Storage space depends on personal use
Buying a tablet or smartphone involves making several key decisions to ensure you get the right device for your needs.
You need to decide on the physical size, type of screen, processor power, memory and the amount of storage, which is used to store digital content such as apps, music, photos, and movies.
This last one can be tricky as it’s tempting to get the least available as it lowers the price of the product, but sometimes this can be a false economy and ends up causing a lot of hassle.
But making a decision depends on a range of factors such as how you use your device, your budget and how easy it is to add extra storage later.
All about storage
Storage comes in several forms, but the most common in portable devices are solid-state drives (SSD).
These use memory chips to store data and have no moving parts, compared to hard disk drives (HDD) that have a spinning disc. This means SSDs are more reliable, faster and more expensive. Smartphones and tablets only use SSDs while laptops use both types.
One thing to remember is that storage is different from memory. Storage is what is used to store files such as photos and music while memory, which is known as RAM, is where data is processed.
Beware, tech support staff don’t like it when you get the two mixed up.
Storage, like a lot of things in the digital world, is measured in bytes, most commonly gigabytes (GB) and terabytes (TB) – though last century the first personal computers were sold with only a few dozen kilobytes.
These days you have options starting at 32GB for smartphones ranging up to 1TB for tablets.
But how much you need largely depends on your budget.
Smartphones
Most smartphones come with 32GB, 64GB, or 128GB of inbuilt storage, with a few high-end models featuring 256GB or 512GB.
Your operating system will take up about 5GB to 10GB of storage and you’ll need to factor about the same for all your apps.
If you use your phone for sending messages and emails, browsing the internet and taking the occasional photo then 32GB should be plenty.
But if you like taking a lot of photos and videos then you should consider 64GB, but even then you may need to move files to your computer or portable hard drive.
Videos and photos take up a lot of storage space. A 30-second video is about 50 megabytes (MB) so 20 clips will take up 1GB, and once you add all in your photos you quickly start running out of space.
If you do take a lot of videos and also like downloading movies to watch on your phone then you’ll need to look at 128GB or 256GB of storage.
Another consideration is music. If you use a streaming service then you don’t need to worry about how much space is available, but if you’re still downloading songs then consider how many you like to have on your phone. For example, 200 songs takes up about 1GB of storage.
Also, check if your phone has expandable storage. iPhones don’t but many Android devices do.
You can buy a microSD card that’s inserted into your phone. Expect to pay about $50 for 64GB and it’s worth paying extra for a reliable brand such as SanDisk or Samsung.
Tablets
Most people use tablets to browse online and watch movies. If this is the case, then 64GB should be plenty of space.
The figures above should also allow you to work out how much more room you need for your needs.
However, if you do design work or video editing with your tablet then you’ll need to start looking at either 256GB or 512GB.
Other storage
Everyone needs extra storage for their devices as you need somewhere to back up your files.
You can use portable hard drives or cloud storage, though it’s best to use a combination of both types for your digital storage.
Portable hard drives are affordable and easy to use, but the downside is that you need to have it with you to access the files you need.
Cloud storage (where your data is stored on remote servers accessed from the internet) allows you can access your data whenever you want as long as you are online.
IPhone users should look at Apple’s iCloud service as it works seamlessly. The first 5GB is free and then it costs $1.49 a month for 50GB, or $4.49 a month for 200GB.
Google Drive, which can be used with Apple and Android devices, offers 15GB of free storage. From there, 100GB costs $2.99 a month, or $4.49 a month for 200GB.