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Poll: How much storage do you need for your smartphone?

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When buying a new phone, certain specs come to mind first for different people. Some users are primarily concerned with battery capacity, others want top camera quality, a stunning display, the latest processor or the most RAM. But, there's one spec that will make your smartphone experience a lot better, and it might be off your radar: storage capacity.

Each year, I notice more and more storage space being taken up by the system, and from photos and videos I've taken. After several OS updates and upgrading to a smartphone with a better camera and 4K video, my free storage space is dwindling faster than ever. Not to mention the games that take up over 1 GB each, offline Netflix episodes and my Spotify Premium offline playlists. With just a few GB of storage left, I'm hesitating to download new apps and I'm constantly purging old photos to get more space. The anxiety is making me hate my smartphone and want to upgrade, despite having an otherwise pleasant experience with it.

For me, 16 GB is definitely no longer enough, 32 GB is barely sufficient and 64 GB is just right. For people who like to keep all of their photos and videos on their phone instead of Google Photos like me, anything less than 128 GB might not cut it. If brands are going to release smartphones with just 32 or even 64 GB of internal storage, they should really include a microSD slot. LG released the LG G6 flagship to the US market last year with only a 32 GB storage option available, and without the microSD card slot, that move would have been crazy. Even so, not all recent flagship smartphones offer microSD storage, as was the case with the OnePlus 5T, for example.

We want to find out how much storage space you feel you need in your smartphone. Cast your vote in the poll below, and let us know why you chose your answer in the comments. If you use a combination of internal storage, microSD and cloud storage, tell us why. 

How much storage do you need for your smartphone?
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Brittany McGhee

Brittany McGhee
Editor androidpit.com

Brittany loves to keep up with the latest technology and innovation, so she is excited to have the opportunity to write about the wonderful world of Android. She thinks spreadsheets and numbers are fun, in addition to reading books and volunteering.

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11 comments
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  • CJ Brown 29
    CJ Brown Feb 7, 2018 Link to comment

    32gig with micro sd card slot (cloud storage is nice when sharing content between devices) and I have to say at least 32gig due to the size of certain apps (flash memory is getting lager and more affordable).

    Sorin


  • 16
    nightflyer2131 Feb 6, 2018 Link to comment

    For me 64 to 128 and yes a must sd card slot by all means if not phone is dead to me hence note 8 sweet spot their im good !


  • ibanez Yamato 5
    ibanez Yamato Feb 5, 2018 Link to comment

    I have kids and I take photos and videos. Plus I have games and offline videos. So 128 was enough for me until it is full 10 months later.


  • 27
    Sorin Feb 4, 2018 Link to comment

    I think 32GB is enough for most of the cases, and there is the possibility of extending it with a microSD card. For a slightly more limited budget and more attention paid to the applications, it could even reach 16 GB.
    The trend now seems to be 64GB, and will grow even if it's not needed. However, I do not see the utility of having 512 GB as long as there are cloud storage services, many services being even free!

    CJ Brown


    • ibanez Yamato 5
      ibanez Yamato Feb 5, 2018 Link to comment

      Do you know 1 minute of 4k 60 fps video size?

      Sorin


  • 6
    Deactivated Account Feb 4, 2018 Link to comment

    Had an Honor 7,16gb with 32gb SD card, plenty storage with this and cloud but a pain in the butt having to manually move apps after updates, the file handling was pretty poor. Just upgraded to Mate 10 Pro with 128gb and it's so much easier not having to spend 10 minutes every other day transferring over updated apps...

    Brittany McGheeSorin


  • Milon Hossain 1
    Milon Hossain Feb 4, 2018 Link to comment

    Good I like it


  • Mark G. 28
    Mark G. Feb 4, 2018 Link to comment

    I have 32GB on my S7 & Tab S2 & have additional 64GB SD cards in each which is used to store all my media (which is backed up by several cloud services).

    I try to spread storage between the 2 devices to keep free internal storage above 4GB. Also my tablet holds my downloaded movies on the SD, whilst my music is stored on my phone.


    100% will not have a device that does not have a SD card.

    64GB is around the average amount of storage needed. You could easily manage this amount (unless you are into gaming).

    Having more internal storage tends to lead to downloading more apps, which tend not to be used which will impact on the general responsiveness and resources. Having less storage forces you to uninstall unused apps, thus reducing the amount of apps running in the background & at start up.

    What is definitely not good is manufacturers issuing midrange devices with 8 or 16GB internal storage. (yes there will be people who don't interact with apps much). The price of storage is a lot less than previous years so shouldn't be a problem using 32GB minimum.

    Peace 🖖

    Sorin


    • Brittany McGhee 21
      Brittany McGhee Feb 7, 2018 Link to comment

      I totally agree with you that manufacturers should be using 32 GB minimum for mid-range devices by now. Anything less just doesn't cut it.


  • Rusty H. 33
    Rusty H. Feb 4, 2018 Link to comment

    I don't store as much on my phone as I use to. Between storing photos on Flickr, streaming music on Spotify, 64GB is plenty for my use.


  • 13
    Some Tech Guy Feb 3, 2018 Link to comment

    So far more than half need/want 128GB or more. (Included are the ones that don't care if they have removable).

    20% want 256GB. That would be me.

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