Google Pixel 2

[Aquila]

Slower than internal storage for sure...but that doesn't mean they can't perform duties like playing music or movies perfectly well. Then today's SD Cards are getting faster and cheaper.

Sure, but it's slower AND worse performance AND worse stability AND much much much worse security. That's why Google chooses to eschew them in their own phones. On Android phones and tablets, SD cards are just a bad idea. On AndroidTV there is better support available. Google does support them in their other products, such as Chromebooks.

 

[jamezr]

Sure, but it's slower AND worse performance AND worse stability AND much much much worse security. That's why Google chooses to eschew them in their own phones. On Android phones and tablets, SD cards are just a bad idea. On AndroidTV there is better support available. Google does support them in their other products, such as Chromebooks.

nonsense.....I have been using SD Cards for years and have not had one issue with them.
Just that they are supported by some Google products alone says it all.
Performance is based on the card you buy. Then the average consumer with never see the difference between a card's R/W performance in today's products.

 

[Matty]

No, SD cards, in Google's public opinion, are for budget devices in developing markets where cloud services are prohibitive and internal storage can't be found in sufficient quantities.

I do agree with them. As long as i have enough internal storage for my needs, i don't mind not having a MicroSD card. Just don't be like Apple and provide 16GB internal storage and then allow 4K video recording lol

My current 4 questions marks are
1) Headphone Jack?
2) Curved Display?
3) Water Resistance?
4) Budget Model Coming?

 

[Aquila]

nonsense.....I have been using SD Cards for years and have not had one issue with them.
Just that they are supported by some Google products alone says it all.
Performance is based on the card you buy. Then the average consumer with never see the difference between a card's R/W performance in today's products.

Yet we have thousands of threads about various cards failing (granted, a lot of them skimped and got crappy ones) and we've got thousands more of people being confused about what they can put on the card and what they can't, how to do so, etc. The implementations vary so much by OEM that it's very difficult to stay on top of it.

The performance, stability and security issues are definitely real, and security is the most important reason they don't want them there. That said, they've been working for years to alleviate the security concerns, but in many cases those solutions are creating even more confusion for the end users.

 

[Aquila]

I do agree with them. As long as i have enough internal storage for my needs, i don't mind not having a MicroSD card. Just don't be like Apple and provide 16GB internal storage and then allow 4K video recording lol

My current 4 questions marks are
1) Headphone Jack?
2) Curved Display?
3) Water Resistance?
4) Budget Model Coming?

1) Hope so
2) Hope not
3) Yep, that's a thing
4) Hope not

 

[Ry]

I do agree with them. As long as i have enough internal storage for my needs, i don't mind not having a MicroSD card. Just don't be like Apple and provide 16GB internal storage and then allow 4K video recording lol

My current 4 questions marks are
1) Headphone Jack?
2) Curved Display?
3) Water Resistance?
4) Budget Model Coming?

I don't think they'll be going lower than their default 32GB on the first Pixel. :/

 

[jamezr]

Yet we have thousands of threads about various cards failing (granted, a lot of them skimped and got crappy ones) and we've got thousands more of people being confused about what they can put on the card and what they can't, how to do so, etc. The implementations vary so much by OEM that it's very difficult to stay on top of it.

The performance, stability and security issues are definitely real, and security is the most important reason they don't want them there. That said, they've been working for years to alleviate the security concerns, but in many cases those solutions are creating even more confusion for the end users.

and then yet millions of people use them with no issues at all. Then the threads where people reported a problem is dwarfed by people NOT reporting a problem all. Professional photographers use SD Cards in cameras without issues. Then the explosion of the Go pro type cameras equipped with sd cards and drones says it all. SD Cards are a great viable tool when used correctly.
Do some fail? Sure I am positive they do. But you can say that about anything mass produced....even phones fail.

 

[xocomaox]

What ya mean I gotta wait ?
Was trying to hold out for the note 8 now.

I will only be like 2 more months, if the release dates of last year are anything to go by. Unless you are heavy in the Samsung camp and require features that are guaranteed not going to be available for the next Pixel phone (Samsung Pay, S-Pen), it would be foolish not to wait.

 

[Law2138]

I'd rather have a 128GB phone over a phone with 32GB internal paired with a 256GB card.
(same specs, of course).

Personally, I don't have a need to swap SD cards and I am connected to wifi much more often than I am at a computer I would transfer files to.

 

[xocomaox]

I'd rather have a 128GB phone over a phone with 32GB internal paired with a 256GB card.
(same specs, of course).

