Flashback: the rise (and fall?) of the microSD card
- ?
- Anonymous
- j}r
- 05 Dec 2022
Do people not record videos with all those fancy cameras they keep wanting? There's your common use case for microSD right there.
- ?
- Anonymous
- xq5
- 04 Dec 2022
Though I don't use any anymore but it isn't useless at all. Like wired earphones it has useful moments. My phone has both but surprisingly I don't use both. I use wireless with my phone and wired with my laptop only. As for micro sd my phone has 256GB storage and I don't have any important files to worry about factory reset. I use a flash drive for backup. As for sound quality it depends. Wired can be better but also can be worse. I always use equalizer to boost bass. I love bass but hate sharp treble.
- s
- sadh
- tDP
- 04 Dec 2022
Asus gives everything from sd slot to compact size and even jack audio but the aftersales and OS support are meeeeh
- ?
- Anonymous
- Sc$
- 04 Dec 2022
"The recent shopping spree had us looking at great deals for microSD cards and with that came the sad realization that many of us no longer have a phone with a memory expansion slot. This sent us on a walk down memory lane to revisit the history of sd cards..."
You are aware that micro SD is not dead per say. There's just a micro sd card slot shortage at Foxconn facility from what I heard.
- ?
- Anonymous
- Sc$
- 04 Dec 2022
"We know some of you absolutely hate that most makers have stopped equipping their phones with microSD slots, especially in the flagship class. Unfortunately, the average consumer seems to care about the card slot about as much as they do about compact phones. The same goes for the average smartphone maker."
As long as the users care more about the selfy cam display cut-out and the Nth cam on the backside and useless stuff like NFC and OLED, nothing will change. We must stand up and demand our god given right to having the fm radio, sd card slot and 3.5mm audio jack and IPS panel because we actually need it! Especially in a flagship let alone midrange device.
- D
- AnonD-731363
- Lfw
- 04 Dec 2022
Largest micro SD cards coult be 1TB but then i found this and this is 2TB card but cost hefty 940 euros.
https://www.aqt.sk/cfexpress/wise-cfexpress-typ-b-2-tb-advanced/
- Daemon Targaryen
- IbE
- 04 Dec 2022
MicroSD is still needed for gaming handhelds as cloud streaming is still unreliable at this point. But cloud storage and streaming apps has made microSD unnecessary for movies, TV shows, and music.
I don't download any more newer songs. If I like a new song, I'll just play it on YouTube or catch it playing on Pandora or my car radio. I actually deleted a thousand songs recently and only have 600. This has helped save space. I don't carry my photos any more either. They get uploaded to Google Photos and that's that. In case my phone gets stolen, my photos will not be there.
I'll only really purchase a microSD for a handheld like a Switch or Steam Deck. That's when you'll need 256 minimum for a Switch and 1 TB for a Steam Deck. I do think the quality of local storage is still better than streaming from Google Photos. I have the entire Game of Thrones on my Pixel 3 so I can upload them unlimited to Google Photos. The experience watching it on my Pixel 3 over streaming is much better.
MicroSD still has its usage but only for gaming for me. Cloud and streaming is the new way to go to cover movies, TV shows, and music.
- A
- Asd
- P@c
- 04 Dec 2022
Super Android 22, 04 Dec 2022Eddie redmayne was used to promote the Oppo Find x2 Pro so ... moreExactly. IPhone fans got it personally because IPhone can't use SD card from the start
- A
- Asd
- P@c
- 04 Dec 2022
DMX, 04 Dec 2022I haven't seen a celebrity or a millionaire tycoon use... moreDoesn't mean that celeb knows really well about innovation aren't they eh? Are you trying to be celeb by buying IPhone? Why every thing that was post in here IPhone fanboys try to pull everything in Iphone's hands LOL
- ?
- Anonymous
- nq6
- 04 Dec 2022
I would not buy a phone without a microsd slot again. In May 2019 I purchased perfect condition Oneplus 5 6/64 and it was honestly an amazing device, blew my mind back then(very fast even nowadays, beautiful screen, good battery for its time with great fast charge), however the limited storage ruined it, I was constantly left with 1-2 gigabytes free, having to copy videos, photos, etc. to my computer to free space and with that being unable to have a library of movies, shows, anime on it. I managed to deal with the music by converting my library to .opus format which is significantly smaller than .mp3 .
So when in December 2020 when an opportunity arrived for me to purchase a brand new open box condition Lenovo Z6 Pro for 200 euros-a flagship killer with 3.5 jack, sd855, 8/128 internal storage plus and sdcard slot-I didn't think twice and picked it up. Currently rocking it with a 128gb sandisk extreme pro sdcard(since the cheaper ones have poor write speeds-the extreme pro manages 48mb/s write speed vs 24mb/s on a 256gb samsung evo plus that I had before it) on official lineage os custom rom. Honestly it feels like old oneplus-tier flagship killer(hence new oneplus phones are just oppo rebranded), I'm still getting 10 hours screen on time after 23 months of usage, with the only repair pending being a new $15 charging port, seems like I was unlucky with this and got a wobbly one out of the factory which got worse overtime. 256gb of total storage are plenty for a half decent library of stuff to watch while on the go, I almost never have to copy my photos and videos to a computer too. When high end sdcard prices drop I might conveniently get a 256/512gb card for it, which isn't a thing that you can do on a phone without expandable storage(obviously). Needless to say, this unit is definitely a gem that I will keep for a long time, I even got a second z6 pro as backup recently as I spotted a second hand one only for 110 euros. Unfortunately, I rarely can recommend this phone to my internet friends, as it's worldwide availability is terrible.
