Re: What's the actual *advantage* of HAVING an sd slot?

On Tue, 17 Jun 2025 21:25:13 +0200, R.Wieser wrote :

Well - to be fair - a thumb drive an external piece of hardware which
can not always stay connected, while an SD card is *inside* the device.

 
True.
 

So using a thumb drive is not the same like an internal SD card.

 
Absolutily.
 
But as the OP has refused to inform us what is use-case is ...
 
And that works two ways.  Until he makes clear why it *isn't* a viable
solution it is one.  :-) <whistle>

Given I have over a thousand apps easily installed on 64GB, my position,
based on long experience, is that the inexpensive 64GB is plenty of
internal storage for a modern smartphone today if it has an sd slot.

But 64GB is not even close to enough internal storage if you own an
Apple/Google phone which is designed on purpose to NOT have the industry
standard basic portable storage functionality. Apple/Google are not stupid.

The only reason for removing the sd slot is to force the consumer to
scramble to buy some of the functionality back (which costs them money).

Which is the *only reason* Google/Apple removed the basic functionality.

And yet, it's *impossible* to completely replace that lost functionality.
a. Device internal storage does *not* do what portable storage can do
b. The cloud can't possibly replace the lost functionality of portable
storage
b. Exterior storage drives (with or without cables) can't replace it either

It's *impossible* to fully replace portable storage functionality.
A. Google/Apple hope you'll *try* by purchasing *expensive* internal
storage
B. Google/Apple hope you'll *try* by purchasing immense cloud storage
C. Many people *try* by adding external drives (with or w/o cables)

As an example of basic functionality portable storage provides the user...
1. I received a handful of free 64GB Galaxy A32-5G's from T-Mobile in 2021
2. I immediately added 64GB sdcards to all of them (vol label 0000-0001)
3. I broke one phone & it was replaced under warranty by T-Mobile;
   then I broke that replacement phone, and it was replaced, for free.
   Each time, since the homescreen & APKs are stored on the sdcard,
   I popped the old sdcard into the new phone to reclone the phone.
   a. Without the Internet
   b. Without external thumb drives (or NAS)

In addition, as another example, once I had the homescreen set up nicely...
1. I copied the sdcard to the sdcards for the other phones in the household
2. And set up the homescreen and apps accordingly (just as with the first)
3. In effect, cloning the original phone onto as many phones as I like
   a. Without the Internet
   b. Without external thumb drives (or NAS)

As yet another example of basic functionality portable storage provides...
1. At some point, sd cards got cheaper (which is what they are wont to do)
2. Hence, I wanted to double the portable storage on each device
3. I used the process above to double the portable storage on each device
   a. Without the Internet
   b. Without external thumb drives (or NAS)

As long as the volume label is maintained the same, the phone has no
idea you just doubled, or tripled, or quadrupled the portable storage.

Hence, the beauty of portable storage, is the portability of it all.

As sd card storage gets cheaper, you expand your device portable storage.

There's no need to buy a new phone with expensive internal storage since
64GB is all the storage I need to easily hold over a thousand apps today.

Now do you see why Apple/Google strategically removed the sd card slot?

A phone without the sd slot is *always* going to be an inferior phone.
And, if you want to replace the lost functionality, it will cost you MONEY.
Even so, over time, that phone will need to be replaced more often.

Google/Apple aren't stupid.
Actually, they're brilliant.

They removed basic industry-standard functionality to drive their profits.
There is no other reason for a phone to NOT have portable storage
capability.

a. IP ratings appear to be similar on phones with it and without it
b. Prices are *always* more expensive (MB:MB) for phones without it
c. A phone w/o portable storage can not do what a phone with it can
   (yet, a phone w/ portable storage can do everything a phone w/o it can)

If you think there is something missing in my analysis above, let me know.