Apple's 8GB iPhone 5c offers just 3.7GB less storage than Samsung's "16GB" flagship Galaxy S4
Apple's lower cost 8GB iPhone 5c scales down its entry cost by dropping 8GB, but ends up with only 3.7GB less available room for apps, pics and other user data as Samsung's 16GB Galaxy S4, thanks to more efficient storage use and the lack of third party bundles and offers.
The new 8GB iPhone 5c creates a new, lower price point for sensitive markets including the U.K. and China. It ships with 4.9GB available to users, which will be easy to fill. Apple's newly free Garage Band, iMovie, iPhoto and iWork apps together weigh in at nearly 3GB, and user photos and email can also quickly add up.
Apple has addressed mobile storage issues for users with its free iCloud service, which lets users store music, videos and App Store purchases in the cloud so they can be downloaded only when needed. PhotoStream also captures the pictures users take, creating a iCloud backup that allows mobile users with limited storage to delete photos from their phone.
Of course, having extra local storage is ideal, particularly for users who download sophisticated App Store games and other apps that can easily take up 1GB or more of space. Apple has long used different RAM capacities to create different price tiers of products, from the original iPods to every edition of iPhone and iPad, as consumers are well aware that more room for storage is something valuable enough to pay extra to get.
However, a device's advertised installed figure of gigabytes for storage isn't as important as how much is left over after the operating system, featured apps, trial ware and other content are all figured in.
For example, Microsoft's Surface Pro hybrid tablet shipped with an impressive sounding 64GB of storage, but outside of Windows and other preinstalled software, the device only left around 36 percent of its installed storage capacity for the user.
In contrast, Apple's more efficient iPad leaves around 85 percent of its installed storage memory free for apps and other user content.
Among phones, Apple's iPhone 5c outperformed a series of smartphone devices in leaving available storage for the user in a report from January. Despite all being advertised as 16GB models, Apple's iPhone 5c left 12.5GB available, while Android phones from Sony, HTC and LG ate up more than an extra gigabyte or two.
The worst offender in the bunch was one of the best selling Android phones: Samsung's Galaxy S4 flagship, which ships with just 8.56GB free for the user. A primary reason: Samsung's TouchWiz custom package of extra software designed to differentiate and brand the generic Android experience.
"While it looks pretty and grabs headlines, most of the stuff is next to useless," wrote Which. Samsung's "Eye tracking technology that pauses video when you look away from the screen sounds attractive but in reality it works badly, gulps down your battery and monopolises your internal storage."
Samsung wastes so much space on its 16GB Galaxy S4 that users are left with just a bit more space than Apple's new, lower end 8GB iPhone 5c, despite Samsung boasting twice as much storage as Apple's newly introduced model.
The new 8GB iPhone 5c creates a new, lower price point for sensitive markets including the U.K. and China. It ships with 4.9GB available to users, which will be easy to fill. Apple's newly free Garage Band, iMovie, iPhoto and iWork apps together weigh in at nearly 3GB, and user photos and email can also quickly add up.
Apple has addressed mobile storage issues for users with its free iCloud service, which lets users store music, videos and App Store purchases in the cloud so they can be downloaded only when needed. PhotoStream also captures the pictures users take, creating a iCloud backup that allows mobile users with limited storage to delete photos from their phone.
Of course, having extra local storage is ideal, particularly for users who download sophisticated App Store games and other apps that can easily take up 1GB or more of space. Apple has long used different RAM capacities to create different price tiers of products, from the original iPods to every edition of iPhone and iPad, as consumers are well aware that more room for storage is something valuable enough to pay extra to get.
However, a device's advertised installed figure of gigabytes for storage isn't as important as how much is left over after the operating system, featured apps, trial ware and other content are all figured in.
Get what you pay for?
For example, Microsoft's Surface Pro hybrid tablet shipped with an impressive sounding 64GB of storage, but outside of Windows and other preinstalled software, the device only left around 36 percent of its installed storage capacity for the user.
In contrast, Apple's more efficient iPad leaves around 85 percent of its installed storage memory free for apps and other user content.
Among phones, Apple's iPhone 5c outperformed a series of smartphone devices in leaving available storage for the user in a report from January. Despite all being advertised as 16GB models, Apple's iPhone 5c left 12.5GB available, while Android phones from Sony, HTC and LG ate up more than an extra gigabyte or two.
The worst offender in the bunch was one of the best selling Android phones: Samsung's Galaxy S4 flagship, which ships with just 8.56GB free for the user. A primary reason: Samsung's TouchWiz custom package of extra software designed to differentiate and brand the generic Android experience.
"While it looks pretty and grabs headlines, most of the stuff is next to useless," wrote Which. Samsung's "Eye tracking technology that pauses video when you look away from the screen sounds attractive but in reality it works badly, gulps down your battery and monopolises your internal storage."
Samsung wastes so much space on its 16GB Galaxy S4 that users are left with just a bit more space than Apple's new, lower end 8GB iPhone 5c, despite Samsung boasting twice as much storage as Apple's newly introduced model.
