Is 16GB's enough?

[vinny jr]

HTC and AT&T ruined an otherwise great phone. The international model comes with 32mb of internal memory. Why does AT&T's version only have 16 which after the software you have a little over 9mb of memory. Pathetic, they ruined a great device for a couple of crumby bucks. Any person would rather have the memory and larger battery with a little thicker phone. Whoever designs these devices is completely blind to what the public wants and needs. These designers obviously don't use the phone, otherwise it would have the added memory and larger battery. I am seriously disgusted. I was waiting for this phone to jump on the AT&T LTE Network. I will never buy a new phone with no memory. If I hear the cloud bull one more time I will scream, try accessing your files, music or movies when you have no signal and no wifi. Forget it. If you do use the cloud for your music see how fast your data cap runs out. That is the entire motivation from the Carrier, to use your data so you BUY, BUY more. This is how I really feel. US Carriers just suck.

 

[randyw]

Not for me. On my Inspire 4G the phone storage is almost full and my 32gb SD card is half full of music,videos,pictures ect. I have a limited data plan to cut down on cost so the cloud is not an option, If I even trusted the cloud to begin with. So unless they come out with a 32gb model of this phone I will not buy it. Come on Samsung S3!!

 

[sRedwolf]

Sure, there are cloud services but not all of us have grandfathered unlimited data and streaming music alone would quickly eat up my 4gb of data.

Agreed - but at least you have 4gb... Most of us in Canada with normal plans have 500mb. This is more than sufficient for my day to day use so I have no intention of buying a phone that requires me (due to lack of storage space) to buy a higher tier plan just so I can stream the music that I own. Our data plans here more or less render "the cloud" useless.

For me, my smartphone is a replacement for both my dumb phone and my iPod. So to buy a high-end smartphone now that basically limits me from accessing all of my music wherever I am at any time is frankly a step backwards.

 

[Chex313]

I do not have unlimited data
I do not have a good signal where I'm at all day
I do have 20+ gigs of music I like to listen to in my car and at work.

16 gigs is NOT enough. Why the hell does HTC continue to shoot themselves in the foot like this? It's either crappy storage/no expansion or sh!tty battery. What's wrong with those people?

I was poised to jump ship from iPhone to the HTC One X (I though: "this is finally the phone!"), but then I find out about the limited storage.

Its not HTC, its the carriers, the base phone had 32GB. The carriers want us using Data so they can make more money.

For me 16GB is impossible. I'll be stuck on the iphone if Samsung doesn't stand tall. Please give us everything...we'll pay! I could make do with the 32Gb international version...I could care less about LTE. My 3G speeds average over 4Gb/2Gb. Thats plenty for me. At&t has been replacing edge diligently in the North East.

 

[mikemick]

16GB is enough for most people. The answer is actually pretty simple. Can you make 10GB of storage work between WiFi visits? If so, then the 16GB HTC One X has enough storage for you, if you understand how to harness the cloud.

10GB (which is about the actual storage of the device) gets you about 2000 songs, 2 full-length HD movies, and the photos you've taken over the past few weeks.

So, if you can get by with that much content between WiFi visits, then yes, 16GB HTC One X is enough for you.

If you don't know or understand Google Music pinning, Dropbox starred items and Google+ Photo Auto-upload then you should research that before making any decisions about 16GB not being enough for you.

I would say 16GB is enough for 90% of people. I would also say 16GB is enough for about 50% of people that think it isn't enough

 

[wrxdrunkie]

16GB is enough for most people. The answer is actually pretty simple. Can you make 10GB of storage work between WiFi visits? If so, then the 16GB HTC One X has enough storage for you, if you understand how to harness the cloud.

10GB (which is about the actual storage of the device) gets you about 2000 songs, 2 full-length HD movies, and the photos you've taken over the past few weeks.

So, if you can get by with that much content between WiFi visits, then yes, 16GB HTC One X is enough for you.

If you don't know or understand Google Music pinning, Dropbox starred items and Google+ Photo Auto-upload then you should research that before making any decisions about 16GB not being enough for you.

