The Real Reason Why microSD Card Slots Are Disappearing From Smartphones

Published in

on

A lot of technical reasons are discussed by manufacturers as to why microSD card slots are disappearing from smartphones, especially from the high-end ones.

microSD

Taking only Android smartphones into focus, not many smartphones come with a built-in microSD card slot. Even the flagships do not have microSD card slot (except Samsung’s, now even they are removing it in latest series). What might be the reason of dumping the beloved microSD card slot?

There are a few reasons I am considering after a lot of research.

One of them is the phone’s thickness (actually, thinness) which doesn’t let the microSD card slot to be installed in a slim chassis. Another is smartphones today have enough storage that manufacturers think users don’t need to expand the storage.

The third one is very crucial, which we’ll discuss in detail today.

It’s fast draining of battery and overheating of the device.

Negative Effects of Having microSD Card Slot in Smartphones.

There are negative effects on phones when it has microSD card slot. It uses more battery to power the transfers, which cause phones to overheat. This usually happens on low-end devices, as high-end (flagships) have latest and efficient chipsets.

A user can use any cheap, faulty, or slow microSD card to cause a hell lot of other issues. Although, users can eliminate this issue by opting for a branded and high speed microSD card. But if you see who buys the quality microSD cards! It is just photographers, and one who cares about speeds, not the mobile owners.

More Disadvantages of Keeping the microSD Card Slot in Smartphones.

  • MicroSD Cards have a FAT32 file system which is not in par with the internal storage, making it slower than the primary memory. On top of that, in this modern era, 4GB file limit is the biggest issue with FAT32.
  • Latest Android versions do not allow users to install apps onto the microSD card.
  • Google and OEMs want to encourage users to use cloud storage instead.
  • Users can already transfer files via Wi-Fi or even directly to external storage using an OTG cable.

Maybe these are the reasons OEMs don’t provide a microSD card these days. But hey, this is not a negative post. MicroSD cards are really very useful and there are many users (including me) who would want a microSD card slot on their phones. Because even the more storage is not always enough.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Responses to “The Real Reason Why microSD Card Slots Are Disappearing From Smartphones”

  1. Caramelo Del Belair Avatar
    Caramelo Del Belair

    The reason is simple, money.

    Manufacturers try to eliminate SD cards to promote cloud services subscription and milk you for money (pay more get extra, par more be a VIP, etc.).

    The same goes for 3.5mm earphone’s jack. To get you, buy high-end Bluetooth devices (pay more to get features).

    The old days, customer friendly products and services are no more with big companies and renowned brands.

    My suggestion is to look for manufacturers who really seek to satisfy their customers’ needs, at least, before they get bigger and start milking us.

    1. AtulHost Avatar

      Rightly said. But it is not like that every manufacturer does this. Apple and Samsung mostly do this so that they can sell more devices instead of one.

      But soon this practice will be common.