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?

[cevichebiche]

You're right about that, but a phone needs a SIM (or eSIM) for its key function. It doesn't need an SD card.

[userDohzkjaiqY]

There's a way less chance of a carrier giving you a bad SIM card then you going online and buying the cheapest sd card you can find

[270]

Why not buy an inexpensive tablet with an SD card slot? I just bought a tab A9 Plus for $169.99, and then put in a SanDisk Ultra 512 GB Mini SD card that I bought for $40 on Amazon. I use this as my wireless external storage that I can send pictures to wirelessly from my phone.

[BudaloNoro]

Because I don't want to carry a tablet in my pocket. I carry a phone with me whereever I go (even on the toilet).

[270]

You are asking for help, suggestions, and workarounds. You have been provided numerous workarounds, and suggestions. You are rejecting them all and, unfortunately, you are firetrucked! This is just like one of my sons, I took him to go get ice cream one time and he wanted a vanilla ice cream cone. Unfortunately they were out of vanilla ice cream so I suggested another flavor. He said no if I can't have vanilla I'm not eating anything. So we left. He was horrified and upset. I told him you didn't want anything else so you're not getting anything.

[BudaloNoro]

well, I did accept a solution hours ago, didn't I?

[Crypto_Rye069]

I'm also a long time Samsung user as well (even before smartphones). While it does suck that they got rid of the SD slot, most people don't need that much storage yet alone more with a SD card but yes, it's nice to have. I went from the 512GB S10+ (with another 512GB SD) to a 512GB S22 Ultra. I STILL haven't even used a quarter of my storage space but that's just me lol. But anyway, most carriers and even Samsung does free storage space upgrade. I know they did it for my S10+ and my S22U. So basically you're getting a 512GB for the price of a 128GB or 256GB. Now if you can't do that, you can just go the old fashioned way and get the Sandisk dual drive flash drive which has a USB-A on one side and USB-C on the other. So all you gotta do is plug it into your phone and you can move whatever you want over to drive! Hope this was a little helpful 😅

[BudaloNoro]

Yes, I know I can insert any USB-C flash drive into the phone, but that's not the point. As a professional photographer, who is showing the photos to the nearby people (coworkers, friends, family) at any possible time, I need a fast access to my photos.

Having a flash drive constantly inserted is not a solution as it would break in a pocket, or at least make the phone clumsy to carry in the pocket.

The idea is to have a normal, not too-expensive phone, with enough storage. Charging $400 more for 1TB S24 Ultra is just too greedy.

It really sucks that Samsung removed the SD card slot, and I still don't see any explainable reason why they did it.

[Crypto_Rye069]

Yeah well unfortunately you just gotta suck it up, get used to it and move on because they're not going to bring them back. It's just the way it is. Apple's the exact same way. It's just the future of technology, going all digital. So basically your only options at this point are either you fork out the extra money for either the 512GB or 1TB, go with an older Galaxy S-series/a new A-series that still has the SD slot or find another phone company that actually still has the SD slot which probably not a lot of companies have anymore due to new technology like I said above. Again, yes, it sucks but there's nothing you can do about it. We're ALL in the same predicament.

[posted88]

Absolutely what I was going to suggest I have a bunch of those but in order to use them properly you have to get an OTG cable it keeps the connection stable. just some experience when you plug a USB C flash drive into galaxy it'll recognize it but it'll only stay connected for like a minute or two.