the reason Samsung ditched SD cards in gs6

[Truefan31]

My argument was never about having expandable memory or not or even about the speed, it was always about the cost of it. Apple overcharging $$ for it by making users pay exorbitant amounts for added capacity pissed me off. If Sammy does the same thing then they are just as dumb and I will not support that.



I really don't care if they offer 3 levels of storage so long as they are offered and I'm not paying a Premium for it. I have no idea if they are pricing it well or not, don't care. I'm not going for the S6 either way. I am however curious as to what the Note 5 will offer. Even there however, I won't like trade up from my Note 3 as it works and does all I need it to do now. I just am waiting on the new OS.

I'm sure there will be some sort of premium.

 

[epicrayban]

Nobody's saying a larger screen is innovation. It's a preference. But people here spinning Samsung copying Apple as innovation is lol.

People are calling removing user-replaceable battery and the SD card innovative?

Then you rightly should laugh at them. That doesn't even make any sense.

I thought the innovation was mainly about the Edge

 

[SurferMan]

My argument was never about having expandable memory or not or even about the speed, it was always about the cost of it. Apple overcharging $$ for it by making users pay exorbitant amounts for added capacity pissed me off. If Sammy does the same thing then they are just as dumb and I will not support that.

I really don't care if they offer 3 levels of storage so long as they are offered and I'm not paying a Premium for it. I have no idea if they are pricing it well or not, don't care. I'm not going for the S6 either way. I am however curious as to what the Note 5 will offer. Even there however, I won't like trade up from my Note 3 as it works and does all I need it to do now. I just am waiting on the new OS.

Agree, Apple does the same thing with soldered in rom in the laptops charging an a$$load b/c there's no other choice since non-expandable. Or look at what they charge for a replacement power cord for a laptop, that just ridiculous. Look at how cheap even Class 10 cards are today, Apple rapes on storage, if Sammy does the same thing then shame on them, hopefully they make it more reasonable if they do a 3-tier setup like Apple.

I remember buying a mini dvi convertor setup for tv and Mac some years ago, got the pieces of mono I think for about 1/4 of what Apple wanted for the samething and still works today. No problem affording anything, but there's a point where its like I'm not paying knowing I'm getting bent over.

 

[Savor]

That's not why, it's really a simple reason. Samsung saw all the money Apple was making fleecing its customers on memory upgrades and decided it wanted in on that money train as well.

In fairness though, Apple may get pictured as a GREEDY company for fleecing their customers, but they always eliminated features long BEFORE they became successful again. Alot of the port standards and floppy drive they killed off. This is why we will never see micro-sd slot or removable battery ever on an iPhone. Perhaps no water-resist with flaps as well. Apple's philosophy is for the clean and the minimalistic look. They have the less is more/addition by subtraction approach. It is ingrained in them long before they made $42B last quarter.

And reading Steve Jobs bio, he was never intent to follow industry standards or become richer than Bill Gstes and Warren Buffet. Look at his modest home where he lived. Quite small for a billionaire who was Disney's largest stockholder. For SJ, he was intent to make the best company making the best products that followed HIS standards. I don't see Apple ever going against those ethos.

For me, I am glad Google is out there to give us Android even if they don't make as much money like Apple does. I care more about choice, freedom, and a better OS that suits more of my needs than popularity.

 

[Silver78]

So you are going to be a puppet and throw eggs at a technology company's building? Sorry, I am sure you were joking and being deliberately ironic

The fisting was about samsung seeing that apple cashing on expensive memory on phones so now they try the same (yes i have also read the excuse about tha fast onboard ram of samsung etc.etc.
Several hundred dollars extra for 64 gb extra memory in device is rip off "but its faster!" And so what if its faster? My 1080p movies is not meant to be played faster or the flac music.

I hate sports so what else am a geek supposed to "hooligan" about?

 

[mi7chy]

My 1080p movies is not meant to be played faster or the flac music.

But copying to and from the device attached to your computer will be noticeably faster. If you don't see the benefit feel free to buy something else like iPhones that aren't even seen as storage.

 

[gotluck]

But copying to and from the device attached to your computer will be noticeably faster. If you don't see the benefit feel free to buy something else like iPhones that aren't even seen as storage.

Will it though? The gs6 is USB 2.0. Will be curious to see if the gs5 with usb3.0 actually transfers files from the computer faster.

 

[Savor]

I think the OP makes a good reason but it does not mean I have to like their decision.

The Samsung Alpha series is slower but they ditched it too.

