128 GB phones: Do you still need SD cards?

[syspry]

For most people the answer is no. However there are still a group of people who prefer a massive amount of storage on their device.

Personally I find 128 GB of storage to be far more than adequate but that's because even when traveling I find it sufficient. For home use I have about a terabyte of movies (mentioning movies because they're the usual main culprit for large size files) but rather than casting directly from my phone to my TV, I use the Plex app on my phone to link that movie collection from my PC to my TV via Chromecast. For out of home I do prefer my music collection to be on-device rather than streamed but it's not large enough that 128 GB can't handle MP3's that are roughly around 5mb per song and I also stream radio stations and podcasts from the Tunein Radio app.

The only circumstances I can imagine where someone would still want SD cards with them even with a 128 GB phone would be business. maybe they have several large video presentations, or maybe their business travel doesn't involve any entertaining distractions so they're stuck in the hotel for a week+ with nothing else to do and want a ton of movies with them. Also there are people who like to record a lot of video for leisure. Those videos can climb to pretty hefty sizes and I can surely see a 128 GB phone not having enough capacity for those people.

Which of these are you?

 

[20degrees]

I have a 200gb card about 75% full of music and the rest is there for stuff i download and take pictures/videos with. I need this much music as a don't get signal at work and listen to my headphones 10-12hrs a day 5 days a week. I don't have time to sit and transfer music a few times a week and want a collection that'll go weeks without hearing the same song.

 

[Geodude074]

SD cards allow you to pop them out and put them into your laptop/computer to transfer files. Unless you enjoy having your phone tethered to your laptop for hours while you transfer 128 GB worth of 4K video.

Also, a 128 GB option on most phones costs hundreds of dollars to upgrade. Whereas a 128 GB microSD card is $40-$60 on Amazon.

 

[Almeuit]

I am fine with 32 GB but I do have unlimited data. If I didn't have that though I would personally be good with 64 GB. That's enough for some videos and music so I could survive.

 

[Inders99]

Help me here, if you keep all your data on the phone an you don't back it up and you lose it, break it, gets stolen, etc., you're out of luck right? If you do back it up you're paying for all that storage right? I get 25 free gigs on DropBox for one year only then I pay for it but since I had a SD card I don't back it up (yeah I know about bad SD cards but mine have been trouble free forever).

I guess I'm missing something with the on board storage thing, I still select phones (G4 presently) with SD storage and don't pay a cent for cloud services.

 

[Billy Bob Jimmy Joe]

16gb is good enough for me. I'll just keep all my media content on cloud/otg.

Google Nexus 6P

 

[Domestoboto92x]

I'd like my phone to use its internal 128GB storage for all the games and apps I want (AAA titles like Goat Simulator, LIMBO, Leo's Fortune, and GTA, all the Pocket articles and Evernote items, those pile up real quick.) and have an additional 128GB SD cardjust for media (music, photos, videos, TV series, films, 4K's.) I'd like to have a copy of all my media offline because streaming is almost hopeless (slow speeds) where I live, but downloading is fine enough.

 

[Ryaan Johnson]

All about options. Having SD card I have a choice. I can put multipele movies on them for long trips, volumes of music for dead zone and the convence if I want to have more then one device.. I pop the sim and pop it in the other one and all my content is right there. No reason to not have the option of a ad card slot.. Its lazy for a manufacturer to leave it out so save a few pennies..

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[LeoRex]

It all depends on your access to cloud data. If you have good network access with WiFi and plenty of LTE coverage (and a decent amount of data), there's little need to carry a ton of data with you.

Personally, SD cards are unreliable and poorly suited to be used for phones. The technology is better geared towards cameras, where you have large sequential operations. In a phone, it's all random R/Ws. I wouldn't ever be confident that my data is secure.

 

[20degrees]

Personally, SD cards are unreliable and poorly suited to be used for phones. The technology is better geared towards cameras, where you have large sequential operations. In a phone, it's all random R/Ws. I wouldn't ever be confident that my data is secure.

