What do you guys use such huge storage for?
- Thread starter iPwnz
- Start date
I pretty much didnt use my phone that long ever.
Got a good price so bought it.roadrash99
Forerunner
mayank11280
Explorer
Well, it does.
Apps and files get larger in size. I remember apps used to be 20-30 MBs now they cross 300MBs each on their own.
We can install and store many apps and photos and videos respectively, not feeling the need to worry about space, especially since these phones are limited by storage.
Also, space getting over does slow down app and UI responses.
Finally, after you have spent almost double the price of the base model for space, you are gonna use it for twice as long at least.
roadrash99
Forerunner
This hasn't been a problem for me since at least 2018-ish. Even if you have a 128gb phone and each app is a GB, you still have a hundred apps. I just don't see this being a problem unless the person has zero cloud storage and their catalog of images and videos from many years ago is taking up space, a problem easily solved by 5k/year of cloud storage (for the whole family)Well, it does.
Apps and files get larger in size. I remember apps used to be 20-30 MBs now they cross 300MBs each on their own.
We can install and store many apps and photos and videos respectively, not feeling the need to worry about space, especially since these phones are limited by storage.
Also, space getting over does slow down app and UI responses.
Finally, after you have spent almost double the price of the base model for space, you are gonna use it for twice as long at least.
Storage always plays the role. When reaching 80-90% phone will start lagging and mist storage is taken by app caches
mayank11280
Explorer
Yes. The space on phones tend to be limited and cloud is required but that’s one of different adaptive responses.
Local storage has additional advantages like not relying on internet for accessing files. Ability to capture longer 4KHD videos. Local file processing as some people like to Vlog and as such. It also creates another redundancy in case cloud goes kaput during rains (/s).
I myself don’t wanna spend much for local storage but there are advantages. And as usual it all boils down to use case and cost-benefit analysis.
variablevector
Forerunner
I used to know a girl who had a folder called "Me" on her phone, filled with 3,000+ selfies of herself. It suffices to say, she was a little bit narcissistic by my standards. And this was not even counting the rest of the massive folders of photos she had.
I wouldn't underestimate the average person's ability to fill up their phone's storage, no matter how large, especially taking into account high megapixel RAW files, 4k video etc.
Hell, there is probably an uncle somewhere who has 50+ gigs of whatsapp good morning images.
I wouldn't underestimate the average person's ability to fill up their phone's storage, no matter how large, especially taking into account high megapixel RAW files, 4k video etc.
Hell, there is probably an uncle somewhere who has 50+ gigs of whatsapp good morning images.
mokendkomer
Beginner
Storage needs tend to creep up over time, and this really hasn't stopped happening yet despite processing power needs seemingly maturing in the past few years.
The biggest contributor these days is probably the fact that phones have better cameras, and better cameras take larger photos.
Game assets are getting larger as well, as we see higher quality games getting released on mobile platforms. I don't remember this perfectly, but didn't qualcomm implement something similar to direct storage for streaming assets directly to the gpu from storage?
I personally have been somewhat successful with cheaping out on phone storage. Apple's flash storage is worth significantly more than its weight in gold, and thus I use a 64gb phone. I use immich to back my photos up, and have a samba share to stream any other content over should I need to access it on a phone, tablet, or VR headset.
I dislike the idea of offloading my storage to a cloud server, since a hard drive costs a very similar amount to me vs. to a cloud provider. Using my own storage ends up being way cheaper.
The biggest contributor these days is probably the fact that phones have better cameras, and better cameras take larger photos.
Game assets are getting larger as well, as we see higher quality games getting released on mobile platforms. I don't remember this perfectly, but didn't qualcomm implement something similar to direct storage for streaming assets directly to the gpu from storage?
I personally have been somewhat successful with cheaping out on phone storage. Apple's flash storage is worth significantly more than its weight in gold, and thus I use a 64gb phone. I use immich to back my photos up, and have a samba share to stream any other content over should I need to access it on a phone, tablet, or VR headset.
I dislike the idea of offloading my storage to a cloud server, since a hard drive costs a very similar amount to me vs. to a cloud provider. Using my own storage ends up being way cheaper.
I am yet to Max out my 128GB phone that I have been using for 2 years, and a 128GB tablet that I have been using since 2019. Since I do not consume media and rarely if ever listen to music, I guess I am not a regular user. Neither my phone nor my tablet has a single OTT, Music, or Streaming app installed.
