Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others?

From	Arno Welzel <usenet@arnowelzel.de>
Newsgroups	comp.mobile.android
Subject	Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others?
Date	2026-08-11 13:27 +0200
Organization	A noiseless patient Spider
Message-ID	<115f0uo$3ut9p$1@dont-email.me> (permalink)
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Maria Sophia, 2026-08-10 19:24:

> Steve Hayes wrote:
>>>> Google ASI says that "flagship phones (like Samsung Galaxy S or Google
>>>> Pixel series) have largely dropped microSD card slots...."  Really? 
>>>
>>> Yes. SD cards are technically obsolete. Albeit there millions of users
>>> that do not know this fact and are even less prepared to accept it.
>>>
>>> E-SIMs are standard for years. A second physical SIM slot is as obsolete
>>> as a SD-card-slot.
>>
>> Why are they "obsolete"? 
>>
>> Is there a good reason that benefits users, or is it just that the
>> manufacurers can sell you less functionality for more money?
> 
> I agree with Steve that saying sd cards are obsolete is patently absurd.

SD cards in mobile devices are mostly there because in the past memory
was quite expensive and many people did not need much storage. So it was
better to sell devices cheaper with only little memory built in and
offer the option to extend this using SD cards.

However nowadays memory is cheap enough (at least it was before the AI
hype started), that even mainstream devices got a decent amount of
memory built in which is enough for many users. And the more expensive
models now have options for 256 or even 512 GB built in - for example a
Google Pixel 10 Pro XL comes with 512 GB. And this is not slow SD card
memory but UFS storage which is way faster and way more reliable.

> The *only* reason sd slots aren't put in 40% of Androids is to make money.

Only if people buy additional online storage *only* for this reason. But
even *with* an SD card I want to have a backup of my data anyway and I
do *not* want to store 300 GB of pictures on my phone, just because I
used it to take the pictures.

And no, I don't want to pull the card to do a backup every day or to
copy pictures from it.

So the backup is done online or via USB and there is no need to have a
removable SD card. Also 128 GB built in memory in my current phone are
totally fine for me to keep all data I need even when I am offline, like
OSMAnd maps or my music collection for traveling or daily commute.
> They make money because the consumer must desperately replace the lost
> functionality, usually hugely larger initial storage costs overall.

I never had to "desperately" replace anything. It works fine for me as
it is. I've been running my own Nextcloud server for nearly 10 years now
- all backups of my phone go to hat server and all pictures I have taken
with the phone, right away after I have taken them. Also only the last 6
months of pictures will stay on the phone. If I want to review older
pictures I can use the "Memories" app which is available for Nextcloud
as well as for Android. Since I have an unlimited data plan and 5G
speeds most of the time I also don't care if "Memories" needs to
download images when browsing galleries.

The Nextcloud server is also fully backed up daily with a history of 6
months - so I can access every single day as a folder to see older
versions of a file as well.

And even if you would only use Google Drive - they charge around 2 USD
per month for 1 TB. So one year is around 24 USD. Even in 10 years you
only pay 240 USD. That is cheaper than some of the 1 TB SD cards
available and even before the AI crisis, the prices for SD cards were
not much cheaper.
> But also by incessant subscriptions to replace the lost functionality.

Well - backup storage is never for free. Even if you only do local
backups at home you still need some kind of storage - ideally not only
one single harddisc, but multiple copies in case one fails.
> In summary, anyone saying sd cards are obsolete, knows nothing about them.

In my opinion *some* people may still want to use them. But for many
people it is indeed obsolete - otherwise devices without SD card slot
wouldn't sell and most people would only choose devices which still have
an SD card slot. But it seems, other aspects are more important for many
users.

My wife has a Xiaomi phone with 128 GB built in and an SD card slot -
she did never put an SD card into it.

