12 months

PSA: Galaxy A80 doesn’t have a microSD slot

Samsung unveiled the highly anticipated Galaxy A80 at an event in Bangkok today. It is the company’s most premium A series device in 2019 so far. The A80 is also one of the most innovative devices Samsung has launched in recent times, born out of the company’s new midrange strategy.

As explained in our Galaxy A80 hands-on, the main attraction of this device is the new sliding mechanism that makes separate front cameras redundant by making the rear cameras double up as selfie shooters when needed. While all the focus is on this new system, there is another small but notable facet of the Galaxy A80 that deserves our attention: it lacks a microSD slot, making it perhaps the first Galaxy A smartphone without expandable storage.

The new design might be the reason

Samsung is not openly blaming the sliding mechanism for the removal of the microSD card option, but it is very likely that the space constraints imposed by the new design might be the reason behind the move. The Galaxy A80 comes with 128 GB of internal storage, which is more than enough for a majority of users to not worry about the lack of microSD option. However, some users may still prefer the convenience of expandable storage for cost efficiency, backups, easy data transfer, and long durations of video recording.

Before the Galaxy A80, the Korean company removed the microSD card option in the Galaxy S6 series. The company, however, listened to the feedback from customers and brought back expandable storage with the Galaxy S7. Hopefully, the A80 ditching the microSD card is an exception and not a precursor for things to come.