Why is Android moving away from Micro SD slots and removeable batteries?

[cardboard60]

I talked to the Samsung Rep AT Best Buy and emailed Samsung.
They do not know where this talk come from.
If you buy a Samsung Phone. It will have a replaceable battery and a Micro SD card.
And I told them I like the plastic on the back of the S5 phone. It makes it easy to put the SD card in and take the battery out.
When you put a case on the phone what difference does it make.
It you want a metal case. Go buy a iPhone. Then you can take the screws out to take the battery out. And there is NO SD card place.

 

[Amia BooMaster]

In a twisted way I can sorta understand no SD cards but no removable batteries? Inexcusable.

Sent from my SM-N900P using Tapatalk

 

[JeffDenver]

I love my Nexus 5, but I miss removable batteries and SD. The phone is not at all enhanced because it lacks them.

Fortunately the trend appears to be going the other way now.

 

[distributor1]

There is another problem lurking among the technical issues already discussed. As we start seeing 4k video coming, the demand for memory in the phone is going to increase exponentially, take some time to read the data on this.

 

[JeffDenver]

There is another problem lurking among the technical issues already discussed. As we start seeing 4k video coming, the demand for memory in the phone is going to increase exponentially, take some time to read the data on this.

No, the cloud is sure to provide all the room we need. You know, because it is so reliable and is fast all the time. Lots of people on this site have assured me of this.

 

[A895]

We moving back towards removable storage again! Good news! The OnePlus One is the only exception but every other flagship smartphone running Android has a micro SD card slot. Now, if only the price of a 128GB card went down!

Sent from my XT907 using Mobile Nations mobile app

 

[cardboard60]

i have an amasing Balistic Case on my infuse ive seen friends get the htc one or the S4 and like 4 days later broken screen :'o

And the broken screen was directly due to the plastic back or case.
I've seen numerous people with the iPhone and dropped it and guess what.
Broken screen. These phones are not made to put in your back pocket and be sat on, Or dropped.
Choose a case to carry them in. And one that will work with a clip on your side and take it out of your pocket.

 

[JnEricsonx]

My HTC Thunderbolt was in a case the day I got it. I never took it out of the case for 2 years, and that was just to put in a new battery. My Note 2 only comes out of the case because crap gets in under the Otterbox defender screen protector, and Im frakking OCD about keeping it clean. The phone I get that I don't put a case or screen protector on better have a body made of adamantimum and a screen of diamond, else I'm protecting that sucker.

 

[stackberry369]

While I agree oems like Samsung and HTC need to offer the 32gb,64gb versions of their flagships at launch like Apple does and people will get over the SD card arguement I know I will

Sent from my PC36100

My note 3 is 32GB

Posted via Android Central App

 

[vinnie_boombhats]

Because Skynet...... I mean, google, knows what you want before you do.

 

[cgardnervt]

SD cards are very useful! I like them but I can certainly live without em. As far as removable batteries....These are nice and I don't understand why they are always sealed. But again if the phone is near perfect otherwise I can live without it. I have had my M7 for a while now and I have next to no issues!

 

[kirksucks]

Re sd vs cloud.
Since Verizon got rid of unlimited data I haven't used any apps that stream from the cloud. I cant afford to listen to music all day anymore. I don't use Pandora at all. This might be why T-Mobile has decided to stop counting musicals apps towards your data plan.

Razr M via the app.

 

[kirksucks]

sent from the best smart phone (not phablet) on the worst network- the galaxy S III unfortunately on T-Mobile

And the broken screen was directly due to the plastic back or case.
I've seen numerous people with the iPhone and dropped it and guess what.
Broken screen. These phones are not made to put in your back pocket and be sat on, Or dropped.
Choose a case to carry them in. And one that will work with a clip on your side and take it out of your pocket.

Make phones indestructible so we won't need bulky cases.

Make phones with tons of storage so we won't need SD cards

Make batteries last forever.


Razr M via the app.

 

[LeoRex]

Non-removable batteries.... simple answer there... it's cheaper to design and manufacture. If you include a removable battery, you need to design a back that can be removed both easily and reliably without damage, and packaging a cradle for the battery would mean you'd also have to concern yourself with securing other stuff in there, ribbons, etc. It might not amount to much, but corporate beancounters will nickle and dime everywhere they can.

SD cards.... I find it hard to swallow that Google is conducting a war against SD cards. I know they would like people to utilize their cloud storage offerings, but I don't think they would force people's hands and push them to use it, that's not really their style (that's something our friends from Cupertino would do). They are just trying to figure out a way to make things safe and secure.... Up until KK, it was the wild wild west in there, anyone and everyone had full access to everything...every file, folder, you name it, you could read and write to it. And while KK might have gone a little too restrictive (partitioning external secondary storage, SD cards, as an application data space so user apps can't share data), I think that might have been a stop-gap while they figure out the best method to handle permissions since SD cards can't use native file and folder permissions (file system limitation). Rumors are that the next release will bring back in the ability to give apps permissions for things like shared folders (like DCIM, for instance), but we'll have to see about that.

