Editing Smartphone (section)

===Storage===
While [[eMMC]] (''embedded multi media card'') [[flash storage]] was most commonly used in mobile phones, its successor, [[Universal Flash Storage|UFS]] (''Universal Flash Storage'') with higher transfer rates emerged throughout the 2010s for upper-class devices.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Ezekiel |first1=Odunayo |title=eMMC or UFS: Understanding new generation of mobile phone storage |url=https://www.dignited.com/23879/emmc-or-ufs-mobile-phone-storage/ |website=Dignited |date=18 November 2019}}</ref>

;Capacity
While the internal storage capacity of mobile phones has been near-stagnant during the first half of the 2010s, it has increased steeper during its second half, with [[Samsung Telecommunications|Samsung]] for example increasing the available internal storage options of their flagship class units from 32 GB to 512 GB within only 2{{1/2}} years between 2016 and 2018.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Ware |first1=Russell |title=Understanding Smartphone Storage – How much storage does your phone need? |url=https://www.lifewire.com/smartphone-buying-guides-577502 |website=Lifewire |date=2019-11-13}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Samsung Starts Producing First 512-Gigabyte Universal Flash Storage for Next-Generation Mobile Devices |url=http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171204006182/en/Samsung-Starts-Producing-512-Gigabyte-Universal-Flash-Storage |website=www.businesswire.com |language=en |date=5 December 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Gottsegen |first1=Gordon |title=Samsung is bringing a huge 512GB memory chip to its phones |url=https://www.cnet.com/news/samsung-512gb-memory-chip-announcement/ |website=CNET |language=en |date=2017-12-05}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=US will only receive 32GB Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge |url=https://www.androidauthority.com/us-getting-32gb-galaxy-s7-s7-edge-675313/ |website=Android Authority |date=21 February 2016}}</ref>

====Memory cards====
[[File:Huawei_U8950D_no_cover.JPG|thumb|Inserted memory and SIM cards]]
{{main article|MicroSD#Mobile phones}}
The space for data storage of some mobile phones can be expanded using [[MicroSD#Mobile phones|MicroSD]] [[memory card]]s, whose capacity has multiplied throughout the 2010s (→ {{section link|SD_card|2009–2019: SDXC}}). Benefits over [[USB on the go]] storage and [[cloud storage]] include [[offline]] availability and [[privacy]], not reserving and protruding from the [[charging port]], no connection instability or [[latency (engineering)|latency]], no dependence on voluminous [[data plan]]s, and preservation of the limited rewriting cycles of the device's permanent internal storage. Large amounts of data can be moved immediately between devices by changing memory cards, large-scale [[data backup]]s can be created offline, and data can be read externally should the smartphone be inoperable.<ref>{{cite web |language=en-us |title=MicroSD vs. cloud storage: Which do you prefer? |url=https://news.wirefly.com/2013/05/31/microsd-vs-cloud-storage-which-do-you-prefer |website=phonedog.com |date=31 May 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |language=en-nz |title=Understanding Life Expectancy of Flash Storage |url=https://www.ni.com/en-nz/support/documentation/supplemental/12/understanding-life-expectancy-of-flash-storage.html |website=www.ni.com |date=2020-07-23}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-12-09 |title=How to back up your Android phone |url=https://www.androidauthority.com/backup-android-phone-708622/ |access-date=2023-02-13 |website=Android Authority |language=en}}</ref>

In case of technical [[brick (electronics)|defects]] which make the device unusable or un[[boot (computing)|boot]]able as a result of liquid damage, fall damage, screen damage, [[bendgate|bending damage]], [[malware]], or bogus [[software update|system update]]s,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Popa |first1=Bogdan |title=Xiaomi Ships Android 11 Update, Completely Bricks Devices |url=https://news.softpedia.com/news/xiaomi-ships-android-11-update-completely-bricks-devices-531859.shtml |website=softpedia |language=english |date=2019-12-31}}</ref> etc., data stored on the memory card is likely [[data recovery|rescueable]] externally, while data on the inaccessible internal storage would be [[data loss|lost]]. A memory card can usually{{efn|Presuming common [[file system]] support, which is usually given. Some software-specific data left over from a previous device might not be relevant on the new device.}} immediately be re-used in a different memory-card-enabled device with no necessity for prior [[file transfer]]s.

Some [[dual-SIM]] mobile phones are equipped with a hybrid slot, where one of the two slots can be occupied by either a [[SIM card]] or a memory card. Some models, typically of higher end, are equipped with three slots including one dedicated memory card slot, for simultaneous dual-SIM and memory card usage.<ref>{{cite web |title=Kaufberatung: Smartphones mit Dual-SIM und Micro-SD |url=https://www.techstage.de/ratgeber/kaufberatung-smartphones-mit-dual-sim-und-micro-sd/3t4xzm3 |website=TechStage |access-date=13 June 2021 |language=de |date=2019-01-29}}</ref>

;Physical location
The location of both SIM and memory card slots vary among devices, where they might be located accessibly behind the back cover or else behind the battery, the latter of which denies [[hot swapping]].<ref>{{cite web |title=How to increase internal memory on the Galaxy Note 4 |url=https://www.nextpit.com/how-to-increase-internal-memory-on-galaxy-note-4 |website=NextPit |date=July 5, 2015 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Thorn |first1=Thomas |title=Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini review |url=https://www.techradar.com/reviews/phones/mobile-phones/samsung-galaxy-s4-mini-1137603/review |website=TechRadar |language=en |date=2013-08-09}}</ref>

Mobile phones with non-removable rear cover typically house SIM and memory cards in a small tray on the handset's frame, ejected by inserting a needle tool into a pinhole.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hidalgo |first1=Jason |title=Replace the SIM & Memory Card in a Samsung Galaxy S7 or S7 Edge |url=https://www.lifewire.com/install-sim-memory-galaxy-s7-4023729 |website=Lifewire |language=en}}</ref>

Some earlier mid-range phones such as the 2011 [[Samsung Galaxy Fit (smartphone)|Samsung Galaxy Fit]] and [[Samsung Galaxy Ace|Ace]] have a sideways memory card slot on the frame covered by a cap that can be opened without tool.<ref>{{cite web |title=Samsung Galaxy Ace S5830 review: Ace in the hole |url=https://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_ace_s5830-review-573.php |website=GSMArena.com |page=1 |date=2011-02-23}}</ref>

====File transfer====
Originally, [[mass storage]] access was commonly enabled to computers through USB. Over time, mass storage access was removed, leaving the [[Media Transfer Protocol]] as protocol for USB file transfer, due to its non-exclusive access ability where the computer is able to access the storage without it being locked away from the mobile phone's software for the duration of the connection, and no necessity for common [[file system]] support, as communication is done through an [[abstraction layer]].

However, unlike mass storage, Media Transfer Protocol lacks parallelism, meaning that only a single transfer can run at a time, for which other transfer requests need to wait to finish. This, for example, denies browsing photos and playing back videos from the device during an active file transfer. Some programs and devices lack support for MTP. In addition, the direct access and [[random access]] of files through MTP is not supported. Any file is wholly downloaded from the device before opened.<ref>{{cite web |title=What Happened To Mass Storage & File Management? [Updated] - Mobility Arena - Mobile Phone, Smartphone, Cell Phone Reviews |url=https://mobilityarena.com/what-happened-to-mass-storage-and-file-management/ |website=mobilityarena.com |date=2011-11-18}}</ref>