I would say 16GB is enough for 90% of people. I would also say 16GB is enough for about 50% of people that think it isn't enough

Does the htc music hub integrate tracks from google music as if it were a folder on my computer? That would be amazing and frankly exceed my expectations (therefore you probably can't do it)

Point being its gonna be crappy if I can't use the htc music app because I use google music. They need to be integrated and not app silos. I know you can probably launch the google music app from the htc music hub but I am hoping that htc has made it so I don't have to switch apps based on the location of the music. All my music all in the htc music hub would be great. Kinda like iTunes music showing up in spotify or double twist on the computer.

 

[mikemick]

Does the htc music hub integrate tracks from google music as if it were a folder on my computer? That would be amazing and frankly exceed my expectations (therefore you probably can't do it)

Point being its gonna be crappy if I can't use the htc music app because I use google music. They need to be integrated and not app silos. I know you can probably launch the google music app from the htc music hub but I am hoping that htc has made it so I don't have to switch apps based on the location of the music. All my music all in the htc music hub would be great. Kinda like iTunes music showing up in spotify or double twist on the computer.

I don't believe so. However, a quick Market search turned up an app called "FolderSync" that allows you to do 2-way syncing between a folder on your phone and a folder on nearly any cloud service. So, you could have a music folder on your Dropbox, and have it always stay in sync with your phone. I haven't used the program, so I can't necessarily recommend it.

 

[Raadius]

16GB is enough for me. I haven't even tapped the full capacity of my Evo 4G and I have lots of apps, roms, music etc. Plus I have Google Drive and 25GB of DB is icing.

 

[mobilityguy]

No way I buy a 16G phone. The problems with streaming data cost and access is only half the story. The carriers and cloud providers would love to have us put all our personal files in their hands. Then they can mine that data and make even more money selling our profiles to advertisers.

They make money when we store our data, they make money when we stream our data, and they make money when they read our data. Don't think for a minute that they consider us customers - we're the commodity they sell to their real customers, the advertisers, and a source of income for their stockholders. As long as we keep forking it over, they'll keep finding new ways to turn the screws even tighter so they can make more money for the people they actually care about.

 

[mrich70]

16GB is enough for me. I haven't even tapped the full capacity of my Evo 4G and I have lots of apps, roms, music etc. Plus I have Google Drive and 25GB of DB is icing.

I have the Evo 4G as well and my problem is the internal storage. I have to delete apps to free up system storage. People complaining about 2gigs of app storage obviously don't know how good they have it.

 

[trivor]

I don't understand why HTC gets all the blame for this. THE CARRIERS (ATT in this case) decide what phone they want (unless you're Apple). ATT did this to itself (not HTC). I think HTC would have preferred to drop the S4 into the International version rather than make a crippled 16 GB model for ATT. I think ATT wants to force you to buy more data (big surprise) rather than let you have a phone with more storage. Personally, I think most people would be OK with 32 GB (26 GB available) but 16 GB is on the low end. I have a very small music collection (listen to a ton of podcasts and don't like to have to clean up old ones too quickly) and have 20 GB left on my 32GB card - obviously would be maxed out with only a 16 GB device. Just have some patience and wait for the Verizon Version (will be probably replace the Rezound) or wait for the Motorola Razr HD or Samsung S3. There will be something as good the One X within 6 mos. Patience on these forums is severely lacking.

 

[Sedrick]

16GB is enough for most people. The answer is actually pretty simple. Can you make 10GB of storage work between WiFi visits? If so, then the 16GB HTC One X has enough storage for you, if you understand how to harness the cloud.

10GB (which is about the actual storage of the device) gets you about 2000 songs, 2 full-length HD movies, and the photos you've taken over the past few weeks.

So, if you can get by with that much content between WiFi visits, then yes, 16GB HTC One X is enough for you.

If you don't know or understand Google Music pinning, Dropbox starred items and Google+ Photo Auto-upload then you should research that before making any decisions about 16GB not being enough for you.

