Before making a choice on which kind of Smartphone to purchase, consumers consider the internal storage capacity among several other factors. However, the amount of storage capacity available for use in different devices tends to differ from what is actually promised. This implies that phones with 16, 32 and 32 GB storage solution can have lesser capacity than what is indicated on product labels. One of the main reasons why such storage capacity tends to be low is the fact that the Operating System (OS) takes much of the space. Phones are also shipped with pre-installed applications, often known as Bloatware, which congest the phone’s’ storage. It has been debated whether manufacturers should be frank enough to inform the consumers on the actual space available of such Smartphones.
How much space is needed?
Users can never afford too much storage capacity for their phones, but can always learn how to get used to whatever they can afford. Like closet spaces in high-end cities, Smartphone storage does not come cheaply and prices tend to increase with an increase in storage versions. This leaves consumers with a choice to make on how much storage they need in order to keep their pictures, music audio and videos, movies and other files. Luckily, consumers can opt not to store their music collections or video libraries on their Smartphone in their entire lives. Therefore, price-sensitive consumers can take viable choices such as purchasing Smartphones with less storage. Although other customers do purchase phones with more storage space, not all use such storage and this turns to be a waste of money.
Factors to consider while choosing Smartphones with best storage solution.
Difference between Internal and External Storage Capacity
In order to find a Smartphone with the best storage solution, it is critical that one understands the difference between internal (intact) and external (expandable) storage. Manufacturers ship their devices with the internal capacity pre-installed, and this often ranges from 8 to 128 GB depending on the devices and the vendors. The OS and other pre-installed apps reside in the internal storage. While external storage can be increased or expanded, internal storage cannot be upgraded or downgraded. This means that if the phone is shipped with 16GB and has no expansion slots, then phone will remain with such a capacity without modification. External storage is usually the MicroSD card that is inserted into the expansion slot to upgrade the storage, but not every phone comes with such slots. For instance, iPhones and LG Nexus do not allow users to expand their storage capacity. Therefore, if one needs more space for videos, audio, images and other files, it is critical to consider phones whose storage capacities can be expanded.
Cloud storage
With the pervasiveness of computing, cloud-based solutions have been seen to play a key role in solving the issue of storage limitation and access to files in connected environments. A number of high-end devices that support cloud storage solutions are now available and users can sign-up and create online accounts where their data can be stored. Some Smartphones such as iPhone allow users to sign up through iCloud while Android Smartphones have Google Drive where users can backup their files and view them whenever they are connected to the Internet. The capacity of cloud storage available to consumers also tends to vary from one vendor to another. It is therefore important to consider vendors while choosing the Smartphone with the best storage solution.
Conclusion and the Future of Smartphone storage
In terms of Smartphone storage solution, there are three key contenders that manufacturers have kept interest in luring their product consumers to buying their devices. These solutions include internal storage, removable storage and the cloud. Each of the solutions has its unique weaknesses and strengths in terms of profitability from the side of the manufacturers, affordability, security, convenience, reliability and security on the part of consumers. From observations, while there is competition among these solutions, there is no clear winner both on the side of the consumer and that of the manufacturers. There is no single solution that promises to offer the best for both consumers and manufacturers, but rather a combination of the three tends to achieve these needs.