If you can’t get enough of smartphone games, videos, photos, and music, then check out these best Android phones with expandable memory in 2017. Sorry iPhone fanboys/fangirls, Apple never thought of giving an option to expand your memory unless that meant buying a new model.
Memory wasn’t so significant when phones didn’t have cameras or mp3 support and other audio files. There were monophony and polyphony melodies, but they would get annoying pretty quickly. I think my first phone with support for videos, music and higher qualities photos was Sony Ericsson K510i. It had about 30MB of internal memory, so memory card was a life saver. I continued to upgrade the memory of my phones with memory cards until a few years ago when I got a phone with 32GB of storage and didn’t need any. Yes, I have tons of music, apps, photos, videos and honestly, I never check out my storage space. Probably the smartphone manufacturers saw there were plenty of users like me and cut the memory card slots out of their phones for good in the past couple of years. Samsung made that thing when they removed the memory card slot from Samsung S6. Some of the big manufacturers like Huawei, LG, ZTE, and Xiaomi also opted for this. The decision wasn’t received warmly by the smartphone users, and now almost all major smartphone manufacturers are bringing the memory card slot back. Besides Apple of course, who stubbornly declines to give that option for their users because of their business model.
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Having a smartphone without memory card slot gives the manufacturer ability to sell identical smartphones with bigger storage for a larger price. For example, iPhone 7 with 32GB of storage costs around $649.99, one with 128GB costs $100 more and the model with 256GB will cost you even $200 more. To put things into perspective, microSD card with a capacity of 128GB costs around $50. Other manufacturers also have models with different storage capacity, but the majority of models give you an option to insert a memory card. Latest smartphones (2016 and 2017) mostly support up to 256GB memory cards. Having a smartphone with high internal storage capacity has many perks. The smartphone reads content much faster from internal than external memory. That shouldn’t be an issue for long since memory cards with high-speed are becoming increasingly approachable regarding price. For those of you who are interested only in smartphones with a great camera, we recommend you to check out our list of 7 Best Smartphones with the Best Cameras in 2017.
Before we get to our list, there is one thing you should be familiar with. Nowadays you’ll see lots of smartphones with Dual SIM capability alongside support for memory cards. One would think you can use all those options at the same time. Well, that isn’t quite true. You’ll rarely come across a smartphone that has two SIM slots and a memory card slot on top. Usually, you’ll get one SIM slot and one SIM/ Memory Card slot. If you use the second slot for a SIM card, one of them will always have to be on standby, meaning it is slightly better than switching your SIM cards manually. If you use the second slot for a memory card, forget about Dual SIM.
Let’s talk now about making our list of best Android phones with expandable memory in 2017. We decided to pay attention to models that were released this year since that is most likely what you are looking for. We used GSM Arena‘s search and selected smartphones released in 2017 that have expandable memory, have display resolution FHD (1080 x 1920) or higher, pack octa–core processors, 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage and higher, and that have at least 12MP rear and 5MP front cameras. Then we gave them points according to their specifications and combined everything into our IM score. Note that some entries on the list may not be available officially in the United States, so you’ll have to seek to get them from China online. Let’s look at the list then.
8. Asus Zenfone 3 Zoom
IM Score: 12
We will start off our list of best Android phones with expandable memory in 2017 with the latest Asus’ attempt to get its share of the market. They did a pretty good job with Zenfone 3 Zoom, equipping it with one of the best cameras in 2017. It has a dual 12MP rear and a 13MP front camera that are really getting the job done. Other specs include octa–core processor, 4GB of RAM and 5.5 inches screen with FHD resolution. When it comes to storage, you can get 32GB, 64GB or 128GB version. The second SIM card slot serves as a memory card slot and supports up to 256GB microSD.