Personally, I don't have a need to swap SD cards and I am connected to wifi much more often than I am at a computer I would transfer files to.

Would you also prefer it if the price was increased by $100 for the 128GB model?

Would you also prefer a phone with 128GB internal and no SD card slot over a 128GB phone with an SD card slot?

 

[Aquila]

and then yet millions of people use them with no issues at all. Then the threads where people reported a problem is dwarfed by people NOT reporting a problem all. Professional photographers use SD Cards in cameras without issues. Then the explosion of the Go pro type cameras equipped with sd cards and drones says it all. SD Cards are a great viable tool when used correctly.
Do some fail? Sure I am positive they do. But you can say that about anything mass produced....even phones fail.

Cameras and GoPros are not Android Phones. SD Cards are great for PC's, cameras, media players, etc. They definitely can be useful on Android Phones, but so far the implementations have been wildly inconsistent across OEM's and across software versions within the same OEM. Most cameras, GoPro, media servers, etc. do not have access to sensitive information about the consumer and so the security risks, if any, are very minimal.

The security issues on an Android phone or tablet have to do with the read/write permissions that apps must be given in order to access that content and how it is related to internal storage versus external. Google attempted to resolve that by creating an adoptable storage option, but most OEM's are eschewing it entirely and for those that do use it... it leaves things to be desired. So in either case, having one giant block of storage is a better solution than having two types of storage being pushed together and even more so if that pushing together is two different formats that play by differing rules and have different security protocols.

Again, the security hurdles are the biggest reason that Google doesn't want SD cards, with the performance and stability issues as secondary reasons. Any number of cards failing or not failing, isn't the point - the thousands of threads were brought up to highlight that they do fail, and they fail a lot. That was a counter to the anecdotal "I've never had one fail" argument. SD cards do fail and they fail at a much higher rate that internal storage.

They also vary on speed and we all know that not all consumers are paying for the best cards available. It is my opinion that Android should do a speed check on the card when it is first inserted and if it doesn't meet a minimum threshold, not allow it to be utilized for anything. But even easier than that, is simply providing sufficient internal storage and not worrying about it at all.

 

[Aquila]

Would you also prefer it if the price was increased by $100 for the 128GB model?

Would you also prefer a phone with 128GB internal and no SD card slot over a 128GB phone with an SD card slot?

Yes and yes. The "it can be there and you can just choose not to use it" reasoning doesn't take into account the opportunity cost. Including the slot takes resources (time, money, materials, software development, space in device, etc). I would much prefer having a device that didn't make those concessions for a feature that already has better solutions available.

 

[jamezr]

Cameras and GoPros are not Android Phones. SD Cards are great for PC's, cameras, media players, etc. They definitely can be useful on Android Phones, but so far the implementations have been wildly inconsistent across OEM's and across software versions within the same OEM. Most cameras, GoPro, media servers, etc. do not have access to sensitive information about the consumer and so the security risks, if any, are very minimal.

The security issues on an Android phone or tablet have to do with the read/write permissions that apps must be given in order to access that content and how it is related to internal storage versus external. Google attempted to resolve that by creating an adoptable storage option, but most OEM's are eschewing it entirely and for those that do use it... it leaves things to be desired. So in either case, having one giant block of storage is a better solution than having two types of storage being pushed together and even more so if that pushing together is two different formats that play by differing rules and have different security protocols.

Again, the security hurdles are the biggest reason that Google doesn't want SD cards, with the performance and stability issues as secondary reasons. Any number of cards failing or not failing, isn't the point - the thousands of threads were brought up to highlight that they do fail, and they fail a lot. That was a counter to the anecdotal "I've never had one fail" argument. SD cards do fail and they fail at a much higher rate that internal storage.

They also vary on speed and we all know that not all consumers are paying for the best cards available. It is my opinion that Android should do a speed check on the card when it is first inserted and if it doesn't meet a minimum threshold, not allow it to be utilized for anything. But even easier than that, is simply providing sufficient internal storage and not worrying about it at all.

But that fact that millions are using SD Cards in cameras laptops and all kinds of devices with no issues leaves some of your complaints null. The fact that they are NOT phones is moot in my opinion...they are still being used as supplemental storage and doing a great job at it. They still function as storage whether they are in a high end camera used by a professional photographer who's very existence depends on the SD Card functioning as designed is very telling.

The SC Card is not designed to replace internal storage...but merely act as supplemental storage.
It does a great job at what is what designed to be used for.

