Samsung’s new Galaxy S23 series is out, and two out of three models all start with 256GB storage. Apple, Google, and others should do the same.
At its big February 2023 Unpacked event, Samsung announced its long-awaited Galaxy S23 series of phones — including the S23, S23 Plus, and S23 Ultra. Though only the Ultra is getting the brand-new 200-megapixel main camera, the 50MP lens on the S23 and S23 Plus is still nothing to sneeze at. And all of the S23 devices will have Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, the floating camera design, and come in the same four muted colors: black, cream (white), green, and lavender.
But another thing that most of the lineup has in common is the base storage, which starts at 256GB for the S23 Plus and S23 Ultra. The regular S23 still starts at 128GB, but the two larger models now come with 256GB by default. Regardless, having most models with starting storage capacity of 256GB is a big change — and every other manufacturer, especially Apple, should follow suit.
Even though it’s 2023, it’s not uncommon to find phones still shipping with 64GB of base storage, or 128GB if you are lucky. 64GB of storage is really pushing it these days, and while 128GB is better, I honestly don’t think that’s enough either.
Let’s start with 64GB. I reviewed the Moto G Play (2023) that came out a few weeks ago, and that device only has 32GB of storage. I noticed during my testing that Android 12 took up almost half of that space, giving me around 18GB or so of space that I can use as I see fit. Given those facts (if the OS takes about 14–15GB), a 64GB Android smartphone may only have about 49GB of actual storage space for you to use, though you may be able to expand storage by using a microSD card. However, that’s an extra expense, and not everyone may feel like spending more money just to make the most out of their new device.
