Re: What's the actual *advantage* of not having an sd slot?

On Sun, 22 Jun 2025 13:45:21 +0200, Carlos E.R. wrote :

May I ask when you say you wouldn't consider a 64GB phone if that phone had
an sd slot or not as it makes an astoundingly huge difference which it is.

 
I want more storage space, and I do not consider storage in a card as
equivalent. I consider it as a hack.

Hi Carlos,

This is probably one of my lasts posts in this thread, as it has devolved
to the trolls playing childish games but I'll respond to your point.

Nicely. As you suggested I should be. And I agree with you.
Responding to the trolls turns me into a less-nice person than I am.

Anyway... with that in mind, I understand that internal storage is
COMPLETELY DIFFERENT from portable storage. Almost nothing in common.

I agree with you.
If I ever disagree with a logically sensible viewpoint, then shoot me.

Put me out of my misery if I ever state a viewpoint that is not based on
logic and sense, where my assessments are always based on the facts.

That's why I came down hard on Arno who equated them (as in "extended
storage") which, today anyway, is an almost absurd way to use sd cards.

Hence we both agree that internal storage and portable storage have almost
nothing in common such that they're completely different functionalities.

For instance, my WhatsApp storage is several gigabytes. A lot of
storage. And can not go into a card. Ok, it can be done, but at the cost
of making it slower and less reliable.

Again, I agree with anyone who makes a logically sensible statement.
I agree with you that portable storage is not only completely different
from internal storage, but it's less reliable and it's slower.

Nobody but a fool would disagree with that sentiment.
And I'm no fool.

We'd have to ask "how much less reliable" (as in, "does it matter?").
And we'd have to ask "how much slower" (as in, "is it unusable").

But I would never disagree with anyone who says internal storage is more
reliable and faster than portable storage.

I do NOT put my whatsapp videos on the sdcard, although now that you
mention it, I get videos every day, all day of the new great grandchild.

So I should think about porting my WhatsApp "media" folder to portable
storage, where the *simplest* port is a simply copy from sd0 to sd1.

Notice that this has NO impact whatsoever on WhatsApp speed, right?
(It might even make WhatsApp faster for all I know - but not slower.)

I'm aware, as you are most likely also aware, that WhatsApp's primary
backup method is to Google Drive (which, for me, is anathema).

So you *did* need it.
You simply replaced *some* of what it did with a phone with more storage.

 
My phone does have an SD slot, and I don't use it.

You have my permission to shoot me if I ever say anything illogical or non
sensicle, because my entire mindset (as an aspy) is pure logic and sense.

I'm not easily swayed by marketing bullshit.
My mind works purely on logic and sense.

Logically, the sd card is never a disadvantage. It's *always* an advantage.
It's like having a hitch on a pickup. You can use it if you need it.

There's no harm in having it there. None whatsoever, despite the
"theoretical" harm that never shows up in prices or IP ratings or in
battery capacity (since sd slot hardware is puny & cheap by all accounts).

I use it all day, every day. In fact, I just belatedly realized when I got
the first 3 free Samsung Galaxies, I added a 32GB sdcard to each.

I know this, belatedly, because I just ran into this archive from 2021!
 <>

I used to set the volume label to 0000-0001, 0000-0002, 0000-0003, etc.,
but then I learned to set all the sd cards to the same volume label.

I started with three 64GB free phones, and I added those 32GB to each of
the three free phones, and then I added 64GB, and then 128GB, and they each
currently have an extra 256GB etc.

That's one of the logically sensible beauties of portable storage.
a. You can buy a phone at yesterday's HIGH PRICES for internal storage
b. With only 64GB of internal storage
c. And then when you need more storage - you buy it as you need it

At today's vastly lower prices.
It's perfect.

It's logical.
It's sensible.

Which is why "some" of the OEMs hate you being able to do that.

The reason they removed this industry-standard basic hardware functionality
had nothing to do with prices or space or IP ratings.

