Flashback: the rise (and fall?) of the microSD card

04 December 2022
The microSD card grew to bigger and bigger capacities over the years and got faster along the way. So why is it waning in popularity?

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  • ?
  • Anonymous
  • sUS
  • 06 Dec 2022

[deleted post]Lmao. Resorting to personal insults when you cannot have a counterpoint. I have loads of sd cards, HDD and SSDs. I also susbcribe to r/datahoarder so I don't end up like cloud-only people being surprised when something bad happens.

Oh, do remember what happened to Youtube Music? haha

    • ?
    • Anonymous
    • sUS
    • 06 Dec 2022

    Anonymous, 05 Dec 2022Just buy a decent flash drive and an otg. When you need to ... moreOr buy a phone with sd card slot and enjoy the best of both worlds. Stop limiting people.

      • S
      • Sin
      • 3aP
      • 05 Dec 2022

      Anonymous, 05 Dec 2022Well battery life is a huge factor, putting ultra high spee... moreSome smartphones already have SSD storage and show it does work in the real world that it is superior

      The Lenovo legion y90 has ufs 512gb storage in raid with 128gb SSD storage

      This is a good start it also has a fully functional active cooling system with dual built-in fans

      Dual changing ports and dual changers and not just one but 2 changers come in the box with this smartphone

      Also Nubia red magic has fan in box Also

      Same case for Asus Rog mediatek or Snapdragon version both dual changing ports and x2 changer in the box plus a external fan

      Nubia red magic phones where the first too standardize
      The build in active cooling systems with single fans built-in fans

      It's already been proven that the performance level of a gaming smartphone is at least one year of a flagship smartphone

      So much can be learned from this

      It's sad only the razer and the razer phone understands the SD card is important too gamers and well everyone

      A lot can be learned from the gaming smartphones for regular smartphones as a gaming smartphone is just a extreme monster super high end hardware flagships

      The benefits of the engineering done in them with hardware and software optimization should come too all mainstream brands and smartphone modals

      Having a well cooled super fast pure SSD the OS is running off being cooled by fans will improve the how smooth a smartphone runs and the experience in a way you can't even imagine

        • N
        • Nomnom
        • K3q
        • 05 Dec 2022

        I love SD - for everything but a phone. A fast USB3/lightning is all I want to back up or transfer large amounts data.

        Midrange phones still carry headphone jacks and SD cards at lower prices while flagships have dropped both 2x or 3x the price. Different users with different budgets.

          • S
          • Sin
          • 3aP
          • 05 Dec 2022

          Anonymous, 05 Dec 2022Well battery life is a huge factor, putting ultra high spee... more ultra high speed ssd/m.2 storage won't hurt battery life just add power saver settings in software and increase battery overall size 7000mah or 8000mah

          restricted in size & space but more airflow/cooler just make the smartphone a little thicker and add cooling fans for the SSD too stay cool

          completely sealed for ip65/68 rating more like so you can't replace your battery and very hard too repair

          Water proofing should be done by a water proof case that should come in the box with ever smartphone as well as screen protectors the changer and SD card 3.5m headphones etc

          Smartphones really should just have removable battery's still multi ports SD cards sim card slots etc and be fully replaceable

          The benefits of bigger battery expandble storage and SSD boot drives that are cooled by fans will improve the experience of using a smartphone by miles

          Everything know ultra mega fast SSD boot drives can improve performance in a way no other spec can there badly needed on Smartphones

          Also the use of software should really be used too make up for the short comings of only 18gb ram maximum on a smartphone

          at least virtual ram using storage for additional ram swoop space is improving the overall ram bandwidth with an extra 6gb ram
          For a total of combined 24gb ram

            • ?
            • Anonymous
            • pjh
            • 05 Dec 2022

            Using cloud storage is completely dumb.

            First, they can scan and remove your data. We saw this multiple times with Apple and Microsoft. They can even acuse you of commiting crimes, eventough you didn't. They say that in China for example, people were getting their photos removed on cloud storage for manifestations.

            Cloud storage and streaming consumes A LOT of battery. Go stream your music while on the train, and with very very bad data connection like when abroad in roaming.

            When the phones dies, ALL your data is gone. It is just another security layer to save data on MicroSD card.

            When upgrading your phone, even 10 Gb of music and app data (like even WhatsApp can consume this much) is completely a pain, even with 5G (because upload is far more slower than download), you must have 5ghz high speed WiFi at your home for this.

            MicroSD means UNLIMITED storage, and is cheaper, not just 1TB of storage. Why ? Because you can easily SWAP it out.

            MicroSD is more ecollogical and reduces e-waste. Because, you don't need to upgrade your 128 Gb phone just to upgrade the memory. Just the small microSD card (that you can keep for backup with your "old" pictures/videos)

            Finally, the most dumb part (if all what was said is not already pretty dumb) is that they remove microSD but keep the second SIM slot, something that 99% of people I know don't give a flying fck. Even me, I NEED to have two phone numbers, I don't use this useless slot (I would call it useless, but why keep the SIM slot but remove the microSD ? It is almost like a software limitation).

