SD Card support at 200GB. Why not 256GB?

Forums › Android › SD Card support at 200GB. Why not 256GB?

HotDogBreath

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Topic # 192128 28-Feb-2016 13:01

The new Galaxy S7 and by the looks the new Sony X range will support SD cards up to 200GB.

My (limited) understanding of the technology was that SD card capacities doubled.

23, 64, 128, 256...

So my question is, why is there a 200GB support cap for SD cards? Is this an Android thing?

I assume 256GB and above are not yet available but wouldn't this change over time?

gzt

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Reply # 1500735 28-Feb-2016 13:10

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Sensible manufactures do not advertise support for something they cannot test and verify with.

It is a normal situation for phones. Many do support higher capacities than the original specification at release.

They do not want to disappoint users by getting it wrong and risk liability for consumer claims etc.

richms

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Reply # 1500748 28-Feb-2016 14:07

What he said. Don't want to promise 2TB support and then have that fail in several years when those cards finally exist because of some dumb error in your code and have people want support with a old phone that cant do what it said. Loads of phones said 64 gig SDXC support and work fine with a 128 or 200 card. Even a 512 in an adapter to fullsize SD works. Expect the same with the S7 when the cards are available.

Richard rich.ms

Jase2985

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Reply # 1500789 28-Feb-2016 15:09

HotDogBreath:

My (limited) understanding of the technology was that SD card capacities doubled.

23, 64, 128, 256...

given 200gb is the current limit and as the others have said cant say it works on something that it hasnt been tested on

http://web.sandisk.com/products/memory-cards/microsd/ultra-premium-edition/

d3Xt3r

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Reply # 1500790 28-Feb-2016 15:11

> So my question is, why is there a 200GB support cap for SD cards? Is this an Android thing?

It's not an Android thing, it's how the card manufacturers are marketing it.

https://www.sandisk.com/home/memory-cards/microsd-cards/ultra-microsd

Also, that "cap" is just for legal/support reasons - there isn't a physical 200GB cap. I mean, sure, filesystems and memory controllers do have an upper limit, but it's not 200GB.

200GB is the size they've most likely tested the phone with, and therefore can safely state that it works.

sbiddle

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Reply # 1500883 28-Feb-2016 18:48

There are really two answers to your question because you've really posed two questions.

Why 200GB? Because up until very recently 200GB was the maximum for micro sd cards. There was no 256GB card, nor a 512GB card. Both have only hit the market over the past few months.

A 200GB card is actually 192GB (which isn't quite a base 2 multiple but is 128GB + 64GB). One presumes they don't yet want to certify compatibility with the 256GB cards so are saying 200GB is the maximum tested and certified. Remember phones are developed over a 12 - 18 month period, and it's safe to say the 256GB and 512GB cards didn't actually exist when much of the S7 spec and marketing material was probably being worked on.

HotDogBreath

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Reply # 1501706 29-Feb-2016 18:14

Thanks for that all.

I assume (dangerous work I know) that in all likelihood the support will be there when the SD cards catch up.

I'm curious about this because of the adaptable storage options on marshmallow. It seems like a cost effective way of maxing out internal storage for these new handsets.

I wonder if sometime down the road, new handsets could support 2 SD cards. One for internal memory and a second for portable storage.

d3Xt3r

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Reply # 1501879 29-Feb-2016 22:04

> I wonder if sometime down the road, new handsets could support 2 SD cards. One for internal memory and a second for portable storage.

I highly doubt we'd see that, at least, not in any mainstream phones. I mean, adoptable storage is nice and all but it has it's issues. Firstly, SD Cards are still woefully slow compared to internal storage (like 10-20 times slower), and they're flakey (prone to corruption). Finally, manufacturers need an excuse for people to buy higher-capacity phones, and carriers need an excuse for people to buy more data.

Besides, you could sort of use two SD cards already - just get a microUSB OTG card reader, or a microUSB drive, and you'll have three local storage options. :)