The time was: you could remove the back cover of your phone and easily exchange it for a new battery and a microSD card. In addition to feeling like a double agent in a spy movie, this extra flexibility has given Android phone fans welcome ammunition to praise their Apple rivals. However, things have changed.
Today’s phones are thinner, more elegant and more powerful than ever, but we are also losing more and more features over the years. Replaceable batteries are a distant memory, and even the powerful and seemingly immortal headphone jack is virtually extinct from modern flagships.
The latest feature in the crosshairs of smartphone evolution? Expandable storage.
That’s right – the microSD slot, loved by advanced users and media collectors, is at risk of entering the smartphone’s resource graveyard. While expandable storage options have become less common in recent years, it is the latest launch of Samsung’s Galaxy S21 series that could signal the beginning of the end.
Tendencies
It is reasonable to say that Samsung is seen by many as the ‘Apple’ of the Android world. Its devices are widely considered to offer one of the most premium smartphone experiences on the market, both in terms of hardware and functionality, and in price. Not only that, but the South Korean tech giant also tends to jump aboard Apple-created trends.
Yes, we know, this is blasphemy in the sacred corridors of the Android Temple, but it is true.
“It is increasingly evident that expandable storage is disappearing as an option on smartphones,” says Ben Wood, chief analyst at CCS Insight.
“Apple has always taken this approach, forcing customers to buy large, more expensive memory variants, rather than a low-cost after-sales memory card. With market leader Samsung abandoning expandable memory on its latest S21 smartphones, it appears that this option will follow the 3.5mm headphone jack into oblivion. “
Ah, the headset so overlooked. Remember when Apple killed you? Samsung launched video ads mocking Apple, only to remove them later, by abandoning its main line version of the Galaxy.
Exactly the same thing happened when it came to removing the charging plug for the Galaxy S21 included earlier. Although the company has shown that it can reverse decisions – it removed the microSD slot on the Galaxy S6 and brought it back to the Galaxy S7 in 2016 – we can’t really see it restarting the expandable storage franchise ever again.
We are focusing on Samsung specifically because the company is a very reliable thermometer for trends in the Android world. While we cannot guarantee that other manufacturers will follow suit, it is quite likely, especially when we look at the trend of removing the headphone connector.
At the time of writing, the top high-end phones with microSD slots include last year’s Galaxy S20 and Note 20 Ultra, Sony Xperia 1 II and Xperia 5 II, LG V60 ThinQ and Xiaomi Mi 10i, to name a few important examples.
Reaction or acceptance?
Human beings are fickle and it can be argued that, thanks to the bombardment of memes 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, destructive TikTok videos and constant news cycles, our memories have never been shorter.
Remember when the idea of removing the headphone connector seemed ridiculous? Ask an ordinary person on the street about this today, and most likely they will barely register the Old Times, walking happily with their AirPods or AirPods clones firmly plugged into their ears. The more cynical among us may believe that the death of the headphone jack is primarily driven by the sale of wireless headsets, but that is another story.
“It will be interesting to see how this trend will develop in the long run,” says Bill Nagy, an analyst and independent consultant for TMT.
“Apple faced consumer reaction for removing the headphone connector, but it did not have an immediate effect on iPhone sales in the two years after the move. However, Android-based phones are known for their flexibility, a feature well regarded by Android users. The increased removal of the option to use microSD cards, especially replacing it with cloud storage, is likely to increase the number of Android consumers.
“Other Android manufacturers should assess the market’s reaction to Samsung’s move to inform its future development cycles.”
It is likely, then, that hardcore Android users – the kind of person who delves into the world of unlockable bootstraps, custom ROMS and several frequent Android forums – may choose to boycott Samsung phones without microSD, but they represent a small percentage of sales .
Not only that, but OnePlus (a company widely regarded as geared towards Android enthusiasts), Never offered expandable storage and still seems to have positive followers. This remains true for the new OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro.
Do you still need expandable storage?
Today, you can argue quite convincingly that most people don’t need expandable storage. Thanks to the wide availability of cloud storage solutions, such as Google Drive and Photos, you can easily store your files and media online, saving space on your phone for applications and any media files you want immediate access to (such as episodes of your program) favorite binge-watch on a long flight).
In addition, there is also the fact that despite advances in technology, microSD transfer speeds remain much slower than your phone’s built-in NVMe storage, which provides much faster and smoother performance. Yes, this is a bit of a geek and will not interest the casual user, but it is a point worth mentioning.
The problem, however, is that we are seeing things like 8K video recording becoming more common on new devices. If you’re a keen cameraman, you’ll be chewing on-board storage in no time. In addition, services like Google Drive and Google Photos are no longer completely free – you need to pay a monthly fee once you exceed the 15 GB free storage limit.
You could argue (convincingly) that removing expandable storage options is a way for companies to promote their own cloud storage solutions in the future, like the cloud services from Samsung and OnePlus, to list a few examples. If you haven’t noticed yet, this may result in the situation of increased sales of wireless headphones / headsets again.
On a much less subtle level, it also allows companies to follow Apple’s method of offering higher-capacity devices at higher prices.
“Ultimately, it means that if you want a smartphone with a large capacity, you need to choose a more expensive model instead of increasing the memory later with a memory card,” says Wood.
This is all conjecture, of course. Perhaps Samsung will bring back expandable storage along with the headphone jack in a reminiscent of nostalgia-laden retro product.
Perhaps the manufacturers make the phones a little bit thicker to give us bigger batteries, which can also be replaced again. Hell, we can even see phones with removable covers, like Nokia’s good old days.