Just yesterday, I downloaded the entire I Love Lucy series (180 episodes) in their official YouTube channel using TubeMate. Only the Operetta episode I had to download from a different channel as it was quite blurry found on the official channel. I used TubeMate and it was only at 640x360. For all 180 episodes not including The Lucy-Desi Hour (aka We Love Lucy at 2.55 gb), it took about 5-6 hrs and is 17 gb! Thank goodness for the $50 Nokia Lumia for having a slot as I can't fit much on the Xiaomi. Without a memory slot, a six-seasoned TV series alone can eat up more than two-thirds of a 32 gb device give or take if you actually get 29 gb avail if it wasn't for the firmware itself. And again, not in HD, FHD, 2k, or 4k. Imagine once you start installing apps and other files?

So yeah, while Samsung might have ditched it for practical reasons based on speed performance. It is quite isn't practical in other usage. 4K vids, games, HD movies, etc. I just hope Samsung does not listen to all the APPLE-INFLUENCED critics by providing sealed batteries and no memory slot for the rest of their era. We need options but Samsung took that away from us this year.

Samsung, pls come back to your senses next year. Even HTC brought back the sd slot with M8 & M9 after omitting it in the M7 (except the Japanese variant). Samsung should just brush aside the critics and go back with function over fashion, substance over style. It is much more practical during emergencies and during the longer-run once the looks start to fade and become a novelty in people's eyes.

 

[skratch77]

Will it though? The gs6 is USB 2.0. Will be curious to see if the gs5 with usb3.0 actually transfers files from the computer faster.

It supports 60ghz WiFi and should theoretically support speeds way faster then what people need

 

[Savor]

For premium feeling - metal > glass > plastic (any)

For practical use - matte plastic > metal > glossy plastic > glass

Even if there is a good enough reason on why Samsung ditched sd card, why ditch the removable battery? To make it thinner? Why remove water/dust-resistance when Xperia Z's with glass rears still provide it. I really do like the S6 edge and the design language change they are pushing. It deserved its award for best new handset. But they removed three key features for the sake of one valid excuse. It makes using the older but underappreciated S5 a better choice for both real world abuse and long-term use.

We can try to justify everything the flaws S6/S6e have but the fact that whether we really change our batteries or not, or need that much memory or not, or need water resistant does not really justify that Samsung no longer gave us a choice. It isn't there, period. In software omissions, we can always get it back. In hardware, nomore. As is. Android has always been about OPTIONS whether we need them or not. Apple has always been about control, simplicity, and limited options for a more user-friendly experience. Samsung removed those hardware options. Samsung better try to bring them back by S7 and not remove them for the Note series...or we will see a continued downfall of Samsung trying to emulate a rival company they are NOT.

 

[skratch77]

For premium feeling - metal > glass > plastic (any)

For practical use - matte plastic > metal > glossy plastic > glass

Even if there is a good enough reason on why Samsung ditched sd card, why ditch the removable battery? To make it thinner? Why remove water/dust-resistance when Xperia Z's with glass rears still provide it. I really do like the S6 edge and the design language change they are pushing. It deserved its award for best new handset. But they removed three key features for the sake of one valid excuse. It makes using the older but underappreciated S5 a better choice for both real world abuse and long-term use.

We can try to justify everything the flaws S6/S6e have but the fact that whether we really change our batteries or not, or need that much memory or not, or need water resistant does not really justify that Samsung no longer gave us a choice. It isn't there, period. In software omissions, we can always get it back. In hardware, nomore. As is. Android has always been about OPTIONS whether we need them or not. Apple has always been about control, simplicity, and limited options for a more user-friendly experience. Samsung removed those hardware options. Samsung better try to bring them back by S7 and not remove them for the Note series...or we will see a continued downfall of Samsung trying to emulate a rival company they are NOT.

What if base model s7 and note 5 are 64gb? And fast SD cards that are made for 4k video are not cheap.I paid almost 100 dollars for my 64gb sdxc card.I would rather put that money into a 128gb gs6 with its faster memory any day

 

[Silver78]

But copying to and from the device attached to your computer will be noticeably faster. If you don't see the benefit feel free to buy something else like iPhones that aren't even seen as storage.

Use of cards ofcourse can be different from mine but i rarely (unless i travel long distance) transfer large amounts of large files. it's mostly a little added a time. A samsung 64gb pro microsd is 40$ And offer just fine transfer speeds.
If it takes 2 seconds or 5 to transfer that does no matter with my habbits.

