[SECProto]

Carrier data for phones is expensive. I use it to store media (podcasts and music) so I can pay for minimal monthly data. I bought a 128gb microSD card 3 or 4 years ago, meant I could save several hundred dollars (twice now!) by getting a mid-range phone with 64gb storage.

Edit: for fun I did a quick cost comparison. I drive a lot and listen to music and podcasts. 40,000km a year. If I streamed, I would have to upgrade my plan (+$10 a month minimum) and my phone (+$150/2yrs). Purchase price at the time was $100. So over the 3.5 years I've had this sd card, I've saved a net $620.

[pensatoio]

I’m not sure this answers the question. I understand why having an SD card feels good, but in practice, you can fit tons of movies, music, and audiobooks in even just 64gb. It’s certainly a balance between all the factors that makes an SD card an attractive choice for you, but I think for the overwhelming majority of people, long-term updates/support are going to be far more valuable, even if they don’t realize it.

[SECProto]

The question was, "what do you use the SD card for?". I answered. Other things you mentioned:

* I just checked, and my phone storage is actually only 32gb. I misspoke.

* It's quite close to full with just a month worth of pictures and all my audio stored on the SD card.

* My last security update was 3 weeks ago. The manufacturer who made my phone committed to 3 or 4 years of security updates. That said, Apple does a much better job of making feature updates available for their products.

* The article is about how "powerful" the processor is, and I would still contend that that is irrelevant for any cell phone user I know.

[neurostimulant]

But current android phones support usb otg, right? If I need access to a lot of storage for media, I'll just put it into a usb stick and plug it on the phone when I need it. Sure it's not as convenient has having accessible 24/7 on the phone, but it's not like I'm going to watch movies often on the phone, only occasionally on long trip.

[SECProto]

I did not mention movies once. I said music and podcasts that I use daily. My routine would look like following:

1. Get in car, plug in power and aux cable

2. Press play on (playlist or podcast)

3. Press start navigation on google maps

I'm glad that storage isn't a limitation for your use case, but for me they would be a major inconvenience that I can happily avoid by using an Android with an SD card