Is 128 GB enough for the Galaxy S20? Is a 256GB or 512GB Galaxy S20 worth it? (2024)

OfSamsung Galaxy S20isKorean giant's current flagship smartphone and all three variants - S20, S20+ and S20 Ultra offer storage options of 128 GB, 256 GB and 512 GB. The phones come with beautiful AMOLED displays with a 120Hz refresh rate, and solid cameras, performance and battery life. If you're planning to buy a model from the S20 line, you might be wondering if the base 128GB storage option would be enough for you. Let's find out!

How much free storage does the Galaxy S20 actually come with?

You will never get the exact amount of free storage space on your smartphone as advertised. The phone's operating system and core apps (non-removable) take up some storage space when you first turn on the phone and need to stay there to function properly.

On the Galaxy S20, the Android operating system, along with possible pre-installed software, can take up over 19 GB of storage space. The exact number may vary and will increase over time as the phone is used, but out of the box, system recorded storage on a Galaxy S20 will usually be between 19GB and 29GB. It's safe to assume that whichever storage option you choose, your phone will likely come with at least 20GB less free storage than advertised. Taking this into account, your 128GB Galaxy S20 variant will likely come with around 108GB or less of free storage, while the 256GB and 512GB variants will have around 236GB and 492GB respectively.

How much space do apps and games take up on the Galaxy S20?


Is 128 GB enough for the Galaxy S20? Is a 256GB or 512GB Galaxy S20 worth it? (1)

How many apps can a 128GB Galaxy S20 hold?

Let's take a look at some of the most popular apps that most people are likely to install and see how much space they take up on your Galaxy S20. YouTube takes up about 110 MB of storage space, while TikTok takes up 61 MB. Facebook takes up about 42 MB, while Messenger takes up another 38 MB. WhatsApp only takes up 22 MB on initial installation, Zoom – 31 MB, Snapchat – 55 MB and Netflix – about 15 MB.

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While these are tiny numbers that won't take up your 128GB of storage space, keep in mind that some of these apps will gradually take up more space as you continue to use them, as they automatically save photos, videos, and other data locally. save to your computer. your Galaxy S20. Anyway, what we have so far amounts to about 374 MB of storage space being taken up, which is only 0.37 GB. It obviously depends on your usage, but even the 128GB Samsung Galaxy S20 should easily have all the apps you'll ever need.

How many games can a 128GB Galaxy S20 hold?

Games understandably take up more storage space than the average app because they often contain a lot of music, sounds, high-resolution images, and other large data. Minecraft is an exception and takes up just under 100 MB, while Call of Duty: Mobile takes up about 2 GB of storage space, PubG Mobile – another 1.6 GB, Blizzard's Hearthstone – 45 MB when downloading and about 1, 3 GB after installation, Pokemon GO – approx. 330MB. If you also want some console games on your phone – Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas takes up 2.4 GB of storage space, while Max Payne Mobile – 1.1 GB. Even if you download all that, it works out to 8.83GB, so the Galaxy S20's base option of 128GB should be more than enough for all your favorite games.

How much space do videos, photos and music take up on the Galaxy S20?


Is 128 GB enough for the Galaxy S20? Is a 256GB or 512GB Galaxy S20 worth it? (2)

Videos

The Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra has a 108 MP main camera, while the S20 and S20+ have 12 MP. The average person probably shoots videos at the most common resolution of 1080p at 30 fps. second (FPS), which corresponds to approximately 1.75 megabytes per second of recording.

With that in mind, even the 128GB Galaxy S20 has enough storage for 1,200 minutes or 20 hours of video footage – more than most people would film in a phone's lifetime. Of course, power users who might want to shoot at 4K 60FPS can fit in less camera footage - just over 240 minutes or 4 hours before the phone fills up. This is still a good amount of clips, and probably enough even for professional YouTubers and vloggers who don't mind backing up or deleting older videos once every few months.

