Storage extension for S series

[BudaloNoro]

I am a long time user of S series. I had S1, S3, S6 and S10. This year I need to buy a new phone, since the battery in S10 is dying.

However, it seems there is no  suitable phone for me in the S series anymore. Why? Because I am a photographer (with a normal camera, not with a phone, of course). I have around 30000 photos and the whole library takes around 300GB. In my S10 I used an external SD card inserted.

It seems the last S phone that supported micro SD cards, was S20. Newer ones don't have an option anymore.

So, what is going on? How can I buy a Samsung S phone, that allows me at least 300GB free storage space? The only option for S24 is 256GB, which sucks. Stupid. As this means < 150GB of free space.

And please don't tell me to use an online cloud. That's absurd. I am traveling around the world, in the deserts, jungle etc., where there is no mobile signal, but even with a mobile signal, expensive roaming is in place. Also, my photos are my own, I want to have them with me all the time. I have them backed up on at least 4 different places, so I am not afraid of loosing them.

The only option currently seems Samsung A54, as it still has a slot for a micro SD card.

What do other photographers or video producers do in my situation?

[GaryB82 · Accepted solution]

You could always go with the ultra model with 1tb storage or even the 512gb version

[BudaloNoro]

This means paying almost $400 more for 1TB, comparing to 256GB version? SanDisk 1TB microSD card costs $100. Samsung is too greedy, it seems.

However, thanks for the info. In my country, in the shops where I buy my phones, they only have at most a 256GB version.

[ImpossibleBox]

You are much more civil in your frustrations than I am. Bothers me more knowing Samsung literally makes their own nand flash storage chips so these prices are insanely marked up. And I dislike seeing the other responses that simple essential features like SD cards or headphone jacks are uncommon, rare, or "too space costly" despite having been in all older models until Apple did it, both companies successfully normalizing the removal to upsell audio accessories like dongles & wireless earbuds having removed headphone jack & insane-like tenfold markup on internal storage "upgrades" & cloud storage upsells having removed sd card. I don't see myself ever upgrading from this S20 for a long time, not that I ever understood frequent upgrades many do for what are only very slight incremental differences. S20 21 22 like the same phone but lack S20's SD card & MST... S24 just same S23 hardware & cameras with a google software update for a few overhyped AI features most don't need (and eventually on s23 also, defeating the newer higher pricy thing).
Unfortunately not much solution other than spending for 1tb, relying on external adapters for sd cards & portable storage, cloud storage, wired/wireless linking to another device/laptop/tablet, or using an older S10 or S20 or A series or the dwindling non samsung devices that have an sd card.

oh and definitely space for sd card in dual sim, just need like 1-2mm more clearance to stack it. Before samsung forcefully disabled it for some phones in android 8, an sd card could be trimmed to fit alongsidee dual sim to have both sims & sd card active instead, or use of a hybrid sim adapter (cable adapter for the 2nd sim). Clearly software and hardware (few mm more) can support it but they intentionally don't.

[BlkJmsBnd]

You could try using an external hard drive. 512GB, 1Tb, 2Tb or 4Tb. That way, you have plenty of storage and all your photos are backed up with rapid access to them as well as portability.

[BudaloNoro]

Using an external hard drive is not an option. I cannot carry it glued together with a phone, or connecting it every time I want to view or show some photo. The point is to have all the photos inside the phone, and not carrying extra weight.

I do have an external hard drive. But for the backup purposes only, and I am not carrying it in my pocket.

[BudaloNoro]

I wonder, what is the reason to remove the micro SD slot in the latest S models? A greed? Ignorance? Stupidity? Anything else?

[TipsyTrex]

MicroSD storage became one of the only uncontrollable points of failure for a phone. People bought bad cards that stopped working and blamed the brand instead of the card. Upselling is a secondary bonus.

[BudaloNoro]

That could be simply solved by a disclaimer, which the users confirm when accepting the terms.

[BudaloNoro]

Also, a SIM card can also be of a bad quality, and it can damage the phone in the same way as the SD card.