Are microSD Cards worth it?

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I got a new smartphone and a tablet for Christmas, but neither of them came with microSD cards. I am about to buy one from Amazon. But I am not sure I need one. I can only use them with my phone and tablet, and I already have them synced with cloud

An SD card is useful if you want to

1. Take lots of photos
2. Download movies
3. Download podcasts
4. Store a large music collection
5. Install hundreds of apps and games

It's also fun to have a large number. Why don't you live with what you've got for a while then buy one if you start to get tight.

The Smartphone probably already has a MicroSD card, most likely a 2GB, (which is pretty much standard for Android based phones) but you can upgrade to a 32GB card for about $30 or so. Your phone's manual should have a section detailing where the MicroSD card is, and how to replace it.

It's worth it. AFAIK, Android, (or at least most phone's firmware) only supports a max of 32GB, so getting a 64GB MicroSD card will be a wast of cash. With the Tablet, I have no idea, as I don't have one, and am not familiar with them as far as expandability is concerned.

I've managed to get 64GB micro-sdxc cards working on a number of phones and tablets just by formatting them to FAT32. There's no guarantee it will work, but check out a site like xda-developers. There may already be posts confirming that they work with your devices

microSD just happens to be very cheap storage - you can max out on (I think) 64GB for not much at all, and your phone can then be a drop in replacement for other usb storage (like pen drives) if you like - just don't lose the phone, and remember to store personal stuff in encrypted formats in case the phone is lost or stolen. It's a cheap all in one solution.

Its much cheaper than apple smartphones who rip you off with no micro sd slot you can pick up a 64gb micro sd for £10 on ebay

Micro SD cards are great for extra storage. I'd get one each for the tablet and phone and use it for music/video and personal files.

I really hate cloud storage. You lose access to your stuff if you're off the net, and if your phone plan has limited data, you'll have to pay for the privilege of using your own stuff...

You do need to check and see what the maximum size is for your phone and tablet--I'd think most newer hardware can access 64GB. Also, the last microSD card I bought came with an adapter that lets me plug it into the full size SD slot on my PC. This is good because I find that transferring directly to the card is much easier and faster than using the USB/syncing app for my phone/tablet (as long as you know what directory to drop your data in).

MicroSD is definitely worth it.

But if I buy a cord that allows me to plug in a USB Flash drive, would the more expensive microSD still be worth it?

^^^ Before I did something like buying and adapter, I'd want to make absolutely sure it would work with the phone or tablet...

Another thing to consider: the micro SD slot on your phone is probably internal (mine is), so an adapter cord wouldn't be practical.

I'd splurge for the card if I really needed storage. 32GB cards are pretty cheap.

PS

Alternatively, I guess you could buy a cord that would go from the microUSB on the phone to a regular USB drive... That might work, but I bet it would be slow, and you'd still have a messy cord hanging out of your phone.

dont really want a cord hanging out of the tablet

Agreed, plus it's s**t to carry around and perhaps misplace. The MicroSD card OTOH is inside and less likely to be misplaced.