More smartphones are coming with fixed internal memory, with no way to expand this other than opting for cloud based services, of which there are now many.
The era of fixed internal memory is upon us and many side either for or against it.
In the last 5 years SD or microSD card slots have generally been the means by which we expand the memory. Even though we can do this we have been limited by the memory card size which really is at a maximum of 32GB.
Phones that have internal memory have generally 8, 16 or 32GB of internal storage and bearing in mind that the limit has been 32GB with microSD cards it surprises us that so many people are against fixed internal memory.
Manufacturers do it to increase the speed of access to the memory, to reduce the potential of faults and make phones slimmer.
Yes, it does mean it is not so easy to swap content but a quick USB connection to the computer and a copy and paste isn’t a big deal is it? Or maybe it is if you swap phones a lot.
Here at Clove, some of us feel we want a microSD card slot but in reality remove the memory card once or twice a year, therefore fixed memory would not pose a problem.
We believe it is the psychology that we do not want to be limited. We do not necessarily want to have to pay out for the one with the biggest memory now because we think we might need it. MicroSD gives you the option to have 8, 16 or 32 or bigger if it exists and choose the memory when it is right for you.
The principle is the same with fixed internal memory, you just have to go to the cloud and many of us are not yet fully integrated with this and the 3G speeds etc. all have a bearing on our negative view of fixed internal memory.
Therefore we want to know your thoughts on this so please comment below, but do too complete our poll which asks how often you remove/removed your memory card from a phone if you own or have had one with a removable memory card slot. We will report back in a couple of weeks.
About Clove
I don’t think it’s the psychology of not wanting to be limited, as much as it is that phones either don’t come with enough memory or they charge you the Earth for it. A 32gb microSDHC card doesn’t cost nearly as much as the extra that companies tend to charge for built-in memory.
Also, even when devices come with a lot of memory, it’s nice to be able to expand – I have an HTC Flyer with 32gb built-in, I still have an extra 32gb memory card in it, and it’s great when going on holidays.
Yea I can see how it would work well for holidays, Chris. Hopefully the problem will be eased a bit as more devices start to support USB hosting. That way a microSD card can still be connected, albeit slightly less conveniently.
Re Chris Lord
Hi Chris i have the xperia s with 32gb built in memory as apposed to micro SD this card holds all of my music from my pc all 2647 tracks for 18gb of space, for pictures i use a 350 Alpha dslr camera how mutch memory do you really need on a phone if they gave you a SD slot as well would you pay say an extra £50.00 for it.?
Also, every Android device I’ve used going back at least a year has been able to use 64Gb microSDs (which are just sub-£70 now), after they’ve formatted them to FAT32, which is nice – something with 16Gb already built-in then has 70Gb+ to play with…