-- 
Arno Welzel
https://arnowelzel.de

Thread

SD card vs. Esim?   Samsung vs. others?  micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> - 2026-08-06 21:29 -0400
  Re: SD card vs. Esim?   Samsung vs. others?  micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> - 2026-08-07 09:15 -0400
    Re: SD card vs. Esim?   Samsung vs. others? "s|b" <me@privacy.invalid> - 2026-08-07 16:42 +0200
      Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> - 2026-08-07 15:50 +0100
        Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? Jörg Lorenz <hugybear@gmx.net> - 2026-08-07 17:30 +0200
          Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? Jörg Lorenz <hugybear@gmx.net> - 2026-08-07 17:30 +0200
    Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? Jörg Lorenz <hugybear@gmx.net> - 2026-08-07 17:27 +0200
      Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? "s|b" <me@privacy.invalid> - 2026-08-07 22:09 +0200
        Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? Arno Welzel <usenet@arnowelzel.de> - 2026-08-10 02:28 +0200
      Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? Steve Hayes <hayesstw@telkomsa.net> - 2026-08-10 17:41 +0200
        Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-08-10 09:24 -0800
          Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? "Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-08-11 10:38 +0200
            Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-08-11 02:01 -0800
              Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> - 2026-08-11 12:32 +0100
                Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-08-11 08:19 -0800
                Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? "Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-08-14 19:20 +0200
                Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? Nuno Silva <nunojsilva@invalid.invalid> - 2026-08-15 10:24 +0100
                Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? "Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-08-15 12:08 +0200
                Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? Nuno Silva <nunojsilva@invalid.invalid> - 2026-08-15 11:51 +0100
                Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? Nuno Silva <nunojsilva@invalid.invalid> - 2026-08-15 13:40 +0100
            Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? Arno Welzel <usenet@arnowelzel.de> - 2026-08-11 13:28 +0200
          Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? Arno Welzel <usenet@arnowelzel.de> - 2026-08-11 13:27 +0200
            Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> - 2026-08-11 12:39 +0100
              Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? The Real Bev <bashley101@gmail.com> - 2026-08-15 10:38 -0700
            Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? Frank Slootweg <this@ddress.is.invalid> - 2026-08-11 13:58 +0000
              Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? Frank Slootweg <this@ddress.is.invalid> - 2026-08-11 14:12 +0000
              Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? Arno Welzel <usenet@arnowelzel.de> - 2026-08-12 20:36 +0200
                Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? AJL <noemail@none.com> - 2026-08-12 20:40 +0000
            Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-08-11 08:19 -0800
              Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-08-11 08:52 -0800
              Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? Arno Welzel <usenet@arnowelzel.de> - 2026-08-12 20:44 +0200
                Storage media availability over time (was: Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others?) Nuno Silva <nunojsilva@invalid.invalid> - 2026-08-16 09:20 +0100
                Re: Storage media availability over time Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-08-16 10:01 -0800
            Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? "Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-08-14 19:28 +0200
        Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? Nuno Silva <nunojsilva@invalid.invalid> - 2026-08-15 10:22 +0100
          Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-08-15 08:50 -0800
    Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? Arno Welzel <usenet@arnowelzel.de> - 2026-08-10 02:27 +0200
      Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-08-10 08:34 -0800
      Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> - 2026-08-10 13:02 -0400
        Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? Steve Hayes <hayesstw@telkomsa.net> - 2026-08-11 06:20 +0200
          Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? "s|b" <me@privacy.invalid> - 2026-08-11 14:37 +0200
            Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> - 2026-08-11 10:21 -0400
            Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-08-11 08:18 -0800
            Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? Steve Hayes <hayesstw@telkomsa.net> - 2026-08-12 06:00 +0200
              Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-08-11 20:47 -0800
              Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? "s|b" <me@privacy.invalid> - 2026-08-12 17:03 +0200
                Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? Steve Hayes <hayesstw@telkomsa.net> - 2026-08-12 20:41 +0200
                Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? "s|b" <me@privacy.invalid> - 2026-08-13 18:59 +0200
                Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? Steve Hayes <hayesstw@telkomsa.net> - 2026-08-15 07:56 +0200
                Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? Nuno Silva <nunojsilva@invalid.invalid> - 2026-08-15 11:00 +0100
                Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-08-15 08:34 -0800
                Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? "Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-08-15 12:10 +0200
                Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? "s|b" <me@privacy.invalid> - 2026-08-15 19:33 +0200
                Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? Steve Hayes <hayesstw@telkomsa.net> - 2026-08-16 06:23 +0200
                Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? Arno Welzel <usenet@arnowelzel.de> - 2026-08-14 00:21 +0200
                Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-08-14 20:23 -0800
                Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? Arno Welzel <usenet@arnowelzel.de> - 2026-08-14 00:20 +0200
            Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? "Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-08-14 19:37 +0200
              Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? "s|b" <me@privacy.invalid> - 2026-08-15 19:34 +0200
              Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? Steve Hayes <hayesstw@telkomsa.net> - 2026-08-15 20:09 +0200
    Re: SD card vs. Esim?   Samsung vs. others? Steve Hayes <hayesstw@telkomsa.net> - 2026-08-10 17:38 +0200
      Re: SD card vs. Esim?   Samsung vs. others? micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> - 2026-08-10 11:49 -0400
      Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? Jörg Lorenz <hugybear@gmx.net> - 2026-08-10 18:04 +0200
        Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? Steve Hayes <hayesstw@telkomsa.net> - 2026-08-11 06:33 +0200
          Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? AJL <noemail@none.com> - 2026-08-11 05:54 +0000
            Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? Jörg Lorenz <hugybear@gmx.net> - 2026-08-11 10:10 +0200
              Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? Arno Welzel <usenet@arnowelzel.de> - 2026-08-11 10:18 +0200
            Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? Nuno Silva <nunojsilva@invalid.invalid> - 2026-08-15 10:30 +0100
              Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? AJL <noemail@none.com> - 2026-08-15 15:19 +0000
          Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? Jörg Lorenz <hugybear@gmx.net> - 2026-08-11 10:01 +0200
          Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? Arno Welzel <usenet@arnowelzel.de> - 2026-08-11 10:11 +0200
            Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? "Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-08-11 10:34 +0200
  Re: SD card vs. Esim?   Samsung vs. others? Siard <saylor259@mailbox.org> - 2026-08-07 16:57 +0200
    Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? Arno Welzel <usenet@arnowelzel.de> - 2026-08-10 02:32 +0200
      Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? Siard <saylor259@mailbox.org> - 2026-08-10 09:25 +0200
        Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> - 2026-08-10 08:47 +0100
    Re: SD card vs. Esim?   Samsung vs. others? Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-08-10 09:40 -0800
  Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-08-07 19:15 +0200
    Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? Jörg Lorenz <hugybear@gmx.net> - 2026-08-07 22:34 +0200
    Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-08-10 08:28 -0800
      Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? "Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-08-11 10:42 +0200
    Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> - 2026-08-10 17:40 +0100
      Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-08-10 09:28 -0800
  Re: SD card vs. Esim?   Samsung vs. others? Nuno Silva <nunojsilva@invalid.invalid> - 2026-08-08 11:43 +0100
    Re: SD card vs. Esim?   Samsung vs. others? micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> - 2026-08-08 20:57 -0400
      Re: SD card vs. Esim?   Samsung vs. others? Frank Slootweg <this@ddress.is.invalid> - 2026-08-09 14:33 +0000
        Re: SD card vs. Esim?   Samsung vs. others? micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> - 2026-08-09 14:28 -0400
          Re: SD card vs. Esim?   Samsung vs. others? Maria Sophia <mariasophia@comprehension.com> - 2026-08-10 08:32 -0800
        Re: SD card vs. Esim?   Samsung vs. others? micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> - 2026-08-09 18:34 -0400
          Re: SD card vs. Esim?   Samsung vs. others? micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> - 2026-08-10 02:20 -0400
            Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> - 2026-08-10 07:31 +0100
            Re: SD card vs. Esim?   Samsung vs. others? Dave Royal <dave@dave123royal.com> - 2026-08-10 08:59 +0100
              Re: SD card vs. Esim?   Samsung vs. others? Philippe <p.naudin+nntp@free.fr> - 2026-08-10 11:06 +0200
                Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> - 2026-08-10 10:33 +0100
              Re: SD card vs. Esim?   Samsung vs. others? Dave Royal <dave@dave123royal.com> - 2026-08-10 10:51 +0100
            Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? Arno Welzel <usenet@arnowelzel.de> - 2026-08-10 10:25 +0200
              Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> - 2026-08-10 09:43 +0100
                Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> - 2026-08-10 10:34 -0400
                Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? "Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-08-11 10:24 +0200
            Re: SD card vs. Esim?   Samsung vs. others? micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> - 2026-08-10 09:42 -0400
    Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> - 2026-08-09 09:49 +0100
      Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-08-09 15:21 +0200
      Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> - 2026-08-09 14:21 -0400
        Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-08-09 22:31 +0200
          Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> - 2026-08-09 19:33 -0400
            Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-08-10 02:48 +0200
              Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> - 2026-08-10 02:25 -0400
  Re: SD card vs. Esim?   Samsung vs. others? Frank Slootweg <this@ddress.is.invalid> - 2026-08-09 14:43 +0000
    Re: SD card vs. Esim?   Samsung vs. others? micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> - 2026-08-10 13:21 -0400
      Re: SD card vs. Esim?   Samsung vs. others? AJL <noemail@none.com> - 2026-08-10 18:01 +0000
        Re: SD card vs. Esim?   Samsung vs. others? micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> - 2026-08-10 14:55 -0400
          Re: SD card vs. Esim?   Samsung vs. others? AJL <noemail@none.com> - 2026-08-10 19:19 +0000
            [OT] non-Unix fingers (was: Re: SD card vs. Esim?   Samsung vs. others?) Nuno Silva <nunojsilva@invalid.invalid> - 2026-08-11 01:00 +0100
          Re: SD card vs. Esim? Samsung vs. others? Java Jive <java@evij.com.invalid> - 2026-08-11 21:02 +0100

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