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

On Mon, 16 Jun 2025 19:36:16 +0200, Arno Welzel wrote :

Apples to apples, a phone without sd capability is a crappier phone.
Because it can't do what a phone with sd capability can do - that's why.

 
For me the quality of a phone is define by *many* *more* features beside
having an SD card or not.

(a nicer me; but still me)

Hi Arno,
I agree. There is *much* more to a phone than just basic functionality.
Portable memory is just one of many basic-functionality items to consider.

For example having security update for at least 5-8 years is much more
important for me than having an SD card slot.

Yes. Agreed. Luckily Samsung offers 7 years for the S-series.
And 6 years for the A-series. And Google is 7 years for the Pixel.

Plus all Android phones (10+) are updated monthly by Google over the net.

 Also having vanilla
Android instead of some manufacturer UI makes things much easier.

Yes. Agreed. I have Samsung's customization on my A-series Galaxy.
I'd rather have stock Android. But I got the phone for free.
So I didn't choose it, per se.

My "perfect" phone would be:
a. Stock Android
b. At least 64GB internal storage (more is not needed)
c. With basic functionality (sd, aux, removable battery, etc.)

For "minimum" specs, my free 2021 Galaxy A32-5G has a thousand apps on it.
The 64GB permanent storage is holding all that with a bit of room to spare.

 
Well - if you really need 1000(!) apps, then you need a lot of storage.
But I can not even fathom why one would need 1000(!) apps on a device.

I should clarify that's "packages" as reported by my package manager.
I test a *lot* of apps, Arno.

I've tested *every* free app in plenty of categories.
And I've written tutorials on them, which you must be aware of.

So I agree I have more packages on my phone than most people would have.
But that also means that my logical assessment of 64GB is reasonably good.

It's my experienced assessment that if a phone has basic functionality,
then 64GB of internal storage is plenty. More is better - but only if free.

I have less than 300 apps and 128 GB internal memory on a device which
will get another three years of security updates.

All Androids (10+) get free updates, but I understand what you mean by
"security updates". My 2021 Galaxy A32-5G just recently got its last
scheduled security update, for example.

Luckily I don't need to replace it because I can increase the portable
storage any time I want, so what's gonna kill it, eventually, is the
battery, but, luckily, it's a 5AH battery... so it's still strong.

So, my tentative conclusion is 64GB is a perfectly fine amount, even today.
As long as you have portable storage capability.
 
I wouldn't dream of purchasing a crappy Pixel or iPhone with that little.
Because you can't increase the portable storage with crappy phones.

 
And I *love* this phone! Everything works just as expected and with
*vanilla* Android on it and not that crappy Samsung UI and all that
Samsung bloatware apps.

I agree with you that it's wonderful that it's a stock Android.
I'm sure rooting it is nicer too.

For example, I can't root my phone. Samsung won't let us.

And no - I do *not* use *any* Google cloud services. I run my own
Nextlcoud server where I keep *all* my data - address book, calendar,
pictures, music and so on...

Good. You must be on Linux desktops.

I wouldn't use a Samsung phone without installing LineageOS first to get
at least a decent Android version.

Most USA Samsungs, I'm told, are unrootable.
 <https://xdaforums.com/t/is-my-almost-3-year-old-t-mobile-network-unlocked-samsung-galaxy-sm-a326u-bootloader-still-unlockable-and-hence-is-my-sm-a326u-still-unrootable.4638955/>