Samsung sucks for removing the micro SD and MST Samsung Pay.

[me just saying]

Well here's the thing, an SD card isn't fast enough to record 8K video anyway.

no but you can copy it over to an sd card after recording.

 

[fuzzylumpkin]

no but you can copy it over to an sd card after recording.

Very true.

But you can also back them up to a flash drive at 3 times the speed (so a file that would've taken 60 minutes would take 20). Or to a portable SSD at up to twenty times the speed (so a file that would've taken 60 minutes will take 3).

SD cards were great, but they've had their day.

 

[me just saying]

Very true.

But you can also back them up to a flash drive at 3 times the speed (so a file that would've taken 60 minutes would take 20). Or to a portable SSD at up to twenty times the speed (so a file that would've taken 60 minutes will take 3).

SD cards were great, but they've had their day.

true, but it is an extra device that would have to be carried around in case you record something. In a lot of cases it really is all about convenience.

 

[bkeaver]

Imo sd cards are very unreliable and can get corrupted easy. I stopped using them along time ago and if I need to clear up space on my phone I plug into my pc to offload/loaf my files. I've also upload to cloud if I'm not near a computer. I can't tell you how many files I lost due to sd card corruption.

 

[mustang7757]

true, but it is an extra device that would have to be carried around in case you record something. In a lot of cases it really is all about convenience.

Exactly one less thing to worry about

 

[mustang7757]

Imo sd cards are very unreliable and can get corrupted easy. I stopped using them along time ago and if I need to clear up space on my phone I plug into my pc to offload/loaf my files. I've also upload to cloud if I'm not near a computer. I can't tell you how many files I lost due to sd card corruption.

If used as internal storage, for photos or transfer things it's fine .

 

[Rose4uKY]

If used as internal storage, for photos or transfer things it's fine .

My husband said he wants to buy a hard drive and have our own wireless cloud here in the house.

 

[mustang7757]

My husband said he wants to buy a hard drive and have our own wireless cloud here in the house.

Not a bad idea!

 

[corvette72778]

Samsung actually killed MST before they removed it from their phones. Samsung been killing off their samsung rewards and dont offer anymore incentive to use it. What really killed it was Home depot and Walmart disabled MST. Those were the only super stores that do not offer tap to pay. Samsung pay used to work but now those two stores disabled it. Everybody wanted to kill MST.

I use MST just about everyday with my Note 20 Ultra. Rewards was not the biggest reason for using samsung Pay. Not having to carry a wallet was.

 

[corvette72778]

That's the problem, they're not selling lots of phones. Last year was a failure for them. So theyre trying again by dropping the price this year in hopes of better sales. But in turn that requires losing features to cut cost. I don't think it'll pay out in the end. I live in a major metro area and 90% of the time I'm using MST. Especially with Covid I try to avoid touching terminals. Also cloud storage is just another ridiculous cost that will be more than a simple microSD.

It went downhill once they added the ridiculous cost of qualcomm 5G chips. I believe it was a major mistake to mandate customers buy 5G equipped phones. In 2019 it was optional. Nobody was complaining about slow 4G LTE speeds. 5G added an extra $200. Demand because of the price went down. So now to offset the still high cost of 5G they gutted the phone. I believe there's going to be a lot of us techies who use and care about features that will not buy.
The thing is I did complain about the high price last year for the Note 20 Ultra. But guess what I still bought it as I have every year. But there's no way in hell I'm buying a Samsung this year even if they cut the price in half if it loses the features I've come to expect. I dont want a downgraded gutted phone.

 

[PlanetPluto7]

Business. After a long line of Notes going back to the 4 I sent the newest one back. Apple price and would not pair with the new watches. Finishing software at Apple prices is not gonna fly. Have a very nice 1 Plus 8 pro now.

 

[Piggy winks]

Imo sd cards are very unreliable and can get corrupted easy. I stopped using them along time ago and if I need to clear up space on my phone I plug into my pc to offload/loaf my files. I've also upload to cloud if I'm not near a computer. I can't tell you how many files I lost due to sd card corruption.

and in the times I've used SD cards, only two (one for me one for my daughter's tablet) has ever gotten corrupted. Now Thumb drives, I've had those fail much more often. SD cards, just the one for me that I've used. Its an easy way to store files and data. Doesn't take much space in a phone, since the tray is there for the SIM anyways.