7. Sony Xperia XZ Premium
IM Score: 12
Personally, I think Sony’s smartphones have lost its charm in the recent years, but Xperia XZ Premium could easily change all that. After releasing a first 4K smartphone, Sony decided to “go to 11” and put the 5.46 inches display with 3840 x 2160 resolution in XZ Premium. Other specs are also noteworthy including octa-core processor, 64GB of storage, 4GB of RAM and 19 MP rear alongside the 13MP front camera. There are two versions of the smartphone. One comes with single SIM slot and a dedicated memory card slot supporting up to 256GB microSD. The second version uses the other slot for Dual SIM or memory card.
6. ZTE Nubia Z17 mini
IM Score: 13
This entry on our list of best Android phones with expandable memory in 2017 is officially available in India and China, but you can get it in the United States via Amazon. It also uses the second slot for SIM card or memory card and allows you to expand the memory up to 256GB with a microSD card. Nubia Z17 mini has 5.2 inches screen with FHD resolution and packs octa–core processor alongside 64GB of storage, dual 13MP rear, and 16MP front camera. Standard edition of the smartphone has 4GB of RAM while the High Edition has 6GB of RAM and an advanced processor.
5. Huawei Honor 8 Pro
IM Score: 14
The memory slot of Honor 8 Pro is the same like in previous entries on our list of best Android phones with expandable memory in 2017, serving as a second SIM card slot at the same time. The smartphone has 5.7 inches display with QHD (1440 x 2560) resolution, an octa-core processor, 64GB of storage and 4GB/6GB of RAM. However, when it comes to its camera performances, its dual 12MP rear and 8MP front camera, are nothing to be excited about.
4. Gionee M6s Plus
IM Score: 15
If you want to go big, then 6.0 inches Gionee M6s Plus is a way to go. Unlike the most smartphones on the list of best Android phones with expandable memory in 2017, M6s Plus has a dedicated memory card slot allowing you to expand your memory with a microSD card up to 128GB (some sources say 256GB, so don’t take this as written in stone). You’ll also get octa-core processor, 6GB of RAM and 12MP primary – 8MP front camera combo. When it comes to storage, there are two versions you can get. One has 64GB of storage, while other has an incredible 256GB storage capacity.
3. Huawei P10 Plus
IM Score: 15
The second entry from Huawei on our list of best Android phones with expandable memory in 2017 comes in two versions. One packs 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, while the other has 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. Both versions have QHD 5.5 inches display, an octa-core processor, dual 20 MP + 12 MP rear camera and 8MP front camera. As expected, the second SIM slot can be used as a memory card slot supporting up to 256GB microSD.
2. HTC U11
IM Score: 15
The latest HTC flagship came out maybe a week ago, and there is already a positive buzz about U11 that ranks second on our list of best Android phones with expandable memory in 2017. It has 5.5 inches QHD display, octa–core processor and excellent 12MP rear camera accompanied by 16MP selfie snapper. You can get it in two versions, depending on our needs. The first version has 64GB of storage and 4GB of RAM while the other version is equipped with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. There is also an option to choose between single SIM model with dedicated memory slot (up to 256GB microSD) or dual SIM version that uses second SIM slot as memory card slot.
1. Samsung Galaxy S8+
IM Score: 15
I think there is no surprise about the top entry on our list. Samsung made the best phone in 2017, and it is hard to expect anyone to beat Galaxy S8+. Besides a remarkable 6.2 QHD display, you’ll also get an octa-core processor and 12MP rear and 8MP front camera. The company just took the fantastic camera from Galaxy S7 model and tweaked it a little bit. You can get a version with 64GB of storage and 4GB of RAM, or 128GB of storage and 6GB of RAM. Like most previous entry, Galaxy S8+ offers single SIM and dedicated memory slot version on top of Dual SIM (second SIM slot serves as a memory card slot) version. Although the regular Galaxy S8 “only” has 64GB of storage and 4GB of RAM, we also recommend it, because it is an excellent smartphone.
This was our list of best Android phones with expandable memory in 2017. We hope we managed to show you which are the best smartphones and maybe help you decide which one to purchase.
