A microSD slot card is becoming a rare gem in the smartphone league. For example, Samsung’s latest flagship line, the S21s, doesn’t have expandable storage. So consumers are upset since they want the convenience of having an SD card slot to pump up their phone’s storage capacity.
Others couldn’t care less since they don’t need expandable storage. This nonchalance makes some sense in that phones now come with big storage capacities. And if they do run out of storage, they can simply use the cloud.
People used to be quite skeptical when cloud storage first became available. But more people are not accepting of this technology and willing to use it. In 2017, there were around 1.75 billion cloud storage users worldwide. The switch to cloud storage is for good reason, of course. Here are some reasons to switch from physical storage to cloud storage:
Data Privacy
One famous feature of cloud storage is data encryption. Through it, your files are only accessible to you using a key that will be used to decrypt and access data. You can also add a password for another layer of protection. The combination of encryption and a password login helps keep your data private from prying third parties.
SD cards don’t have much on the security department. It can also be encrypted, but you’ll need software to do that. It doesn’t come automatically with the card.
More storage
In a smartphone, the storage capacity of a microSD card that they can accommodate is usually only up to one terabyte. This physical limitation can be a hindrance for power users who store a lot of photos, videos, and other data on their smartphones. You can buy another SD card, but it will be quite inconvenient to switch between cards every time you need to find files.
On the other hand, cloud storage offers more capacity than an SD card. For example, an individual account on Google Cloud can provide up to five terabytes worth of storage.
Sure, relying solely on one account won’t cut it for a big business. It still needs a data server room with proper design and cooling to store everything. But for a smartphone user, the cloud can provide more than enough space for storage. You also don’t have to switch between cards since everything can be stored in just one account.
Speed
If you store your photos and videos in an SD card in your phone, it may slow down. Moving files from your phone’s internal storage to the SD card can also affect your phone’s speed. The reading and writing time for a microSD card isn’t exactly ideal.
Meanwhile, your cloud storage won’t affect the performance of your phone because the cloud is independent of the hardware. It can be argued that accessing files on the cloud can take time instead. But you can activate offline access so that you can still use it when you don’t have internet.
Risk Protection
When you lose your phone or it gets stolen, whoever got the device will be able to access your data in your SD card when they unlock your phone. Or if they’re not interested at all, they can just remove the card and throw it in the bin. Either way, you lose your precious data stored in the card.
This is unlikely to happen if you use the cloud. If your phone gets lost or stolen, you can immediately change the password of your account to prevent access from your own device. You also don’t lose your data. It’s safe and sound in your cloud.
Convenience
Both SD cards and cloud storage offer a certain degree of convenience. But even in this area, cloud storage trumps the other.
If you need to find a file, you can use the search function in your cloud to retrieve it in just seconds. Often, the same can’t be said about SD cards. Even photos are sometimes stored in the SD card and then others are saved in the phone’s internal storage, making retrieval quite confusing.
One downside of the cloud is that you may have to shell out a little more money. Cloud subscriptions are paid on a recurring basis, whether monthly or annually. The fee will depend on the storage capacity you want. You’ll also have to spend on a microSD card. But it’s a one-time payment. And then you can use the card for as long as you have it.
Still, the advantages of cloud storage can’t be ignored. You get more storage, better data protection, accessibility, and convenience.