I would say 16GB is enough for 90% of people. I would also say 16GB is enough for about 50% of people that think it isn't enough

So, what you're saying, if I read you correctly, is I now have to spend extra time organizing my music/video collection frequently so I always have something fresh on my phone, whereas, now, I just load up my 32 gig phone and forget about it. How is this better or even acceptable?

 

[sRedwolf]

So, what you're saying, if I read you correctly, is I now have to spend extra time organizing my music/video collection frequently so I always have something fresh on my phone, whereas, now, I just load up my 32 gig phone and forget about it. How is this better or even acceptable?

Yeah i think this is exactly my issue as well - sure there are all kinds of work arounds but why should you be forced to jump through hoops? Why pay boatloads of money for a phone that is essentially less convenient than the one you have now. Sure if you're buying a low end device you get what you get but when buying something high end there's absolutely no reason why a 32gb version couldn't have been made available.

 

[RoboWarrior]

The only hope for us is HTC screwing us over. I'm going to wait until the next Galaxy S III (which does have a micro sd card slot) and really hope that HTC releases a 32 GB version. I pretty sure a majority of users would buy a 32 GB version even a 64 GB. I mean look at the sales of the 64 GB iPhone, they are surprisingly high! 16 GB phones should be released only for devs since they break phones really easily when creating ROMs and Kernals. Don't say really poor people because they probably shouldn't be buying something like this anyway...

 

[mikemick]

So, what you're saying, if I read you correctly, is I now have to spend extra time organizing my music/video collection frequently so I always have something fresh on my phone, whereas, now, I just load up my 32 gig phone and forget about it. How is this better or even acceptable?

Most people have to do this anyways. 32GB is not a magical number that solves that issue for most people. I have 100GB of music and over 2TB of movies. I think you'll find that most people have over 32GB of media and are going to have to "figure out a solution." The phone just isn't the right place to store all of your media, so no matter what the majority of people will have to do the same process whether it is 16 or 32GB. So how much is enough? The answer is a formula of how much media variety you need between WiFi visits, and how much do you want to manage your storage.

I think most people will be fine with 16GB. Sure, 32GB is better, and you can be a bit more flexible (and relaxed), but I think 16GB is a bare-minimum amount that 90% of people can work with (if they have WiFi at their home). I will say, I do think 32GB is the sweet-spot however.

I spend almost zero time organizing my media for my phone. I have my active playlists sync with my device. As I change my playlists, the songs on my phone change. I NEVER feel like I'm managing my phone when it comes to music or photos. I manage my playlists, when I'm listening to the music on my desktop, and my phone just updates automatically. Now, videos on the other hand is different. When heading on a trip, I will go into my Dropbox and manually star a few items that I want for my trip. So besides offline videos, I don't even feel like I'm managing my memory. I'm just creating playlists and listening to music like I naturally would.

 

[anon(776913)]

To each their own really and while I would gladly welcome more space and bigger batteries there is nothing wrong with learning to live and love a world with smaller storage and slimmer phones it just takes some adjustments but it is not for everyone.

Well said. I'm adjusting myself to live with <32GB storage phones. I understand the frustration what other people having with smaller storage. Some like to move their whole music collection to the SD card, some have movie files. I personally don't mind a smaller storage because I have Google Music for music. I don't store videos on my phone, I have an Android tablet for that. My camera's photo album is uploaded to Google+ in full size. Even with some frequently accessed media files stored on my phone, I still have 11GB free left on internal storage. I would say 16GB storage is enough for me. It'd be nice to have a SD card slot or bigger storage.

 

[jeffreii]

Most people have to do this anyways. 32GB is not a magical number that solves that issue for most people. I have 100GB of music and over 2TB of movies. I think you'll find that most people have over 32GB of media and are going to have to "figure out a solution." The phone just isn't the right place to store all of your media, so no matter what the majority of people will have to do the same process whether it is 16 or 32GB. So how much is enough? The answer is a formula of how much media variety you need between WiFi visits, and how much do you want to manage your storage.