So why do you think they remofved it in the expensive phones?
You must answer that question becuase it's a fact they removed it.

So we are forced to explain that fact.

But it's *impossible* to replace what portable storage does with permanent
storage. You can work around some of the issues - but not all of them.

 
I consider the reverse: you are working around the lack of internal
storage with a hack: installing an external card.

Hmmm... remember I will never disagree with a logically sensible statement
which is based on facts - but - I will always disagree when it's not.

You already know I have over a thousand packages on my phone, which I've
stated many times in other threads on other topics - and I store my
WhatsApp on the internal storage as I store a lot of other app data on my
internal storage, and yet, I can live within the confines of 64GB easily.

Why is that?

Why can I easily have a thousand apps on 64GB of internal storage.
And you can't?

That's just not logical.
You must be doing something "wrong" (in terms of why not).

Why is it, that I can easily live with 64GB of storage - and you can't?
Your premise is either not logical - or maybe I misunderstood it.

I'm glad you're being reasonable in that you understood that permanent
storage costs an arm and a leg at yesterday's inflated prices, because you
have to plan ahead for five years of use of that phone when you buy a phone
that does not have an sd slot. You get no second chances.

 
You do not know what it costs, because you have to compare model prices
when the _only_ difference is the internal storage size. Often more
storage comes in a model with several more features, starting with more RAM.

Again and again, I will never disagree with any logically sensible
viewpoint. If, for example, you chose the Apple lineup, you don't even get
a choice to compare an iPhone with portable storage versus one without it.

Apple, on purpose, since Apple is not stupid, limited your choices.
If you want more on-device storage - you have to buy it from Apple.

If I ever say Apple marketing is NOT brilliant - then you can worry about
me not being logical and sensible - because Apple is extremely brilliant.

The same goes for Arno's & Rudy's Pixels. They have no choice of portable
storage so they are forced to choose by expensive internal storage tiers.

But take the case of Samsung.
Now you have choices.

So it really depends on the model that you prefer whether or not you have
the choice of portable storage - but having said that - I do agree if
you're looking *only* at models that have *only* internal storage, then you
don't have an option.

It's like looking at pickups which don't have the possibility of a hitch.
But....

There's a reason Google/Apple/Samsung(highend) don't offer 64GB phones.
It's because without portable memory, a 64GB phone would be useless.

Have I ever mentioned that these marketing teams are brilliant?

In your use model, how would you copy over all the OSMAnd data to a
replacement phone? And how would you copy over all your APKs to the
replacement phone (especially if many aren't from the Google Play repo)?

 
There is a tool that replicates the phone.

Again (and again), shoot me if I'm ever not logical or sensible.
Yes. Of course. Both Apple & Android have WONDERFUL copying mechanisms.

But...

They involve cloud storage and/or Internet accounts, don't they?

Hmmm....

Is that free? How big is your phone's data? Let's say your storage is 128GB
of which half is used so it's 64GB. Who offers free 64GB of cloud storage?

I don't know (offhand) of *anyone* but I just looked and some off-brands do
(such as Blomp, Degoo, TeraBox, etc.) but they too come with slow speeds,
ads, upsells, etc., so it's not a free lunch to get 64GB of cloud storage.

And, it needs an account too (which, as you know, for me, is anathema).

Hmmm... that's a bummer. Isn't it?

It's slow. It's not free. It's a huge risk to privacy. Hell, every photo
will be "scanned" for kiddie porn, for example, not that any of us would
have any, but do you want all your grandchildren's baby pics scanned by a
computer using some crazy algorithm written by someone you don't know?

Hey wait a minute! Guess what? I just realized, portable memory doesn't
have *any* of those problems. Wow. Who would have thought that portable
memory beats the cloud every time on speed, security, privacy, etc. :)

And how would you copy over your homescreen from the old phone to the new
phone so that every folder and app is exactly in the same place?
 
I'm not saying you can't do that - but I am asking HOW you do that.

