I know that memory space are not always correct. But I just noticed that I only have about 10 gb of free space on my phone. Isn't it supposed to be 16 gb? I don't really care as I got an external sd card, but it's just deceiving how Samsung advertised it to be 16 gb when it's not even 16.
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16 gb free space? More like 10 gb to me.
- Thread starter willowlee
- Start date
Cobravision
Android Expert
There are 16gb in the phone, but 5gb are reserved for the OS and system files. That leaves just a hair under 11gb usable, less and bloatware. This 11gb is the same amount of user storage found in iPhones.
drexappeal
Extreme Android User
I always kinda laugh at these kinds of posts because this is standard for all smartphones. I don't think there has been any smartphone with an "advertised" amount of memory, that actually ends up having that much available.
Even MicroSD cards don't have the full amount that's listed on the card (e.g. 64gb card only ends up with 59+gb).
Even MicroSD cards don't have the full amount that's listed on the card (e.g. 64gb card only ends up with 59+gb).
Don't even get me started with ssd drives. My 120gb drive is actually 111gb.
Just be glad we have SD card slots OP. Even if Verizon offered a more expensive 32gb model I would still go with 16gb. I would rather have a 64gb sd card at $60 that I can bring over to a Note 3 instead of a 32gb model at $100 more that just depreciates faster.
ScandaLeX
Wasn't Me
They didn't.
Many people feel like they were lied too. I don't think they stop to realize phone isn't operating on this air. Same with computers- w/O the OS all you have it a box.
drexappeal
Extreme Android User
Oh, you mean the 980gb drive I have that's supposed to be 1TB?...LOL...WTH partitioning is involved that takes 20gb?
And my 3TB, that was hilarious too.
Lucky for me, they all were bargains when I bought them (all under $80).
Jocelyn84
Member
h1r0ll3r
Well-Known Member
This is standard for all storage devices and it always has been. Even though you're seeing a 16GB or 500GB or 1TB storage capacity, it's NEVER the full amount due to formatting or, in this case, the OS and preloaded bloatware. I've never seen this as an issue since I'm always aware that you don't get the full allotted amount of space for your drive. On a 16GB phone, yeah, losing almost a third of the space due to formatting and such seems a little much and I also worried about this since I was coming from a 32GB phone before. But with the SD card, it's not even an issue for me anymore as I still have over 9GB left on my phone and 30GB left on my card
Veritas4420
Android Enthusiast
This is the reason Microsoft is being sued right now. There Surface Tablet 32gb ships with less then 16gb. I never expect to get the full listed amount but for a 32gb device to ship with less then 16gb that is just crazy.
Cobravision
Android Expert
Since the dawn of nerdom, hard drive manufacturers have been using decimal megabytes to hawk their wares instead of binary meagbytes the OS actually uses (that's the conversion Jocelyn is showing). That's why you always lose a little off the top after you format your new HDD or whatnot. It's basically been dishonest like this forever.
But the reason why storage is 11gb is not the decimal to binary conversion (or at least it's only a minor part of it). It's because they partition 5gb for OS stuff and your partition ends up being 11gb.
It could be worse -- as Veritas points out, the 32gb Surface RT tablet has a 16gb OS partition. Some lawyer in California has also started a lawsuit because of it.
That's because Windows took up so much space! My dad wanted to put Windows 7 as the 2nd OS on his Macbook Air but it took up so much space on his SSD (I think it was only 128G), he gave up the idea.
drexappeal
Extreme Android User
Really? I purchased one of those for my Mom. I bet this settles and all the customers that purchased it will get their 5% discount coupons...LOL (it's always something rinky-dink whenever there's a settlement on something like this).
Cobravision
Android Expert
The reason it's dishonest is because the 32gb Surface RT is being compared to the 32gb iPad that's $100 more. But in reality, 16gb usable isn't much more than the iPad's 13.5gb usable. So it's really only a $15 advantage, which is clearly not worth it.