Android phones (aga...
 

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Android phones (again) with SD slots?

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got a deal through for a Galaxy S22, thought it a decent phone, some notes on short battery life, but it looks to be beter than my current one, so that's a bonus.

However, what wasn't really highlighted is that the new S series don't seem to have a SD slot.

I like to carry music about and am not a spotify user, so I'm a bit concerned that between photo's and music the 128Gb on offer isn't going to manage.

I can live without a headphone socket, and a slightly smaller handset size (which I see as a bonus), but should I really be looking at something like the A53/54 instead?

I've a 14 day cooling off period so can send it back without much problem.

seems the beloved pixels also don't have SD? that right?

Any suggestions for a contract phone, looking at 24months, max £100 upfront and <£20 per month ideally. that's what the S22 is for unlimited data on 3.

current phone is a work phone, a Realme 6, so a bit old and out of updates! This woud be a new personal phone.


 
Posted : 10/12/2023 12:13 pm
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Photos can be offloaded to Google photo (and backed up as an extra if you feel that way).
I'm 80Gb into 128Gb and haven't really deleted much of the 2 years worth of pictures I've taken.... And there's a lot.
(Pixel 6)

I don't feel the need for more storage.


 
Posted : 10/12/2023 12:22 pm
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Use something like OneDrive/Google Drive to store the music, then you can have a library in the cloud but only some of it will be physically on the phone at any time.


 
Posted : 10/12/2023 12:56 pm
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I'm on £26 a month for a 256gb Pixel 8 and 250gig of data on iD.


 
Posted : 10/12/2023 1:01 pm
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Thanks.

I am kinda wondering if I just need to change the way I think about how I use the phone, maybe get up to date with cloud storage, Google drive is cheap as chips. Well, cheaper than chips..


 
Posted : 10/12/2023 2:39 pm
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I've been on the Galaxy 'A' series for a while, think my latest is an A-fifty-something. If you forgot the 'S' existed, you would look at the A range and realise it does everyhting you want and need, all the latest tech, and seem to have kept SD card slots, FM Radiosm 3.5mm Jacks, and be smaller.


 
Posted : 10/12/2023 2:44 pm
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My next Samsung will be an A. Currently on an S20FE and it's slightly too big and the lack of a 3.5mm jack is pissing me off more than I ever thought it would. Not having expandable storage would piss me off even more!


 
Posted : 10/12/2023 3:04 pm
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Ok. This may well put me on the get a A54 instead route. The S22 is smaller than current, at 6.1", Vs 6.6, and the A54 is somewhere closer to 6.5' so kinda what I'm used to. 

If it's speedy enough, great. Current phone lags a fair bit when switching apps. Though not talking ice cream sandwich laggy, it can get annoying. Having Instagram throw a fit and die if I use it without shitting down the apps I've been using previously is pretty frustrating. 

I've been telling myself that not having a headphone jack is fine, but the reality is, I use wired headphones all the time as any lag between screen and dialogue makes things unwatchable and sends my toes curling. 

Ta


 
Posted : 10/12/2023 3:51 pm
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Actually the A54 doesn't have a headphone jack either. Need to use a usb-c adapter for it. Not a biggie I guess. 


 
Posted : 10/12/2023 5:21 pm
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S series haven't supported SD cards for a good while, and even as far back as the S7 the SD wouldn't allow apps to be installed as SD cards were slow and people blamed the phones, not their knock off sd cards.


 
Posted : 10/12/2023 5:38 pm
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I see, I'd hoped that it was just for one or two, some years ago, but I've not looked at anything on contract for many many years. Think my last personal contract phone was a Nokia N95, oh actually I did have a orange San Francisco II for my first foray into android, XDA and modaco forums ..

Actually that's not true, I had a THL (technology happy life) for a bit . proper chinesium 

Mostly I've been organising phones for my work, budget based and mostly A series Samsung's, so not really considered S series, other than them being more flagshippy.

I'm steadily leaning on the A54, I can get that on Vodafone for £16 pm and 80 odd GB data. 

Can't find the pixel 7 for anything under £27pm with decent data allowance. But then, the pixel still doesn't have a SD slot....;-)


 
Posted : 10/12/2023 7:42 pm
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S series haven’t supported SD cards for a good while

My 2 yr old S21 has a microSD / Second SIM slot. I use mine for a Second number, but if that isn't needed then you've got up to 1Tb storage.
The A8 I had (excellent phone BTW) previously had 2 sim slots and a MicroSD slot...might be a more up to date version available??


 
Posted : 10/12/2023 8:45 pm
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Why 7, you can get an 8 for that price!


 
Posted : 10/12/2023 10:23 pm
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Why 7, you can get an 8 for that price!

Where from, I couldn't see an 8 below £30pm. If you've a link that'd be great. 🙂


 
Posted : 11/12/2023 8:25 am
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squirrelking
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I’m on £26 a month for a 256gb Pixel 8 and 250gig of data on iD.

Look at the prices now though, more like £40


 
Posted : 11/12/2023 9:30 am
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Hmm, if you go straight to iD it's about 29 a month, they must have bumped them up after I got mine. Tbh mine was a stupid deal, it works out less than the handset cost at srp over the 2 years.

FWIW you can get a 7 pro for the same price as a 7 and a 7A for under 20 a month. As far as value goes the 7A is the one to go for unless you can wait until the 8A inevitably drops with 7 year support.


 
Posted : 11/12/2023 10:12 am
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I'm paying £16.63/month for a Pixel 7a. I saw little point in the 7 over the 7a; it's an extra £100 for, what, a slightly bigger form factor and a worse camera? The specs are a bit higher but the 7a is plenty fast and lag free.

What do you class as "decent data allowance" when you don't use streaming services or cloud storage? How much time do you spend actually using mobile data rather than Wi-Fi? £7 will get you 15GB on Smarty currently, I just checked my statements and the most I've used per month since switching in January is under 2GB.


 
Posted : 11/12/2023 12:26 pm
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@mikertroid

Really? I thought the S20 was the last S phone to have an SD card slot. In any case, yours might be two years old but it's a three year old device in January.


 
Posted : 11/12/2023 12:43 pm
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@johnnystorm, yes it's not brand new, but I believe the next gen S might have MicroSD capability....its a huge selling point for many. I think the last couple have been criticised for their lack of support.


 
Posted : 11/12/2023 12:49 pm

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