Also, I regularly use SDMaid to make sure that any errant app databases are deleted or kept in check. I do not even back-up my whatsapp chats all that much.
Also, I regularly use SDMaid to make sure that any errant app databases are deleted or kept in check. I do not even back-up my whatsapp chats all that much.
Stronk
Herald
Have a 512GB phone I've been using since 2023 and currently it has about 192GB free/320GB used. Storage breakup of relevant stuff:
I also don't use cloud storage to backup any personal stuff (unlike my professional and academic stuff which is backed up to multiple cloud accounts); but I have multiple backups of all my personal files (including all photos taken on my camera in both JPEG and RAW format since 2018) on one of my laptop's SSDs and an external HDD. Not quite the recommended 3-2-1 thumb rule for backups, but at 2-2-1 it's close enough ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
While I aim to backup my phone every couple of months, realistically, I get around to it only once every 4-6 months or so.
I guess I just like having things available locally compared to streaming and/or downloading them, and I'm sure that someone else has the exact opposite preferences. One thing I have noticed is the massive file size of videos taken from my phone camera, even with HEVC file format. I shoot at 4K30 since it has the best quality, and I'm glad that I got 512GB for that reason alone. It also gives on the flexibility to use one's phone as a bit of a replacement for portable drives (I always carry USB 3 speed type C cables in my backpack and I get about 150MB/s R/W speed on average which is pretty decent imo). I also know people who bought higher capacity phone because they use their phone to torrent stuff in the background and obviously more space would be better for that.
In the end, everyone has their preferences (and budget constraints in some companies cases *cough* Apple *cough*) and it's interesting to see others'. Thanks for creating this thread!
- Videos: 87GB
- Images: 74GB
- Music library: 74GB
- Apps: 58GB
I also don't use cloud storage to backup any personal stuff (unlike my professional and academic stuff which is backed up to multiple cloud accounts); but I have multiple backups of all my personal files (including all photos taken on my camera in both JPEG and RAW format since 2018) on one of my laptop's SSDs and an external HDD. Not quite the recommended 3-2-1 thumb rule for backups, but at 2-2-1 it's close enough ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
While I aim to backup my phone every couple of months, realistically, I get around to it only once every 4-6 months or so.
I guess I just like having things available locally compared to streaming and/or downloading them, and I'm sure that someone else has the exact opposite preferences. One thing I have noticed is the massive file size of videos taken from my phone camera, even with HEVC file format. I shoot at 4K30 since it has the best quality, and I'm glad that I got 512GB for that reason alone. It also gives on the flexibility to use one's phone as a bit of a replacement for portable drives (I always carry USB 3 speed type C cables in my backpack and I get about 150MB/s R/W speed on average which is pretty decent imo). I also know people who bought higher capacity phone because they use their phone to torrent stuff in the background and obviously more space would be better for that.
In the end, everyone has their preferences (and budget constraints in some companies cases *cough* Apple *cough*) and it's interesting to see others'. Thanks for creating this thread!
Is all that music in .flac/.mp3/.m4a or are you talking about the app size of whatever music streaming app that you use? If the latter, that sounds like a lot of encrypted music to have, unless I am missing out on something.
64 GB have been enough for me as internal. Using SD Card for everything else.
roadrash99
Forerunner
Used to do the same until one day my phone bricked itself and I lost all pics from the last backup. Been using cloud since then.
Not that any phone has failed on me yet, but I always buy phones with dedicated SD Card slots for this reason. When an old SD Card died not too long ago, it went into read-only mode. In other words, it turned into a read-only CD
, if you can call it that. I am able to read all the data I had saved in it. Forever.
Stronk
Herald
Yes, it's almost all lossless music in flac, wav, or m4a with some MP3 files thrown in. The size taken up by apps is listed separately, and none of them are music streaming apps anyway.
I would love to be able to afford cloud storage - hopefully sooner than later. So far, I have been quite lucky that my system's been serving me fine
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roadrash99
Forerunner
Might be harder to afford in addition to buying the more expensive device with more storage. But if you buy the lower priced device and cloud, it's usually the same amount or cheaper. You pay 6500 per year for 2TB of Google One storage and that can be shared among all your family. If you compare that with the extra cost of getting 3-4 more expensive devices it's worth it. With flagships even one phone is enough to make up for the difference.