who needs microsd card like me, i guess we need external card readers... ha ha... ye, so inconvenient... for future proofing... which is a dark future... sadly, for us...
but as for now, i will never buy a work or personal phone that does not have it...
- ?
- Anonymous
- eBv
- 05 Dec 2022
my s22u fell into water and wouldn't charge via USB. brought it down to a samsung repair shop and got a loaner phone as replacement while my phone was being repaired. No issue there, great samsung customer service.
immediately started up backup and restore to transfer everything from my phone to the loan phone. 1hr 45 mins was the transfer time.
couldn't wait that long, stood in line for 30 mins before i gave up.
lost all my photos except those that were backed up onto google cloud with reduced quality.
wouldn't have lost everything if my phone had a micro sd card slot.
- k
- kevinmcmurtrie
- kN%
- 05 Dec 2022
https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/179412245
Google intentionally broke microSD access about the time they raised prices on Google Cloud storage. Not only was access restricted, but the latency was pushed up into floppy disk territory. File utilities broke forever. Apps that use a lot of storage, like maps, lock up from the 10000x higher latency. Apps I paid for stopped working.
Getting fast access requires special permission from Google, which they won't grant just because their API is broken, or leaving the Google ecosystem. Some apps moved to F-Droid and lost the revenue that keeps them going.
I was hoping this would finally break Google's monopoly but now phone makers are dumbing down their phones to make Google happy. No more headphone jack (Google wants Bluetooth scanning on) and it's rare to see a new phone with more than 256GB storage regardless of cost.
Phone makers should quit whining about poor sales when they're all making exactly the same boring phone. Yeah, Sony still has the microSD slot, headphone jack, and beautiful hardware but their engineering quality is dreadful. Sony can't even be assed to make their regional phones work with the regional carriers.
- p
- potato4k
- vgM
- 05 Dec 2022
lottery248, 05 Dec 2022for phones optimised for cameras and/or music, there is no ... moreMajority of people are streaming music.
With HEIF and Google Photos, you don't even need that much storage for taking pictures.
I can only think one purpose for microSD, ie if you are a pirate, having many pirated games and emulators.
- p
- potato4k
- vgM
- 05 Dec 2022
With cheap Android now have 128GB and mid rangers have 256GB internal storage, not sure why people still need an old and slow microSD. MicroSD was a good fallback when internal SSD was still expensive and slow. But that's not the case anymore. Furthermore, most OEM skin don't have good support of microSD anymore, and majority of apps don't even support being transferred to microSD anymore.
Basically people who are still clamoring for microSD are probably those using cheap old phones with only 32 or 64GB internal storage.
- Daemon Targaryen
- 4BT
- 05 Dec 2022
I’m using a 32 GB iPhone SE (2016) and iPhone 7 and I’m completely fine with the storage. I use one or the other while my iPhone SE (2022) is charging. I still have about 13-15 GB for both phones. Google Photos and streaming apps made physical memory cards obsolete for most usage like Netflix made Blockbuster Video defunct.
I’m looking into getting an iPhone 4 because I wasn’t aware you can downgrade it to iOS4 easily without signed SSH blobs and untethered. Heck yeah! I miss my iPhone 4. Flashback to 12 years ago. And 4 is faster on iOS7 than the 4S on iOS9. I owned the 4S last year but had more fond memories with my 4.
I can get Cover Flow back for my songs. I did have that for my 4S since it was on iOS6 but I preferred iOS4 over iOS6 as 6 made my 4 glitch like the screen sometimes won’t go to sleep.
- V
- Vikass17
- Dkr
- 05 Dec 2022
Diavoros, 05 Dec 2022I'd say that the main reason they chose to remove the ... moreBut then they don't give 256gb options many times like samsung.
Other times it's availability or availability in your country is an issue.
- D
- Diavoros
- Pu}
- 05 Dec 2022
I'd say that the main reason they chose to remove the micro sd support on phones is just to push the consumer to buy a model with the higher capacity (pricier), so instead of going for a 128GB model, they want you to buy the 256GB model to make up for the lack of external storage. It is not about system speed read/writes compatibility, it is not for environmental reasons, it is just about greed.
- l
- lottery248
- TLF
- 05 Dec 2022
for phones optimised for cameras and/or music, there is no reason you don't have a native microSD slot built into. if microSD was really falling, then you wouldn't see Samsung still making microSD this year. it is just a cheap lie for their greed. and it's highly useful anywhere else too, so another problem is the lack of optimisation for those.