BS. I've been using memory cards in devices since they took standard sd cards. As long as you buy a reliable brand and not some cheap knockoff, you'll hardly ever have any error with a card....

 

[Almeuit]

BS. I've been using memory cards in devices since they took standard sd cards. As long as you buy a reliable brand and not some cheap knockoff, you'll hardly ever have any error with a card....

Just remember he isn't saying this is 100% for everyone.. There are always cases saying otherwise. He is just speaking from how many times (yes even from reliable brands) where people come here asking how to get their photos they had on their SD card that was corrupted in some form or fashion. People need to realize backing up elsewhere is a better idea than replying totally on internal storage.

 

[LeoRex]

He is just speaking from how many times (yes even from reliable brands) where people come here asking how to get their photos they had on their SD card that was corrupted.

This.

I see SD cards as nothing more that temporary storage with a relatively high rate of failure. I've had several cards, top quality cards, go south on me personally. I lost a whole vacation once when a card gave it up on the last day we were there (pre smartphone and cloud backup days here). And here in AC and elsewhere, we are constantly fielding cries for help from people who put their trust in a card, only to have it bite them. Some pretty heart-breaking stories... Their newborn's first days home, last pictures of dead loved ones... Engagement pictures, you name it.

Yes, there are plenty of people who've had no issues. And to those, I say 'awesome'. But it often only takes one card to go *poof* for a person's opinion to change.

So I'll always suggest for people to get the most internal storage you can afford, and then rely on cloud options to cover the rest.

And always... ALWAYS ... have backups.

 

[20degrees]

And you likely have more of a chance of dropping your phone and breaking it than having your card go bad. *poof*

 

[LeoRex]

And you likely have more of a chance of dropping your phone and breaking it than having your card go bad. *poof*

That's why one shouldn't rely on local storage, whether it be internal or in the form of an SD card. There are plenty of people posting here that lost their photos in a dead phone, photos that would have been saved had they used a service like Google Photos.

My 6P came with 55 some odd GB of usable space... A little under 50 with all my apps. I have 20k songs stuffed up in Play Music, my photos and videos in Google Photos... And I have unlimited LTE data via my carrier and coverage without any dead spots. Space will not be an issue.

Like I said, for people not in that situation, local storage is more of an issue, but I'll still recommend the max storage option they can afford and use SDs with caveats.

 

[Almeuit]

And you likely have more of a chance of dropping your phone and breaking it than having your card go bad. *poof*

I can say from experience the one time I used an SD card was in my Note 4. It worked great while in that phone. Upon transferring that card to another phone it corrupted. He is basically saying it can happen and definitely does happen since we try and help those individuals.

Either way it's good advice to always back up anything worth saving to multiple areas. Not even speaking just SD cards.. Even things on internal memory. One spot for priceless photos and other things isn't a good idea .

 

[ManiacJoe]

BS. I've been using memory cards in devices since they took standard sd cards. As long as you buy a reliable brand and not some cheap knockoff, you'll hardly ever have any error with a card....

The key part there is "hardly ever".

Memory cards can go bad just like hard drives do. Backup plans are needed for both.

That said, I want a phone with the ability to use an SD card for local storage.

 

[Kelly Kearns]

BS. I've been using memory cards in devices since they took standard sd cards. As long as you buy a reliable brand and not some cheap knockoff, you'll hardly ever have any error with a card....

I've used SD cards that I have had for 10 years. I've never had an issue with a card and have had a card in every phone I have owned until my Note 5.

I still know a card that isn't backed up is data waiting to be lost. I've seen it happen too much here.

 

[stackberry369]

I've used SD cards that I have had for 10 years. I've never had an issue with a card and have had a card in every phone I have owned until my Note 5.

I still know a card that isn't backed up is data waiting to be lost. I've seen it happen too much here.

samsung according to rumors are coming out with the note 6 with 256 Gb and SD card slot

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[abubakrellahi]

yes

 

[Kelly Kearns]

samsung according to rumors are coming out with the note 6 with 256 Gb and SD card slot

Posted via the Android Central App

They may or may not, but a rumor this early about a Samsung phone is just someone guessing.