Maybe it is just as simple as time tables. Google obviously made the decision to tighten down security on external storage for KitKat. And to secure the cards in time, maybe they choose to take the simpler and less risky route because the more nuanced method would have not been ready in time. Decisions like this happen all the time across the industry.

 

[FallacyDebunker]

Originally Posted by The Hustleman
Sd cards WITH internal storage is superior than just internal storage because-

1. If the phone is damaged, all data on it is gone, but with an sd card you can salvage it
Not all data will be on the SD card, so no, you won't be able to salvage all of it.

Originally Posted by The Hustleman
Sd cards WITH internal storage is superior than just internal storage because-

2. If the computer won't recognize the phone, you can always put the sd card into a reader and get that data without using the cloud to run your data up
Like the first one, this really only applies to photos and video. And that's if the person even thought to set the camera to save to the right place.

Originally Posted by The Hustleman
Sd cards WITH internal storage is superior than just internal storage because-

3. You can expand storage capabilities with an sd card, not so much with internal storage
Oh really? Did not know that. lol.

Originally Posted by The Hustleman
Sd cards WITH internal storage is superior than just internal storage because-

4. You can switch sd cards without powering down the phone and keep a significant portion of your music or video library with you at all times.
Isn't it safer to not remove the card when the phone is on? You're just asking for data corruption.

Originally Posted by The Hustleman
Sd cards WITH internal storage is superior than just internal storage because-

5. It's just better to have a feature and device not to use it than to not have it and not have the option to use it
Some would say that's a waste.



You seriously sound like the type of person that doesn't empty out the SD card of a digital camera.

You Ry, are full of fallacies:
1) Not all data will be on the SD card, so no, you won't be able to salvage all of it.
You won't be able to salvage all of it, but you won't lose all of it either thanks to whatever is inside your SD Card.

2) Like the first one, this really only applies to photos and video. And that's if the person even thought to set the camera to save to the right place.
You are correct: If somebody utilizes their SD Card the right way they can attain the pros stated by The Hustleman in statements 1 and 2

3) Oh really? Did not know that. lol.
Considering your consistently weak statements/fallacies I will consider the slim chance that you were indeed too dumb to realize capacity increment until reading the quote you've quoted. But regardless whether you're dumb or dumber, "capacity increment" is an irrefutable fact: Hence I just felt to mention that your quote "Oh really? Did not know that. lol." is absolutely redundant, if it was even purposed as legitimate argument to begin with.

4) Isn't it safer to not remove the card when the phone is on? You're just asking for data corruption.
What you're passively assuming with this statement is that everybody is too dumb to understand how to unmount partitions. And even so: Extra capacity is always extra capacity even if there's a slim chance some of the data gets corrupted, at least it's an additional redundancy on top of the worse alternative backup approaches for instance "uploading to whatever Cloud with 3G/4G/Wifi (without encrypted VPN because people that are too dumb to unmount partitions are most likely too dumb to protect their traffic as well)"

5) Some would say that's a waste.
Logically those who don't use it for media data are most likely too dumb to even realize that extra features will impact manufacture cost and such, hence are even neutral in opinion. Therefore it's the majority that should agree having an SD Card slot.

You seriously sound like the type of person that doesn't comprehend how many fallacies you casually share on daily basis, yet you dare call yourself a moderator.

 

[J Dubbs]

It's all about the Benjamin's....... it's also called planned obsolescence. The easier they make it for us to keep our phones longer, the less money they make.

And with the prices hitting ludicrous levels, the greed factor with these companies is reaching a fever pitch.

Is a disposable phone really worth over a grand? Or are there probably smarter ways we could spend our money?

 

[kramer5150]

Its ALL about forced obsolescence and getting us to spend more $$. The more often we have to throw away a device the fatter / happier they all become.

 

[J Dubbs]

^^^ yep

 

[anon(10092459)]

Respectfully, I disagree. Technologies have always advanced. Doesn't mean that money is the sole motivator. Things do become obsolete, and at an incredible pace with technology. I mean, floppy disks... vinyl records... etc.

SD cards will inevitably become a thing of the past, and I think they should. They're often riddled with problems. It makes sense to retire them at some point.

 

[kramer5150]

Thats just the thing... Technology has not advanced sufficiently enough to warrant deletion of end user choices.... IMHO of course

Batteries and lithium based chemistry in general are not good enough to seal them up and lock them inside.
Cloud storage networks are not good enough to eliminate localized end-user storage choices. Sure an SD card will crap out from time to time, but the end user has the choice of backups or keeping replacements handy. I have found cloud storage networks completely inadequate because they are entirely dependent on network connectivity and quality levels at the location.

The manufacturers and carriers have very cleverly disguised forced obsolescence behind things like water resistance, "premium feeling handset" materials and cloud storage. Even Qi charging and quick charge features are smoke and mirrors to hide the short comings of non-removable, sealed batteries.

Eliminating consumer choice is NEVER a good thing.