What I can recommend is Xperia 5/1 series phone. MK1 ones cost 150-200 euro but lack a 3.5 jack and have smaller batteries(likely in need of replacement). MK2 and newer ones are a good upgrade with bigger batteries and 3.5 jacks, however they seem to start at around 300-350 euros here(for the mk2 5/1), even so I would say they are worth it if you want an ''endgame'', feature packed power user/enthusiast phone with sd slot, 3.5 jack, sd865(still high end), a good amount of ram and internal storage as well, notchless oled screen(120hz on the 5 mk2 and all newer ones), great front stereo speakers, usb type c v3, etc.
Obviously if anyone feels like dropping the big money- Xperia 1/5 Mk4 are available and so is everything that comes after them from Sony. However, I would be personally not too excited to drop 1000 euros+ on one of them, as the old mk2 ones are more or less 90% the same devices for 1/3 the price when purchased used. Perhaps there are improvements in the camera department but I'm not much of a photographer myself to judge that.
- ?
- Anonymous
- 9i6
- 04 Dec 2022
Got a 128 GB Redmi Note 10 Pro in 2021 with a 256 GB sd card. Great combo, I haven't suffered for storage ever since
- Super Android 22
- mx}
- 04 Dec 2022
DMX, 04 Dec 2022I haven't seen a celebrity or a millionaire tycoon use... moreEddie redmayne was used to promote the Oppo Find x2 Pro so thats a quick fail (that's 2 years old aswell now and just 1 Chinese product). Also you're forgetting its not only America on this planet and we have an Eastern side where Asian branded phones will sell more (in turn having celeb endorsement or high ranking people using Asian branded devices). I'm glad you fall for the celeb endorsements tactic though, you're the companies tarket audience.
- R
- Ren
- M@p
- 04 Dec 2022
“how many MP3s and video files do you have on your phone?”
Roughly 55gb of local music, and yes I use Spotify (after moving on from Apple Music)
As for movies and anime not so much, as I tend to put few episodes on my phone for when I am actually going to use it, but that is for not legally available anime, otherwise I use Crunchyroll and download episodes in the app itself for on the go, because data is expensive in my country.
But my biggest gripe with lack of microsd slot is not even the cheap storage, but the convince when moving from one phone to another, also if something happens to your phone (like a broken screen that stops reacting) then pulling out the card is enough.
Because I rather not use cloud services, I don’t trust them and not because of privacy, but also them being able to just block all your accounts (in case of especially google and Microsoft) because “the computer concluded you violated the rules, because the computer says so and we don’t bother to let a real human look into it”
And even recently I had a colleague with such issue…
Another point is expensive data on the go, at home we have fast internet without limits, but simonly 2gb plan goes for at least €15 over here, and don’t get me started about the “fake” unlimited ones.
Plus I prefer to have my stuff locally, at least my private stuff because work related I use my work cloud sub to share work related stuff between colleagues.
Anyhow I do miss microsd cards in phones for many other reasons than “just cheap storage”, removal of it was the second worst thing for me since the 3,5mm went away.
(and Sony phones are not really a option for me, they overheat, are expensive for the support you get and that is super sad thing, considering the rest is great with them)
Remember when phones were fun? When we got cool stuff and phones where half the price they are now?
Gone
Just gone are those times.
- D
- DMX
- Pcx
- 04 Dec 2022
Asd, 04 Dec 2022The only premium about IPhone is the price smhI haven't seen a celebrity or a millionaire tycoon use a xiaomi or a Chinese cell phone, not even a Samsung, just an iPhone* so shhhh
- t
- travis999
- StU
- 04 Dec 2022
I live in North West London, inside the M25.
My home is in a not spot as far as mobile networks or TV signals are concerned, even the old orange/EE network is barely usable here, streaming needs a decent connect or ulta fast data, we get neither, so torrenting stuff once to big capacity sd cards makes sense, as well as downloading lots when in decent signal/data areas..
Their cheap, they do the job, although at least these days, everything has working USB hosting through type c ports, so decent capacity ssd makes sense now too.
- A
- Alm865
- th3
- 04 Dec 2022
kek, 04 Dec 2022The people who moan about not needing this or that are prob... moreCompletely agree, I take a lot of photos and videos and even 1TB internal storage is limiting to me. When you have a high end phone with high end cameras, you need space! Can't always upload to the cloud especially when you are away from home.
- R
- Rottytops
- jGC
- 04 Dec 2022
I personally rue having to retire most my SD cards because of manufacturers taking away features. 🫤
- A
- Asd
- P@c
- 04 Dec 2022
DMX, 04 Dec 2022Those who ask for SD and Jack 3.5 are the ones who cannot b... moreThe only premium about IPhone is the price smh
- N
- Nik
- ke5
- 04 Dec 2022
kek, 04 Dec 2022The people who moan about not needing this or that are prob... moreExactly!! I switched from my Samsung S10 to the Xperia 1 IV just because Samsung and the other companies dropped microsd and 3.5 mm jack support.
I like to use my phone as a power device and having an offline backup option like a microSD card is very useful.
Oh and the no front notch/camera hole helps too. Plus the 2 front facing speakers 😁
- V
- Vikass17
- Dkr
- 04 Dec 2022
travis999, 04 Dec 2022And USB hosting through a phones type c port, using a decen... moreThat's because most smartphones don't support sd card , so sales are less . No money no new 128tb card with 4gb speed.
I am wondering why are they even upgrading the standard.
Mobiles use UFS and others use SSD. Some antiques use eMMC .
Who is going to use 128tb SDUC ?