Galaxy S4 has a microSD slot, so stop complaining about storage, Samsung says
Software takes up half of the storage
The presence of a microSD slot in the Samsung Galaxy S4 justifies software taking up nearly half of the available storage on the 16GB version of the handset, the company has said.
The Korean giant has been criticised by users of their newest flagship smartphone, who switched on their 16GB devices only to find just over 8GB of space for their own photos, music, apps and more.
The rest is taken up by the Android operating system and Samsung's pre-installed apps and software nuances, but it's left many fans feeling ripped off.
However with an additional 64GB available through a MicroSD card, Samsung says there's plenty of room for additional files.
Ultimate mobile experience?
In a statement to CNET, the company wrote: "For the Galaxy S4 16GB model, approximately 6.85GB occupies [the] system part of internal memory, which is 1GB bigger than that of the Galaxy S3, in order to provide [a] high resolution display and more powerful features to our consumers.
"To offer the ultimate mobile experience to our users, Samsung provides [a] microSD slot on Galaxy S4 for extension of memory."
However, Samsung does not bundle an SD card with the handset meaning users who paid for a 16GB model and only have 8GB storage at their disposal have to buy an additional card to bump up their options.
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Also, as CNET's report points out, users are unable to store apps on the microSD card, and with some of the big hitting games coming in at well over 1GB, users won't be able to store more than a few of those.
A technology journalist, writer and videographer of many magazines and websites including T3, Gadget Magazine and TechRadar.com. He specializes in applications for smartphones, tablets and handheld devices, with bylines also at The Guardian, WIRED, Trusted Reviews and Wareable. Chris is also the podcast host for The Liverpool Way. As well as tech and football, Chris is a pop-punk fan and enjoys the art of wrasslin'.