- D
- David
- 3HZ
- 05 Dec 2022
I like the safety you feel by having an SD card instead of internal storage if your phone suddenly breaks, it might be less secure but at least you can just pull the card out with your data. I refuse to pay for cloud storage/backup because its a cash grab basically forced by manufacturers that have no external storage.
- R
- Ren
- M@p
- 05 Dec 2022
Domestoboto, 05 Dec 2022Sony still makes tier 1 phones with microSD card slots and ... moreMakes me miss LG even more.
- ?
- Anonymous
- 0vE
- 05 Dec 2022
IgorS, 05 Dec 2022Well, in some way, we can say that SSDs are pretty much gia... moreYup but with less durable chips compared to a ssd
- ?
- Anonymous
- 0vE
- 05 Dec 2022
PeterThePanda, 05 Dec 2022OEMs stopped including MicroSD slots on their flagship and ... moreNot really apple their fault, manufacturer’s got greedy because they saw people accept anything.
Apple didn’t give a microsd slot since their first iphone in 2007, meanwhile high end android smartphones had microsd slot and 3,5 mm even as recently in 2018/2019.
After that they got greedy, has nothing to do with Apple (Apple does a lot of anti consumer stuff, but it’s lazy to blame them for everything)
- I
- IgorS
- P02
- 05 Dec 2022
Hanif Fikri, 05 Dec 2022it could potentially replace external hardisk..Well, in some way, we can say that SSDs are pretty much giant microSD cards haha
- D
- Domestoboto
- vaM
- 05 Dec 2022
Sony still makes tier 1 phones with microSD card slots and the 3.5mm port, which is all well and good. But as a complete and holistic package, their phones are simply uncompetitive and DIFFICULT to live with unless you really know what you are doing:
- Just 2 Android updates and 3 years of security, that's pretty PATHETIC in the Android world. Most Chinese OEMs and even Google themselves will give 3 and 4 years; Samsung will even do 4 and 5 years.
- Bad overheating. the 1 iv and 5 iv both struggle to record 5 minutes of 4K(60) onto the microSD without the camera app shutting down so the phone can "cool down"; when recording to internal storage, it's not much better.
- Their cameras are an absolute mess. Nearly everyone in the Android space uses SONY sensors for their cameras, and they tend to produce photos that are less noisy and more pleasing than Sony Xperias using Sony sensors. And also, 1 iv and 5 iv have THREE SEPARATE APPS for the camera, including two for video. Why can't they make it just one app like their A9 and A6600?
- Their insistence on you having to learn every single manual control and the Exposure Triangle to get a good photo/video should not be how smartphones work. People buy smartphones so they do LESS work with capturing memories or uploading to IG/Tiktok, not more.
- a
- andibad
- y{4
- 05 Dec 2022
The main reason the vendors are remove sd slot card is just for their online service sake (ex: google services and xiaomi had their own service too). First they trying get rid sd slot on their flagship model because most of them are have big pocket to pay their online service for convincement. and they have flagship backup to get rid sd slot on low-middle model.
sd card slot is very benefit as extended storage to user when online service or need extra space on crucial moment, without plugin on fragile usb plot to external hdd/sdd/adapter.
the reason about performance, and other bs is only marketing excuse. and following apple trend are is just stupid. They say use ram and ssd inboard are reduce the cost, but is just lame excuse to force user always bought their product on every year.
ah hey marketing just push over about idea "portless" on smartphone, is just lame.
- s
- sd card reader
- Sr6
- 05 Dec 2022
Daemon Targaryen, 05 Dec 2022"We know some of you absolutely hate that most makers ... moreU mad? Because no headphone jack?
Me too! And no radio drive me crazy too! And no sd card reader and no stereo, no image stabilization, no gyro, no GLONASS GALILEO and more missing things in some new phones .....
- S
- SD card reader
- Sr6
- 05 Dec 2022
Anonymous, 05 Dec 2022Asus doesn't give microsd slot...Why not? Micro SD card slot is very very much useful for many many things!
- ?
- Anonymous
- Sr6
- 05 Dec 2022
PeterThePanda, 05 Dec 2022OEMs stopped including MicroSD slots on their flagship and ... moreOh in that case u must remove the headphones and charger too!
- r
- radio star
- Sr6
- 05 Dec 2022
Anonymous, 05 Dec 2022at least, 1 high speed micro xd card slot MUST be equipped ... moreI agree. And don't forget the FM radio!