Following a rather elaborate unveiling in mid-March, Samsung's Galaxy S 4 recently began hitting store shelves around the globe. However, some consumers that've bought the base 16GB model have had their new phone excitement tempered when they discovered that their device only has approximately 8GB of user-accessible storage out of the box.
After reaching out to Samsung for an explanation, CNET U.K. was told that the 6.85GB size of the system software is necessary because of the S 4's high-res display and large feature set. The company added that it includes a microSD slot so that users can add more space if they'd like. Samsung's full statement:
"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."
While most hardware comes with less user-accessible storage than is advertised, the fact that the 16GB Galaxy S 4 only has around half of its storage actually available out of the box is still kind of a bummer. Users can install a microSD card up to 64GB in size and also store content in the cloud to help conserve their built-in storage, but Samsung doesn't allow Galaxy S 4 owners to install apps to their SD card, so an S 4's internal memory can fill up quick if the owner is an app hoarder or heavy gamer.
Samsung has said that it plans to offer the Galaxy S 4 in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB versions. Unfortunately, it appears that the 16GB flavor is the only one that's widely available for purchase right now. That means that if you're planning on picking up Samsung's new flagship in the near future, it may not be a bad idea to grab a microSD card as well if you don't already have one. What do you think of the base Galaxy S 4 model packing around 8GB of usable storage? Could you live with that amount of built-in memory by supplementing it with a microSD card?