How important is the availability of a microSD card slot to you when buying a smartphone?

When Samsung showed off the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge, it was hard not to point out that the company was turning its back on tradition – gone were the removable battery and the signature microSD card slot that so defined all of its smartphone until that point. Parts of the community and the Samsung fan base took these changes in stride, but not everyone felt that way.

The microSD card, in particular, has been a topic of a lot of controversy in the past year or so. It is quite obvious by now that Google wants the tiny slot gone, in big part due to the security risks and performance compromises it makes part of the Android experience. Regardless, so long as internal storage upgrades cost a significant premium, not to mention that most companies still rarely market anything but 16GB and 32GB models most of the time, there will be demand for microSD card slots in smartphones – it's a far, far cheaper option, and nowadays you can plug up to 200 gigs extra. On the other hand, your phone's internal storage, especially with newer, flagship-level devices, is far superior in terms of write and read speeds, and will fetch and execute content much faster.

With those (and your own) considerations in mind, how important is the availability of a microSD card slot to you when buying a smartphone?

How important is the availability of a microSD card slot to you when buying a smartphone?

A must-have

51.62%

Important, but not a deal-breaker

36.89%

Unimportant

11.49%

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Chris Panayotov is a former mobile tech reviewer of phones, tablets and wearables at PhoneArena. However, his contribution to PhoneArena content includes not just reviews, but all kinds of regular and experimental features, such as news stories, buying guides, and an exclusive column on the most notable phones out of Asia.