Comments
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apple's 8gb has 3.7gb less storage than samsung's 16gb, because of all the crap samsung add
yawn
ai is really struggling for clickbait today
Hate to be the bearer of bad news, AI, but at that size 3.7 GB is a lot.
but of course, Samsung/Microsoft will not get bad PR for it because they're not Apple.
Actually, these types of problems are almost always mentioned in reviews.
Not surprising. Which is why the capacity comparison is ALWAYS misleading when it comes to mobile phones. Companies should be legally forced to advertise how much free space the device ships with, not total space. A 16GB iPhone has almost double actual storage space for users than a 16GB S4, yet they're advertised as if they're identical. Its a disgusting and misleading practice- but of course, Samsung/Microsoft will not get bad PR for it because they're not Apple.
This has gone on in storage forever, it's hardly new. Are people still outraged their laptop drives aren't the full available space 20 years later? My rMBP had quite a bit less than 'advertised' out of the box especially with a recovery partition. I expected it. It doesn't matter who's logo is on the outside, it's just how it works.
Now having nearly half the space in the S4 taken up by system is laughably bad / near inexcusable still, but intentionally left out of the article is optional additional media storage in the SD card several phones offer. Terrible policy, but still an option.
apple's 8gb has 3.7gb less storage than samsung's 16gb, because of all the crap samsung add
yawn
ai is really struggling for clickbait today
The author is DED, what else would you expect.
At times this site can be a nice resource for news, but ever so often you'll have articles like this.
Many fandroids do not realize that it's not all about the specs. Anybody will look at how those specs actually translates into real life usage. Paper specs are often meaningless and do not give a good indication as to how a device performs, and they do not tell the whole story.
Who cares if your device has a bigger capacity battery, if my device actually lasts longer?
Who cares if your device comes with 64 GB of storage, when the actual user storage is far less and a big joke?
Who cares if your device has a quad core processor, when my device actually outperforms yours and is less laggy?
And thanks to Apple's iOS, which is far more efficient and streamlined than the horrible mess and complete disaster that is known as Android, Apple devices run smoother and better than Android devices.
And I wrote this the other day in another thread, but the 8GB iPhone 5c will be just fine for certain people who do not need a lot of storage space. We live in the age of streaming media, wake up people.
On top of all that, all of Apple's devices allow you to store data in iCloud. This completely does away with the need for something like a microSD card slot for extra space. iCloud is also extremely easy to use, displaying and allowing you to search through all your items, as if they were on your device.
Since local storage is always available and high speed transfer, it pretty clearly trumps expensive carrier data caps, hunting for wifi or waiting for things to upload/download, regardless of whether it's built in storage or an SD card. Carriers want you to use the cloud, they see $$.
Um, it certainly is... And 4.3 is even more LOL. You don't seem to get it, do you? The iPhone has 8GB total, the Galaxy 16GB. So, whatever amount Apple is using up for iOS, Samsung is using that, PLUS 4.3GB! How is that bad news for AI or Apple 8GB iPhone users? It's extremely bad news for 16GB Galaxy users. That "additional" 8GB is yielding them 3.7GB in real terms. ...but that's the kind of reasoning I have come to expect from Apple critics and Android franatics.
Even if Apple spun it as a joke on Samsung having to provide expandable storage because their Galaxy phone isn't sophisticated enough to have enough storage on its own. Turn the microSD feature into a fault or at least a reminder of a fault.
It's absolutely ridiculous that 1000 and 1024 use the same wording. Imagine if 5,280 and 3,281 feet both used the term mile. It would be a huge pain the ass.
Wow, look at that Galaxy S4 on the chart!
Somebody buys a brand new 16 GB Samsung phone and they end up with 8.56 available out of the box!
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What a scam and what a rip off!
" src="http://forums-files.appleinsider.com/images/smilies//lol.gif" /> And on top of that, they're stuck using Android.
In contrast to what certain people claim, that it is techies and those who desire more from their mobile devices that choose Android, I claim the exact opposite. It is the ignorant and those who are either cheap and can not afford to spend money on mobile devices that make up the majority of Android sales and activations. Most Android phones are complete junk and they're often being used as no more than feature phones.
But it is also true you could plop in a 128GB SD card in the Galaxy and have a lot more room for photos, videos, and music. And if you really want to gain even more space you have the option of rooting and recapturing perhaps another 3 or 4 GB of internal space by removing Samsung bloatware and carrier crapware. But I do agree that this is embarrassing for Samsung that a stock 16GB Galaxy S4 does not come equipped with much more free space than a 8GB iPhone.
I really thought this was where Apple was going....relatively inexpensive, super-small, super-thin, super-light devices (iPhones and iPads) connected to iCloud/iTunes where all our stuff is.
We don't need laptops with 2 TB hard drives.
Am I missing something?
Best.
Storing your private data on an unsecured SD card and rooting and putting a slimmed down ROM on your device sounds awesome¡
PS: I love how these "solutions" are exactly what not to do once the issue of Android security comes into play. :no:
My actual take away, given the chart, is that a base install of iOS and Android take up about the same amount of space as the two flagships, the Nexus 5 and iPhone 5S give you 12.2xGB space available.
ROFLMAO
Galasy S has microSD and the 16GB version with 3GB+ more capacity than the 5c is still more affordable.