 
By hand, but that's a different issue. I don't use a phone desktop app
except the default one, so no export/import/backup feature.

Well, again, I will never disagree with a logically sensible point of view.
Most people aren't as capable as I am in porting a setup to a new phone.

I've worked with computers since the 1960s so I've learned over fifty years
ago how to organize a computer - so my computers port easily to new ones.

But I agree with you that most people reproduce the homescreen by hand.
Which, to me is crazy. But that's what they do. I don't disagree with you.

Me?

Once a month (or so), I save the entire homescreen to a backup file.
If I lose the phone, I buy a new phone and reload the backup homescreen.

Voila.
It's EXACTLY the same.

But, I agree with you that most people re-create their homescreen manually.
I pity them.

They probably also re-download all their APKs too.
Again, I pity them.

But that's what people do, so I won't disagree with you since I never
disagree with any logically sensible statement or point of view.

Ah, Chris, it *is* a fact.

 
I'm not Chris.

Yea. I goofed. You "sound" like Chris. :) But that's my mistake.
I apologize.

But please take care of distiushing between facts & assessments.

This is a fact:
 Apple promised 5 years of full support; Google promised 7.
This is an assessment (partly based on that fact, but not wholly)
 Apple support sucks.

The Apple trolls are infamous for not comprehending the difference.
a. Only fools disagree with facts; that's why they're fools.
b. But adults can logically disagree with assessment of facts.

That's simply because adults put DIFFERENT weights on facts.

When I state a fact, it's never wrong (or, if I goof, I will instantly
admit it if it's shown to not be a correct fact).

But my assessments of facts aren't right or wrong since they're a logically
sensible distillation of many thousands of facts for each assessment.

Example of a fact:
 Apple never put an sd slot in the iPhone
Example of an assessment (based on thousands of data points):
 Apple did that to force users to buy back the missing functionality

Please don't ever make the mistake that the Apple trolls thrive on.
A fact nobody but a fool disagrees with. That's why they're fools.
Assessments of facts can easily be discussed with varying outcomes.

 

The fact you think it's not a fact, is disconcerting to me.
 
I'm trying to be nice when I say this, because it's clearly a fact.
I don't know if you ever took logic in college, but I did.

 
Not a fact. It is your opinion.

You really need to take a course in logic, Carlos. Seriously.

This is a fact:
 The Pixel does not have an sd card slot
This is an assessment of that (and thousands of other facts):
 Google did it to force people buy the missing functionality back

Do not confuse a fact from an assessment of fact.
It's illogical. It's not sensible.

Don't do that.

One of the cars has basic industry-standard functionality removed.
The other car does not have that basic standard functionality removed.

 
It is your opinion that "whatever" is a basic industry standard
functionality.

Yeah. So. What's your point?

It's functionality that isn't there, that, in the case of Samsung phones,
used to almost always be there. Now it's gone in some Samsung phones.

If the most erudite argument you can make against sd card slots is that you
don't like the adjectives I use to describe them, then you have no
argument.

Be logical please.
Be sensible.

If you can't come up with anything more logical than you don't like my
adjectives, then it just shows me that you're in desperation mode.

Please use logigal arguments with me.
And use facts.

It's fine if you assess why they removed the functionality differently.
But the fact is, a phone either has the functionality, or not.

And the fact is a phone without the functionality is like a pickup without
a trailer hitch. It can't do what the pickup with the hitch can do.

That's just a fact.
It can work around that missing lost functionality.

And, you could argue buying two trucks, for example, is even better.
But.... there's a cost.

Which is the point.
Apple marketing isn't stupid.

They know you have to buy back all that functionality they took away.
Which is why they do it.

BTW, this is a fact:
 Apple/Google & some Samsung's have no sd card functionality.
This is an assessment of that fact (plus thousands of other facts):
 They aren't stupid - they did that to make you buy it back.

Please understand the difference between a fact & an assessment.
Don't be like the Apple trolls who can't figure out the differences.