Photo's

A photo taken with one of the Samsung Galaxy S20 variants will usually be between 3 and 6 megabytes in size. Most of the photos we used were almost 4MB in size, so with that number in mind, the base 128GB model can easily take up to 31,900 photos before it fills up. On the other hand, the Galaxy S20 with 256GB offers space for up to 63,900 images, and the 512GB model offers up to 127,900 images. You can choose to take photos at a higher or lower resolution than the default, but even then the base Galaxy S20 should have enough storage for the average user's photo needs, at least for a few years.


music

Some people like to store their music on the device instead of streaming it so that it can be enjoyed offline. Because songs can vary greatly in length and quality, and therefore also in file size, we take an average as an example: a 4-minute quality song of 320 Mbps from Spotify, 9.6 megabytes in size. More than 13,300 such numbers fit in the basic variant of the Galaxy S20 128GB. The 256GB and 512GB Galaxy S20 models can fit over 26,600 and 53,300 high-quality MP3 songs, respectively.

So which Samsung Galaxy S20 model should I get: 128GB, 256GB or 512GB?

Galaxy S20 128 GBalready has enough storage space for most users. 128 gigabytes is more than enough for all your apps and games, and you can record up to 20 hours of video before it fills up. Even if you plan to keep your phone for the next three to four years, it's unlikely you'll ever have to worry about storage space during that time. It's probably your best bet to use this option instead of the more expensive one, as long as you don't plan on always recording videos in the highest possible resolution or building up a huge offline movie and music library on the phone.

Galaxy S20 256 GBis a nice middle option, but unnecessary for almost everyone. Power users would probably go for the 512GB option, while the average user should be more than comfortable with 128GB. Either way, with 256GB of storage on your phone, you can easily store all your favorite movies, music, and everything else on it and comfortably use your S20 for at least 4-5 years before it's time to upgrade or free up stock.

Galaxy S20 512 GBis overkill for most people, but a great option for power users who plan to continuously record videos in 4K or even 8K. 512GB is more than enough for even the average laptop user, so on a phone you'd really need to plan for all that storage to justify the price it's going to cost you. If you're not sure, the previous two options will probably more than meet your needs.


Does the Galaxy S20 have a microSD card?

Is 128 GB enough for the Galaxy S20? Is a 256GB or 512GB Galaxy S20 worth it? (3)

Yes, all Galaxy S20 models, except the limited edition Verizon S20 5G UW, have a microSD card slot and support microSD cards up to 1 terabyte, which is equivalent to 1000 gigabytes! So even if you're not sure if the 128GB Galaxy S20 option will be enough for you, you'll be happy to know that you can always expand that storage via a microSD card.

Note that the S20 doesn't allow recording 8K videos or 4K 60FPS videos directly to a microSD card, and the same goes for burst photos. But you can still manually move them from the phone's internal storage to the connected microSD card later if you want. If you are interested in a microSD card, take a look at our offerfor the best micro SD cards for Samsung Galaxy phones.

Where can I buy the Samsung Galaxy S20?

Buy a Samsung Galaxy S20 at:

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Buy Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G at:

Is 128 GB enough for the Galaxy S20? Is a 256GB or 512GB Galaxy S20 worth it? (2024)

FAQs

Is 128 GB enough for the Galaxy S20? Is a 256GB or 512GB Galaxy S20 worth it? ›

128 gigabytes are more than enough for all of your apps and games, and you'll be able to record up to 20 hours of video clips before it fills up. Even if you plan on keeping your phone for the next 3-to-4 years, it's unlikely that you'll ever need to worry about storage during that period.

Which is better, 128GB or 512GB? ›

128GB: enough for basic use. 256GB: enough for the average user. 512GB: store your entire photo, video, and movie collection.

Is there a big difference between 128GB and 256GB? ›

The 128GB provides you with more space to store your videos, photos, music, apps, and some other data. You won't have to worry about using your cloud storage. Lastly, the 256GB. It isn't the ultimate storage, but you can be assured that you won't have to worry about space issues on your smartphone.