I think most people will be fine with 16GB. Sure, 32GB is better, and you can be a bit more flexible (and relaxed), but I think 16GB is a bare-minimum amount that 90% of people can work with (if they have WiFi at their home). I will say, I do think 32GB is the sweet-spot however.

I spend almost zero time organizing my media for my phone. I have my active playlists sync with my device. As I change my playlists, the songs on my phone change. I NEVER feel like I'm managing my phone when it comes to music or photos. I manage my playlists, when I'm listening to the music on my desktop, and my phone just updates automatically. Now, videos on the other hand is different. When heading on a trip, I will go into my Dropbox and manually star a few items that I want for my trip. So besides offline videos, I don't even feel like I'm managing my memory. I'm just creating playlists and listening to music like I naturally would.

I think you're missing the point. Technology should move us forward, not backwards. If the next phone has 8GB of storage space you could make this same argument - and it would still be off.

Storage space on phones should be increasing, not decreasing. The retail price of 32GB Micro SD cards is very low now. $22 + free shipping at Amazon.com. At this point, it should be the standard amount on new flagship devices. If you're going to go cheap and gimp the storage space, just give us a Micro SD slot so we can make the decision ourselves.

In a year or two when 64GB MicroSD (and other flash memory) prices have dropped way down I expect THAT to be the new norm. SoC's get better, screens get better, tech gets thinner, etc. - don't tell me that storage space is going to DROP and we just have to deal with it.

I am not OK with AT&T saving themselves ~$5 and telling me "it's ok, use the cloud!".

 

[newbey123]

Well said. I'm adjusting myself to live with <32GB storage phones. I understand the frustration what other people having with smaller storage. Some like to move their whole music collection to the SD card, some have movie files. I personally don't mind a smaller storage because I have Google Music for music. I don't store videos on my phone, I have an Android tablet for that. My camera's photo album is uploaded to Google+ in full size. Even with some frequently accessed media files stored on my phone, I still have 11GB free left on internal storage. I would say 16GB storage is enough for me. It'd be nice to have a SD card slot or bigger storage.

That is pretty much the same way I feel. 16 GB is plenty for me. Like you I don't store videos on my phone, that is why I have tablet and laptop. For me, this device is a phone first, not a laptop where I store all my movies and files.

Everyone is different, so that is why their are so many different phones to fit everyones tast.

 

[Saneless]

You people saying 10GB is fine, and use the Cloud, and you can stream, and use G+ and picasa, Google Music.. etc etc.

It's apparent you've never done it on a small-storage phone.

Pin/take offline music: Where's it going to go? Do you have 250MB of extra space for that downloaded playlist?

Do you have a few hundred MB of storage free for caching?

Have you EVER done cloud picture management with an android device? Check your SD card's cached folder - 800MB of cache. Do you have almost a gig lying around? Probably not.

And then you run into data issues. You can cache a whole station in Slacker Radio, but nope, you won't have the space for it.

The point is, for the cloud to work it has to cache things, but you won't have room for it. Enjoy taking a picture and having the device say you can't because you don't have enough space left, unbeknownst to you your music and photo caching took up the last gig you thought you had free for that 5 minute video of your kid you planned on taking.

10GB is just an embarrassment and if Samsung has any sense they'll release a phone with an SD slot or at least 32GB as an option if they go on-board. I'm glad to see Sprint has enough sense to allow an SD slot on the One X, and that will be -THE- phone to get in the states this year.

 

[wrxdrunkie]

I don't believe so. However, a quick Market search turned up an app called "FolderSync" that allows you to do 2-way syncing between a folder on your phone and a folder on nearly any cloud service. So, you could have a music folder on your Dropbox, and have it always stay in sync with your phone. I haven't used the program, so I can't necessarily recommend it.

Darn, that is really disappointing. HTC did all of this work to make a good music app it looks like and I won't even be able to use it because I will probably be using google music. Maybe google doesn't have an API or way for developers to tie the service into their apps. Big mistake IMO