Price difference from 32 to 64gb is 180$ in my country...almost the same as two 128gb sandisk micro sd cards

 

[Savor]

Let's look at some recent flagships from 2014 and 2015, shall we?

card slot / removable battery

Apple iPhone 6/6+ - NEVER/NEVERLAND

Asus Zenfone 5/6/upcoming 2 - Yes/No

BlackBerry Passport - Yes/No

Google Nexus 6 - No/No

HTC M8/M9 - Yes/No

Lenovo Vibe Z2 Pro - No/No

LG G3 - Yes/Yes

Meizu MX4/MX Pro - No/No

Motorola Moto X (2014) - No/No

Nokia Lumia 930 - No/No

OnePlus One - No/No

Oppo Find 7/7a - Yes/Yes

Sony Xperia Z3/Z3C - Yes/No

Samsung Galaxy S5/Note 4 - Yes/Yes

Samsung Galaxy S6/S6e - No/No

Xiaomi Mi 4 - No/No

Most of the Chinese OEM's are now omitting SD slots on flagships but look at the price. Meizu,OnePlus, and Xiaomi can be bought for under $350. Last year, only Oppo, LG, and Samsung offered both SD card slot and removable battery. They all used PLASTIC rears but weren't glossy and fingerprint magnets where removable battery was more possible. HTC and LG brought back the SD slot last year after foolishly omitting it two years ago.

SD slot -
Asus
BlackBerry
HTC
LG
Oppo
Samsung (2014)
Sony

Removable battery
LG
Oppo
Samsung (2014)

Since Oppo isn't a major player esp in the West, it seems LG is the last great hope to offer both. Either that, or avoid the flagships and stick to the midrange to lower end that might offer both esp the SD slot. They are cheaper and don't omit them.

 

[Truefan31]

Again. This comes down to one thing. Money and being profitable.

 

[jamezr]

Again. This comes down to one thing. Money and being profitable.

and...thats different than any other company how?

 

[skratch77]

Go load 15 4k movies on a cheap micro SD card and see how much lag a gs5 or note 4 has loading the galory.

Samsung is using faster memory to speed the device up for what it's been criticized so long for.

The base model 32gb gs6 price got leaked for the T-Mobile and it's 699 unlocked.the same exact price of the 16gb unlocked gs5

 

[Savor]

I forgot to mention Huawei. They are becoming a major player around in the world and future Nexus OEM. I say their flagship was really the Mate 7 over the P7. Yes on SD slot but no on removable battery.

But since this site is more US-centric, the only real companies to look for is really from the top two South Koreans - Samsung or LG. Huawei is much bigger outside North America along with most of their Chinese co-patriots where you generally have to import or get them unlocked if you want them.

Flagships - Seems like your paying more just for the latest SoC, higher res, and better components (like camera). More future-proof for software upgrades as seen from Sony only wanting to upgrade Lollipop to the Z-series.

Low to midrange - Lower price but weaker SoC and cheaper components. But strangely enough, many offer the SD slot and more rare removable battery.

Samsung’s best omission this year was from removing the bloatware. Their biggest addition by substraction. Since it is software, you can always get it back if not by upgrade or apk, but by another alternative app that might end up being better than Samsung's own apps. But hardware omissions? No workaround.

Just hope they bring them back in next year's S-series and don't remove them for the Note series at all. And pls, ditch glass rears! Bring back MATTE plastic. The Note 3 & 4 rear is good enough for me. Same with the LG G3 that hardly picks up smudges. By bringing that material back, we might just get those three features again which were removed after the S5.

 

[Truefan31]

and...thats different than any other company how?

It's not. They see Apple doing it. It's worked and they're profiting. So Samsung follows suit.

 

[jamezr]

It's not. They see Apple doing it. It's worked and they're profiting. So Samsung follows suit.

Ohhhhh.... Samsung wasn't it for money or to make a profit before...... But they are now? That doesn't make sense. Samsung is following Apple to make a profit?????? Dude you are really trying to stretch the Samsung is copying Apple thing!!!!

 

[Truefan31]

Ohhhhh.... Samsung wasn't it for money or to make a profit before...... But they are now? That doesn't make sense. Samsung is following Apple to make a profit?????? Dude you are really trying to stretch the Samsung is copying Apple thing!!!!

Of course they're in it for money. Let's see Apple has always been like this since the iPhone in 2007. We all know Samsung had a relatively bad year in mobile. Like everyone has said, sd card allows users not to have to pay a lot for extra storage. The no removable battery means people just can't swap a battery and keep their phones longer. People will be inclined to upgrade more often. On top of that like Apple they can charge for battery replacements.