Is 512GB worth it for a phone? ›

Overall, for most casual smartphone users 64GB phone memory is enough, although many people prefer to choose between 128GB and 256GB. Those who use their mobile phone to the absolute maximum should consider phones with storage of 512GB and 1TB to avoid running out of storage space and suffering with a slow phone speed.

Do I really need 512GB? ›

512GB and More Is for Future-Proofing

This is exclusively for those who either shoot a lot of 4K RAW videos, download dozens of movies and TV shows, or similar. Unless you're one of those people, you definitely don't need that much storage. That said, 512GB can be good to future-proof your phone.

Is 512GB overkill for a phone? ›

How Many GBs of Storage Do You Need on a Phone? Of course, the more storage your phone has, the better. However, increased storage space usually comes at a hefty premium. But if you can comfortably splurge on a 512GB storage option for peace of mind while taking high-res images and 4K videos, go for it.

How long will a 512GB SD card last? ›

SD cards are designed for data storage and should last for 10 years or more.

Is 128GB storage enough for Android? ›

If you play a lot of mobile games and/or take a lot of high-res photos, you'll want at least 128 GB. However, if you don't use many apps and stream most of your content (like movies and music), you'll probably be fine with 64 GB.

Is 256GB overkill for phone? ›

You can never have too much storage. Not if you can run multirom then you might need 256GB. 256 GB may seem like a lot for a phone, but som people will find a way to use all of that space.

Is 256GB enough for a phone Samsung? ›

We'll call this the middle-ground between “a little” and “a lot” of needed storage space. This type of user should look at the 256GB version of the iPhone 15, or maybe even the iPhone 15 Plus. And over in Android Land, this user type should also invest in 256GB for the Samsung Galaxy S23, or the Samsung Galaxy S23+.

How long will 512 GB storage last? ›

It is good enough for gaming and most performance tasks. The average lifespan of a 512GB SSD is between 5 and 10 years. However, the specific time varies depending on the way you use it.

Is 512GB enough for Samsung? ›

In contrast, the 512GB model should suffice if you already have a camera that you constantly carry, seldom record video, and would instead read than watch a movie while on the go.

How much can I store on 512GB? ›

Storage Chart
Capacity 1Approximate number of photos (12MP)Approximate number of songs (3MB each)
512GB428,571166,667
256GB214,28683,333
128GB107,14341,667
64GB53,57120,833
4 more rows

Do I need a 128GB or 256GB phone? ›

Overall, for most casual smartphone users 64GB phone memory is enough, although many people prefer to choose between 128GB and 256GB. Those who use their mobile phone to the absolute maximum should consider phones with storage of 512GB and 1TB to avoid running out of storage space and suffering with a slow phone speed.

Is 256GB enough or 512GB? ›

The other thing to bear in mind is that while 256GB may be enough now, will it be enough for the whole time you own the Mac? If you plan on keeping your Mac for 5-10 years before upgrading, the additional cost of upgrading to 512GB is not very much if it means you can keep using your Mac for a year or two longer.

How much RAM do I really need? ›

Generally, we recommend 8GB of RAM for casual computer usage and internet browsing, 16GB for spreadsheets and other office programs, and at least 32GB for gamers and multimedia creators.

Which is better 128GB or 500GB? ›

In terms of capacity, 128GB SSD is relatively smaller than a 500GB HDD, but the faster speed and responsiveness of an SSD often outweigh the larger storage capacity of an HDD.

Would 128GB be enough? ›

128GB should be enough if you only occasionally take photos. For videos, most people take in 1080p, so that should save some storage compared to if you keep taking 4k videos.

How many apps can 128GB hold? ›

128GB: for the collectors

Then 128GB is more than enough for you. You can save about 1280 to 5000 apps. With 128GB, you won't run out of space any time soon.

Which is faster 128GB or 256GB? ›

If a 128 GB SSD uses the same type of flash memory chips as a 256 GB SSD, both will likely have the same speed. But, if the 256 GB SSD is using next generation technology, it will likely be faster.

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