Main points
- microSD cards remain essential for budget smartphones, tablets, game consoles, and digital cameras, allowing for expanded storage.
- Car dashcams use microSD to record traffic situations, which can be useful during an accident.
Four types of gadgets that still depend on memory cards / Depositphotos
Despite flagship smartphones gradually abandoning microSD slots, these compact memory cards are still necessary. A number of modern devices simply won't work without them, so if you have one lying around, it's better to keep it, because you might still need it.
So it's too early to completely write off memory cards: Channel 24 has prepared a list of devices where microSD remains almost the only simple way to increase memory.
Budget Android smartphones and tablets
Although modern phones often come with 128 GB of internal storage, microSD support has not gone anywhere in the mid-range and budget segments.
Many phones and tablets still use memory cards / Photo Depositphotos
For example, the stylus-oriented Motorola G Stylus (2025) offers 128 and 256 GB versions, but allows you to expand the memory by another 1 TB.
Samsung is also using a similar approach in its affordable A-class smartphone series. The Galaxy A17 5G, which costs around $200, supports microSD up to 2TB.
Interestingly, even the brand's flagship tablets have not abandoned this feature. The entire current Galaxy Tab line, including the Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra, allows you to install a memory card with a capacity of up to 2 TB.
For devices that are actively used for work, creativity, or entertainment, this remains an important advantage.
Portable game consoles
Modern handhelds are getting more and more internal storage – new versions can start at 256 GB. However, older models that are still popular on the secondary market have significantly less memory.
Modern consoles have not abandoned microSD / Photo Depositphotos
The original Nintendo Switch only has 32GB, while the base LCD Steam Deck has 64GB. With modern games often running into the tens of gigabytes, this quickly becomes insufficient.
For example, Cyberpunk 2077 requires at least 70GB. In such cases, a microSD card becomes an easy way to install more games or store a large collection of retro projects without constantly deleting files.
Digital still and action cameras
Memory cards remain the standard for most digital cameras. Compact cameras are often chosen for travel, family vacations, or party photography – they have larger sensors and optical zoom, which allows for clearer shots, especially in low light.
Action cameras, including the popular GoPro models, also rely on memory cards. They are compact, durable, and capable of recording high-resolution video.
Such cameras are used during sports activities, travel, or even in film production – scenes were shot with their help for the films “The First Avenger: Confrontation” and “The Martian”. If the device only supports full-size SD cards, microSD can be inserted via an adapter.
Car DVRs
Car dashcams continuously record traffic, storing video in short segments – usually a few minutes long. The data is automatically overwritten when the card fills up.
DVRs cannot work without microSD cards / Photo Depositphotos
For example, a 16GB microSD card can store about two hours of video. Such devices can be important evidence in the event of an accident or other incident. And parking mode allows you to record even when the engine is off – useful if your car is damaged in a parking lot or someone tries to steal it.
Although microSD cards are no longer a mainstream standard for flagship smartphones, they remain a practical and affordable tool for expanding memory in many other devices – from budget gadgets to cameras and consoles.