Choosing a new smartphone with the right amount of storage space (measured in gigabytes or GB for short) can be difficult, especially when it impacts the price. This article explains what to consider about a phone’s storage space to help you decide how much you need.
How Do I Know How Much Storage I Need?
There are a few important factors to consider when determining how much storage you’ll need on your phone. Price is a big consideration, as costs increase with higher storage models, but it doesn’t change how much you need.
With solid-state memory costs decreasing in recent years, you can effectively double your phone’s storage capacity for a minimal fee. For example, there’s only a $60 difference between the Samsung Galaxy S25 with 128GB ($799) and the 256GB model ($859).
Cloud storage is another option to take into account. Many smartphone brands now offer free cloud storage, and you can easily expand this amount for a small monthly fee. If you know you’ll be saving a lot of files to the cloud, you may not need a phone with a large amount of internal storage.
A smart way to gauge how much phone storage you need is to see how close you are to filling up what you already have. Below are directions for checking this on Android and iPhone.
Check How Much Storage Is Being Used on Android
Here’s how to check your Android phone’s current storage usage:
Open Settings.
Tap Storage or, on some phones, Device care > Storage.
You can also get there by searching the Settings app for storage.
You should now see your phone’s maximum storage capacity and available space. From here, you can uninstall documents, apps, and more to free up space.
Check How Much Storage Is Being Used on an iPhone
Use the Settings app to see how much space you’re using and how much is free.
Open the Settings app.
Tap General.
Choose iPhone Storage.
Do I Need 64 GB or 128 GB on My Phone?
On the low end, most phones now come with at least 64 GB of internal storage, with many new Android devices starting at 128 GB. While either amount may fit your needs on paper, it’s important to remember you won’t have access to your device’s full storage.
The operating system, pre-installed apps, and other system software use up a significant portion of internal storage, and this share will increase over time as you download new software updates.
In addition to pricing and cloud storage considerations, you should factor in what you’ll be using your phone for. 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.
Streaming content won’t affect your phone’s storage capacity unless you download it for offline viewing. However, streaming will consume a lot of mobile data if you’re not connected to Wi-Fi, so be sure to watch your usage.
If you’re still unsure how much storage (again, measured in GB) you’ll need on the next phone you buy, take a look at your current usage rates. If you aren’t running out of space, you probably don’t need a big upgrade. But if you frequently need to free up space on your phone, it’s probably a good idea to get as much storage as you can.
If your phone is your primary device—your camera, travel agent, entertainment source, etc.—consider getting more than what the base model offers. On the other hand, if you have a dedicated camera you always bring with you, rarely shoot any video, and, when traveling, prefer a real book over a movie, you’re more likely to be fine with the entry-level model.
How Much Internal Storage Does the Average Phone Have?
Every smartphone comes with a set amount of internal storage space, and this amount has increased dramatically in the last decade. Whereas a 32GB phone was at the upper limit of what you could buy in 2012, the iPhone 17 Pro Max, for example, starts with 256GB. On the higher end, some popular smartphone brands now offer terabyte models.
One thing to keep in mind is that internal storage cannot be increased or decreased. If your phone doesn’t have an expansion slot for a microSD card or other form of external storage, you’re bound to whatever the phone shipped with.
The main advantage of internal storage is that it lets you store data locally for offline access. While cloud storage is an excellent resource for keeping your photos, videos, and other files, you can’t access these files without a Wi-Fi or mobile data connection.
FAQ
How do I get more storage on my phone?
Many Android devices have ports for Micro SD cards that let you expand storage. For an iPhone, you can use iCloud Drive for more digital space. You get 5GB of storage free and can upgrade to up to 2TB for a monthly fee.
What should I delete when my phone storage is full?
Odds are, the biggest chunk of your phone’s storage goes to photos and videos you’ve taken with the camera. You should consider backing them up to a computer or cloud storage to free up the space on your phone.
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