Again...you might not like SD Cards and prefer not to use them but that doers not diminish their usefulness to others.

Then again Google attempted to use adoptable storage at one time. But it was a very bad idea and not implemented very well. Imagine taking your SD Card out of your phone only to realize it corrupted your phone OS....very bad idea. But that is not the fault of the SD Card now is it?
If people but a cheap slower SD Card then that is on them to be honest to make a better purchase.


I still fail to see how having a SD Card on a phone is bad implementation? It all depends on what you use it for now isn't it?
No one has said SD Cards do not fail. I am sure they do. But phones fail too now don't they.

Internal storage speeds vary as well depending on which phone you buy from which OEM and so forth. Highend smartphones have faster internal storage than say a budget phone. So buying a budget phone with 32GB of internal storage and adding a very fast SD Card kind of starts to even things out a bit. Then if you use the SD Card for storing simple things like music or movies then it adds a great low budget alternative. Then some budget phones do not have the internal storage options that highend smartphones are offered with. Sometimes all you can get are 16 or 32GB models. So a SD Card is a great feature to have.

I think we should just agree to disagree

 

[Ry]

Would you also prefer it if the price was increased by $100 for the 128GB model?

Would you also prefer a phone with 128GB internal and no SD card slot over a 128GB phone with an SD card slot?

If i don't agree with the price of a product, I wouldn't buy it.

 

[Law2138]

Would you also prefer it if the price was increased by $100 for the 128GB model?

Would you also prefer a phone with 128GB internal and no SD card slot over a 128GB phone with an SD card slot?

Yes, to both questions. 1.) On my current device, I use 20GB of internal storage and 48.8GB of SD card storage. So roughly 70GB of storage. So when I use up even more of my available 32GB of internal, I'll have to start juggling apps and uninstalling things. I'd gladly pay $100 more for 128GB internal to do as I please with.

2.) For what I currently do, with my device, a 128GB device with an SD would be overkill. Would I even put an SD card in something like that? I doubt it. Perhaps if I was on vacation and into taking 4K videos, I might need the extra space.

 

[xocomaox]

Yes and yes. The "it can be there and you can just choose not to use it" reasoning doesn't take into account the opportunity cost. Including the slot takes resources (time, money, materials, software development, space in device, etc). I would much prefer having a device that didn't make those concessions for a feature that already has better solutions available.

So you would prefer it simply to benefit the company and labor of the worker's of doing it? Since the price to the consumer is the same..

 

[xocomaox]

2.) For what I currently do, with my device, a 128GB device with an SD would be overkill. Would I even put an SD card in something like that? I doubt it. Perhaps if I was on vacation and into taking 4K videos, I might need the extra space.

Okay, so you might use it but would still prefer the one without because of some other unknown reason?

 

[Aquila]

But that fact that millions are using SD Cards in cameras laptops and all kinds of devices with no issues leaves some of your complaints null. The fact that they are NOT phones is moot in my opinion...they are still being used as supplemental storage and doing a great job at it. They still function as storage whether they are in a high end camera used by a professional photographer who's very existence depends on the SD Card functioning as designed is very telling.

The "in a phone" part is the only thing relevant here. Google doesn't oppose the existence of SD cards; they oppose the use of SD cards in phones - because of the issues I detailed, which is a restatement of their statements with some added context.

 

[Aquila]

So you would prefer it simply to benefit the company and labor of the worker's of doing it? Since the price to the consumer is the same..

If that were the case, yes I'd still be fine with it, but that's not the case, because those software engineers and others working on the project will be working on other projects and almost every other project they could work on is more important, to me, than the SD card implementation. That's true up and down the chain for every aspect of resource expended on it. Every dollar, every second, every molecule could have been conserved or better spent elsewhere. Something, somewhere is less awesome than it could be because a phone has an SD card slot. Whatever that is, to me, the tradeoff was not worth it.

 

[Aquila]

Yes, to both questions. 1.) On my current device, I use 20GB of internal storage and 48.8GB of SD card storage. So roughly 70GB of storage. So when I use up even more of my available 32GB of internal, I'll have to start juggling apps and uninstalling things. I'd gladly pay $100 more for 128GB internal to do as I please with.

2.) For what I currently do, with my device, a 128GB device with an SD would be overkill. Would I even put an SD card in something like that? I doubt it. Perhaps if I was on vacation and into taking 4K videos, I might need the extra space.

Pixels do support OTG, which is the same thing except for instead of putting a card in the phone, you plug into the USB C port. Works more or less the same for when you do need more than 128 GB storage.