Apple is out for money and they've obviously done a great job being profitable. It's reality. Samsung is following apples business model.

 

[jamezr]

Of course they're in it for money. Let's see Apple has always been like this since the iPhone in 2007. We all know Samsung had a relatively bad year in mobile. Like everyone has said, sd card allows users not to have to pay a lot for extra storage. The no removable battery means people just can't swap a battery and keep their phones longer. People will be inclined to upgrade more often. On top of that like Apple they can charge for battery replacements.

Apple is out for money and they've obviously done a great job being profitable. It's reality. Samsung is following apples business model.

LOl...man you are really stretching it....you do know that Samsung has made phones with and without removable batteries before Apple in 2007 right? You do know that they make more phone models than just the S6 right?

So explain again how they are copying Apple again? Samsung made phones before Apple did....they have made phones with removable and non non removable batteries the whole time. They have made phones with SD cards and without SD cards this whole time.

So here we see you again in a Samsung thread just to post negative stuff.

 

[Truefan31]

the reason Samsung ditched SD cards in gs6

LOl...man you are really stretching it....you do know that Samsung has made phones with and without removable batteries before Apple in 2007 right? You do know that they make more phone models than just the S6 right?



So explain again how they are copying Apple again? Samsung made phones before Apple did....they have made phones with removable and non non removable batteries the whole time. They have made phones with SD cards and without SD cards this whole time.



So here we see you again in a Samsung thread just to post negative stuff.

Sigh if u really believe that Samsung hasn't followed Apple then so be it. It's not negative. Samsung sees the record profits and they want that. Ditching plastic, no sd card no removable battery, hp jack on bottom, speaker grill on bottom, fingerprint sensor ( I know Apple wasn't the first but they're the first to do it well. Oh and Samsung isn't a swipe anymore u press just like Touch ID).

Samsung had public commercials bashing these things. Now they are doing it. It's because the money, specifically the huge amounts Apple is making.

Can u honestly say the Samsung earphones aren't inspired by Apple at all?

Fwiw Apple isn't without its faults either. I wish they had more ram. And wireless or quick charging too.

 

[jamezr]

Sigh if u really believe that Samsung hasn't followed Apple then so be it. It's not negative. Samsung sees the record profits and they want that. Ditching plastic, no sd card no removable battery, hp jack on bottom, speaker grill on bottom, fingerprint sensor ( I know Apple wasn't the first but they're the first to do it well. Oh and Samsung isn't a swipe anymore u press just like Touch ID).

Samsung had public commercials bashing these things. Now they are doing it. It's because the money, specifically the huge amounts Apple is making.

Can u honestly say the Samsung earphones aren't inspired by Apple at all?

LOL...really you have to get a new spiel....This agenda is getting old. Your "Samsung is copying Apple" mantra is really tired.

Apple has reversed and contradicted themselves on several occasions.
Remember when the 3.5 inch screen was the perfect size?
Remember when they would never make a 7 inch tablet?

But then when Apple copies you say "they were going to that direction anyway and it was a natural progression."
So if Apple puts 2GB of ram in the iphone 6s are they copying Samsung?
Maybe fast battery charging? Maybe wireless charging?

Lets face facts so you can stop hijacking this thread.
Everyone borrows from each other in software and hardware.
This done in all product spaces all over the world.

 

[Bishope1999]

They want the phone to run perfect.if you have a 2gb 4k video file on an sd card it will lag vs getting it of the faster system memory.

They are trying to set a bar in memory performance and system response time.ditching the sd card was the right thing to do for long term use

A 4K video recorded on smartphones maxes at 50Mbps. A Class 10 SD Card will easily do 40MBps which = 320Mbps. A 4K video will record or playback the same way on the internal storage of Galaxy S6 or on the SD card on the Note 4.

 

[MRU]

A 4K video recorded on smartphones maxes at 50Mbps. A Class 10 SD Card will easily do 40MBps which = 320Mbps. A 4K video will record or playback the same way on the internal storage of Galaxy S6 or on the SD card on the Note 4.

Exactly ...... I said similar earlier.

----------

Lets face facts so you can stop hijacking this thread.
Everyone borrows from each other in software and hardware.
This done in all product spaces all over the world.

In fairness this entire thread is based utterly on false assumptions. One more user doing the same isn't going to make a difference.