              • ?
              • Anonymous
              • 5xx
              • 05 Dec 2022

              Curiously, my Samsung Android A52 phone now sports both a 3.5mm stereo phone jack and a 512GB card at about 90GB of files, pictures, and use for audio and "sneaker-net" uploads and downloads. When the phone either dies or goes obsolete, we'll likely pursue purchasing a similar, middle of the road phone, with at least a 1 or 2TB storage capacity & 3.5mm jack. Dongles eventually destroy their jack connections or get damaged in day-to-day use, and require additional pocket or travel storage space we don't need or want. We're also a "boomer" Electrical & Recording Engineer with advanced degrees, who relies on SD cards for video camera use and quickly removable high capacity PC storage! SD and microSD cards are far from extinct, until someone actually creates a petabyte crystal of the same size! (Any Engineer will ultimately consume all available storage space, and this is most certainly proven out by the new ronnabyte and quetabyte defined for "large data" capacities. Ronna is 10 to the power 27. So that's a one with 27 zeros after it. Quetta is 10 to the power 30. So that's a one with 30 zeros after it... Maybe growing on to a googol, the number 10 raised to the power 100, and googolon, 10 to the power of a googol! Making even a petabyte seem as small potatoes storage for the daily data flowing on the internet today! To quote Buzz Lighyear, "To Infinity and beyond!" )

                • ?
                • Anonymous
                • xq5
                • 05 Dec 2022

                Just buy a decent flash drive and an otg. When you need to reset your phone or free up storage just move your files to your flash drive. Very simple.

                  SD and MicroSD Cards are still very much a thing and used a lot more than people think. Some 2021-2022 Budget phones still have support for both MicroSD Cards and 3.5mm AUX Jacks.

                    • ?
                    • Anonymous
                    • svJ
                    • 05 Dec 2022

                    [deleted post]you just too agressive yo, chill down, dont cry

                      • ?
                      • Anonymous
                      • HW1
                      • 05 Dec 2022

                      AnonD-1058210, 05 Dec 2022What u talking about that micro sd alternative doesn't... moreIt's simpler to have them both included inside of the phone instead of holding a literal spider web in your hands of cables and dongles.

                        • ?
                        • Anonymous
                        • HW1
                        • 05 Dec 2022

                        LoLoL, 04 Dec 2022Still some idiots saying " I hope it has SD" It... moreOK, genius. Let's say I have an external storage device for my phone:
                        It's bulky, It's another thing I have to carry around, I have to manually move files over to the drive in my stock camera app, I can't even move my applications/games to this storage medium, and I can no longer charge my phone and it doesn't have wireless charging. I can't even encrypt it through Android but I can with an SD card.

                          • J
                          • JustSomeRandomGuy
                          • EwD
                          • 05 Dec 2022

                          fall? where? who? SD cards are still very relevant on cameras, handheld consoles, laptops, etc. professionals use it as well as average Joes.
                          people seem to forget that an SD card can let you transfer GBs worth of files in the easiest way possible. no cables, no computers, no Internet needed. just remove it from one phone, insert it on the other and that's it. I currently have 128 GB of internal storage and in about a year's worth of usage, that's already filled up to the brim. Sadly, my phone doesn't have SD card support so I use an OTG which, ironically, allows me to use a 64 GB microSD card which is almost full now as well. you know darn well I ain't gonna use cloud storage to upload dozens of GBs of photos and videos. data is expensive where I live and that would take forever.
                          even if I want, free accounts on cloud storage is only 15 GB. my Google Photos online storage is nearly full so I stopped uploading anything. i'd rather pay ONE TIME for an SD card rather than pay EVERY MONTH for a subscription for cloud storage.
                          people who keep saying SD cards are obsolete are ignorant. companies butcher useful features like this and the ignorant ones will just carry on and accept it. this is why OEMs get away with these like the removable of the headphone jack and even the charger in the box.

                            • D
                            • Dogspurt
                            • 39x
                            • 05 Dec 2022

                            No SD slot? - No sale!

                              • ?
                              • Anonymous
                              • vjX
                              • 05 Dec 2022

                              [deleted post]Boomers have way more savings than you.

                                • ?
                                • Anonymous
                                • HVw
                                • 05 Dec 2022

                                AnonD-1058210, 05 Dec 2022What u talking about that micro sd alternative doesn't... moreYou seem to be the kind of guy that would by a Windows Tablet with only one docking port and plug that dock into the wall (2 plugs) and connect your full size keyboard, headphone jack adapter, mouse, micro SD reader and have a full webcam hanging on the top of the screen and have that all be connected to a USB hub which is connected to the one port on the dock. It's quite simple really.

                                  AnonD-1058210, 05 Dec 2022What u talking about that micro sd alternative doesn't... moreNot all phones have OTG support. Even if you use the adapter, there's no guarantee the phone can read the hard drive or the USB. Unlike the headphone jack being a universal standard, USB-C has multiple OEM interferences. That is why you don't see USB-C earphones or headphones catching on because OEMs always have different formats of connectivity and they are not always compatible with one another.

                                    • ?
                                    • Anonymous
                                    • 4NG
                                    • 05 Dec 2022

                                    Although having the ability to add slow storage to my phone would be nice...I often don't end up using more than like 150GB out of the 256GB that I have. In the past when my phones were only 32GB/64GB storage, having that extra storage was a life saver. Today with all the streaming services and cloud storage, I don't really need as much storage on my phone as I used to.

                                      • D
                                      • AnonD-1058210
                                      • 3aL
                                      • 05 Dec 2022

                                      Anonymous, 05 Dec 20223.5 jack option exists in every phone in the form of an ada... moreWhat u talking about that micro sd alternative doesn't exist ? You don't know what is usb-c to micro sd adapter ?🤷‍♂️ I have it you need to study about OTG.
                                      Same jack alternative. I have two in one adapter so usb-c to 3.5 jack and type-c female same as in phone to charge phone while on headphones
                                      Simple 😉

                                        • ?
                                        • Anonymous
                                        • sUS
                                        • 05 Dec 2022

                                        Anonymous, 05 Dec 2022Plan to promote their service: 1. Tell user the feature is... moreYou're preaching to the choir. The people who need to know those things are not reading tech website comments section. They're on facebook and tiktok listening to Apple and Samsung influencers.

                                        Lots of people used cloud service and they will be the first to be caught off guard if something happens on their online stuff. Imagine your friends using facebook like a hard drive. Local backup is alien to them.