 

[corvette72778]

These are the results for the video test. I watch a decent amount of youtube myself.

 

[me just saying]

It went downhill once they added the ridiculous cost of qualcomm 5G chips. I believe it was a major mistake to mandate customers buy 5G equipped phones. In 2019 it was optional. Nobody was complaining about slow 4G LTE speeds. 5G added an extra $200. Demand because of the price went down. So now to offset the still high cost of 5G they gutted the phone. I believe there's going to be a lot of us techies who use and care about features that will not buy.
The thing is I did complain about the high price last year for the Note 20 Ultra. But guess what I still bought it as I have every year. But there's no way in hell I'm buying a Samsung this year even if they cut the price in half if it loses the features I've come to expect. I dont want a downgraded gutted phone.

they can back down on prices without losing features since 60-70 percent of the price is pure profit. They need to take a lesson from Canon. Back in the 70's, they went for volume when selling the Canon ae1 camera. They made a lot of money off the camera in spite of low profit margins.

 

[Gary02468]

bring the phone up to the same location with the NFC symbol printed on it with Google Pay and chimes before you can blink

I tried Google Pay recently for the first time and you're right--it's noticeably faster and more reliable than Samsung Pay has been for me. I'll be using Google Pay from now on.

 

[buzzy3970]

What's with this Apple price comment? I really don't get it. Samsung flagship phones have always been priced in the range with apple and note devices exceeding Apple prices. This is not a new trend although prices are rising. I believe the S series is reasonably priced although I also agree that some features have been skimped. Sadly the nature of business with these major manufacturers.

Business. After a long line of Notes going back to the 4 I sent the newest one back. Apple price and would not pair with the new watches. Finishing software at Apple prices is not gonna fly. Have a very nice 1 Plus 8 pro now.

 

[Mike Dee]

Samsung actually killed MST before they removed it from their phones. Samsung been killing off their samsung rewards and dont offer anymore incentive to use it. What really killed it was Home depot and Walmart disabled MST. Those were the only super stores that do not offer tap to pay. Samsung pay used to work but now those two stores disabled it. Everybody wanted to kill MST.

Works at my Walmart and Home Depot

 

[Mike Dee]

I'm bummed about the SD card removal. So much for saving the environment with 'reusable' storage!

You really think sd cards will save the environment

 

[Mike Dee]

I agree with this. I hate that they dropped the sd slot. On all the phones I've had with LG and Sammy with Google Photos, trying to view videos from the cloud is impossible. The app just buffers and I can't show any videos I've taken. Doesn't matter if its LG (2 models) and Sammy (2 models), they do the same no matter where I am. Updating the app doesn't do anything. Photos can take a bit to show depending on the data speed. I like how I can remove the card, put it in the PC and transfer away without issue. No cables to worry about, no slow speeds to worry about. No need to login (if not on my laptop) and download a picture.

Adding the SD slot doesn't take that much room. You already have the tray for the SIM card anyways.


I get some folks use 35GB of pictures. Good for you. Many don't. I have between the internal and SD card, 210GB of data/images/files/music/etc. Couple that with many apps are large, and a 128GB card will be alot less for storing. Apps and System files are over 50GB on my phone alone. So on a 128GB, I only would have 70ish GB. I'm twice more than that on my SD card alone.

If it wasn't for TMo's deal for a free S21 with tradein, I'd have skipped this line. My wifes much less than I do so I'll give her this phone, but removing the SD slot is a dumb move. Maybe then make it a feature of the 22+ and drop it on the S22 when they come out, but gone all together? Blah...

And another thing, about the article here "Best microSD Alternatives for Samsung Galaxy S21 in 2021" specifically the comment: "But with the wide availability of external SSDs, there are plenty of options that deliver much better transfer rates while costing the same as traditional microSD cards."

That is an asinine comment. Some of the options listed are way more expensive. the Flash drives are similar, but then you need to carry about another USB drive. The SD readers you still need a SD card. The beauty of a SD slot is you don't have to carry anything else. The card is in the phone. Want to transfer pictures, just take the card out and put it in the laptop/pc (which most have slots for now anyways be default).

Most PCs don't have micro SD slots and some are giving up SD

 

[Mike Dee]

Wait...are people really going to be doing a bunch of 8K recording with this phone? I'm not saying it's a bad thing as it is an advertised feature. But I can't imagine using it much personally.

lol