Expandable storage is a deal breaker for many people concerning their phones and devices. Samsung dropped a bomb during their announcement at MWC15 that they took away the SD card slot on the upcoming Galaxy S6 lineup. Not too mention they are no longer supporting removable batteries as well. Typically, most of my devices I have owned these last few years have all had at least the ability to expand my phone’s storage via an SD card. Well, things are about to change and it has caused me to rethink how I am going to manage my content on my device. Here is why it matters to me that I have expandable storage.
1. I’m a flashaholic. That term might be foreign to you if you are not a rooter, modder, or developer. To put it simple, it means that I flash/load custom roms on my devices when I can. Currently, I have a LG G3 that has an unlocked bootloader that allows me to load roms, backup data, and more. I can truly customize my device to my liking. I like to make backups and store files on my external storage. If I ever have to wipe the device completely, I always have what I need on the external storage.
2. Photos and video storage. One of the default setting I set to all my devices that have the option of expandable storage is to have all my photos and videos on the external SD card. This allows me to have a hard copy on my device at all times. Referring back to point one, if I have to wipe my device my photos and videos are still intact. Personally, at times I like to transfer my photos and videos using my card to my computer.
Remedy – Again buying an OTG flash drive to be able to transfer files from point a to point b. Using cloud storage is another option to consider and will more than likely be the route I use to manage my photos and videos. The thing I don’t like about using cloud storage is that I don’t want to become dependent on the cloud. Reason being is because there is only so much room in the cloud before needing to upgrade your plan with the respected cloud service. Mind that I know there are ways to get more storage added on for free, but many of those options expire at some point. Therefore, I still have to take an extra step to get my photos and videos on a hard copy to a computer by downloading the files from the cloud. It is much simpler to take my card out of the phone and place it in my computer. Another remedy to use is to transfer the files via USB cable, which is probably the best and easiest way.
3. Cheaper. I’ll use the iPhone as an example here because this is now the route Samsung is going. On a side note, I believe 32GBs of internal storage ought to be the standard of the minimum storage on a device for flagship phones. It’s 2015 for crying out loud! Back on track now…buying an SD card is much cheaper than upgrading to the next level storage on a device. Normally the next step up is about an extra hundred bucks. SD cards these days are getting bigger and cheaper to buy. Amazon sells them for great prices all the time. You can get a 64GB card for about $20 depending on the deal and speed of the card. Either way spending $20 that can be used with multiple devices is so much more worth is than having to spend at least another hundred bucks for more space on a device.
Remedy – There isn’t one. You’re screwed….just kidding (kinda). There is not a cheap way to have a good amount of storage in one device. To save money on storage with devices that have no expandable stroage, you will have to have that extra piece of equipment…dongle away. We have yet to see a price point for the new Galaxy S6 and I sincerely hope they don’t jack the price up for the sake of making 32GBs their new standard of internal storage. As mentioned above, this needs to be the standard and the price should not change just because the internal storage is more now. I am at least grateful I don’t have to worry about the GS6 only rocking 16GBs.
All that being said, I believe many of us have been forced to rethink how we are going to manage our content. May I mention that I am still grandfathered in Verizon’s Unlimited Data Plan and allows me to manage content differently than how most users do these days. For example, I stream all my music to save space on my device’s storage. I have shared with you how I manage and will be managing my content, how are you going to cope with the changes we are witnessing at this point?
I am still debating on which S6 I am going to get. Have you decided yet or are you passing on the GS6? Let me know in the comments!
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