No SD card is actually a good thing...

[James8561]

but it cant compete on specs with its competition, does that mean its still not a flagship?

Are they weaker offerings than the Android products? Spec wise they would be (the snapdragon 800 is apparently so obsolete to some people and the 801 is that much better......, and iPhone is still on dual cores and half the clock speeds) But that doesn't make them any less of a flagship. They would be defined as weaker flagships.

just for the record, the dual-core 1.3 GHz Apple A7 SoC is the fastest phone chip on the planet and can obliterate Snapdragon 801 in any and all benchmark tests.
so yes Apple is very much flag ship even when it comes to specs.

on topic: I agree with OP that SD card on a volatile devices such as phones is a huge security and privacy risk. 32 GB is enough for 98% of users. the remaining 2% can always get 64 GB versions or lower models with SD cards or even better, a iPod classic to store their huge music library. I'm glad that Nokia saw the wise ways of Apple by striving for the best performance and security by using only internal memory for flagship phones.

 

[Paul May]

The 5C is the refurbished version of the 5 which, unlike previous phones, was removed. So you basically have one phone per generation, unlike on Android and Windows Phone. Currently on Apple you have the iPhone 5S. The iPhone 5C is last years iPhone 5 and the 4S is the one from 2 years ago.

So it makes no sense talking about an iPhone "flagship" when you have only 1 phone per generation. If you go considering the refurbished 5 and the 4S, you'd also go considering the 920 and the 800 as well as the S4, S3, S2 etc. I don't think it makes sense. The 920 is the flagship of the 2nd generation of Nokia Lumia devices. The L930 is the flagship of the 3rd generation of Nokia Lumias (which this time has only 2 phones). Whatever Microsoft Mobile produces next will be the first generation of Microsoft Lumia devices which will most likely have Goldfinger as the flagship.
The M8 is HTC's current flagship of 2014 devices. The S5 is Samsungs.

As for the iPhone, we MAY see the first REAL iPhone flagship if the rumours about the launch of 2 new iPhones this year - the iPhone 6 and the iPhablet - come true.

I think the fact that you can still walk into a store and purchase the 5c or the 4s makes the 5s the flagship phone. There are still other options for purchase but the 5s is still Apple's latest and greatest model which is what I think of when I think of flagship phone.

 

[jgbstetson]

The 5C is the refurbished version of the 5 which, unlike previous phones, was removed. So you basically have one phone per generation, unlike on Android and Windows Phone. Currently on Apple you have the iPhone 5S. The iPhone 5C is last years iPhone 5 and the 4S is the one from 2 years ago.

So it makes no sense talking about an iPhone "flagship" when you have only 1 phone per generation. If you go considering the refurbished 5 and the 4S, you'd also go considering the 920 and the 800 as well as the S4, S3, S2 etc. I don't think it makes sense. The 920 is the flagship of the 2nd generation of Nokia Lumia devices. The L930 is the flagship of the 3rd generation of Nokia Lumias (which this time has only 2 phones). Whatever Microsoft Mobile produces next will be the first generation of Microsoft Lumia devices which will most likely have Goldfinger as the flagship.
The M8 is HTC's current flagship of 2014 devices. The S5 is Samsungs.

As for the iPhone, we MAY see the first REAL iPhone flagship if the rumours about the launch of 2 new iPhones this year - the iPhone 6 and the iPhablet - come true.

Merely a matter of perspective or spin. I would argue that it is by default the flagship device. It is the only ship to carry the flag, so to speak.

 

[Paul May]

I would have loved sd card support in my 1020. You have to realize with these newer phones, especially the 1020 pictures and videos take up a lot of space. A 30 minute video recital at my kids school will take 3.5gb of space. You have hi-res pictures that are 40+mb each plus the 3-4mb lower res shot. Your hitting almost 50mb for each shot taken. It adds up fast. Add on some music, podcasts and apps and t hat 32gb phone starts running low quickly.

 

[Dietrich Cleijne]

I plan to use my L1520 on my holidays as a single replacement of every device i used to drag along .
No more:
Tablet
Laptop
E-reader
DSLR camera
Camcorder,
... to keep an eye on, but just one device thats big enough to read the news or an E-book on, that makes great pictures and very good video's and has an office suite that allows me to make changes in documents on the go.
So, yes, i put an 128 gb card in my flagship, because that is what my 1520 is.

Am i worried about theft?
Yes i am, thats why i don't want to carry al the other equipment along anymore, and have my Nokia in my pocket where no one can touch it.

 

[Jan Tomsic]

The iPhone 5S does not have microSD card support (nor did any model of iPhone), and it is definitely considered a flagship device.

And memory upgrades (from 16 to 32 and 64GB) are extremely expensive.

Internal memory is faster and, as you pointed out, more secure, but that doesn't mean that I don't want a 64GB sd card for my music (and videos) that I couldn't care less if anyone saw.
But I kinda got used to 12,4GB that 925 offers, I just listen to 3 albums of music at the time anyway, and since all photos get uploaded to onedrive, I just remove the whole folder at once. And I have Nexus 7 (32GB) for videos and a 1500€ custom built PC for games.

 

[Jan Tomsic]

I plan to use my L1520 on my holidays as a single replacement of every device i used to drag along .
No more:
Tablet
Laptop
E-reader
DSLR camera
Camcorder,
... to keep an eye on, but just one device thats big enough to read the news or an E-book on, that makes great pictures and very good video's and has an office suite that allows me to make changes in documents on the go.
So, yes, i put an 128 gb card in my flagship, because that is what my 1520 is.

Am i worried about theft?
Yes i am, thats why i don't want to carry al the other equipment along anymore, and have my Nokia in my pocket where no one can touch it.

You might quickly find out that the battery is quite bad if you use your phone non stop. Also the e-ink screen is far more eyes friendly than LCD. For me it can't possibly replace a laptop, but it could replace a tablet (6 vs 7" is not much of a difference after all, but replacing a 10 or 12" is a bit harder).
I remember having to drag a laptop, PSP, camera and a phone with me places, not I just take my phone and 7" tablet, unless I need to do real work, then a laptop is necessary.

 

[ven07]

Dear OP,

I'm not entirely with you on this one. While I do agree that a 32GB phone, without a SD option, should be enough; this is however not always the case..
I came from a phone that had SD option, but I kept mine at 8GB and after a while that wasn't enough. My current phone has 16 GB which seemed like a logical step up, but even that sometimes isn't enough. Being limited by the phone has its advantages. For one, it keeps you aware of how much space you have available which is essential for some, but not all. My GF has a 5S with 32GB and she has about 500MB-1GB of free space left
I have 3GB of free space, but that's because I don't clutter my phone.. All the apps and games I have are being used often and if i don't use them.... *uninstalling* So it really depends on who you are :grincry:

 

[b23h]

Wow, this chatter about the iPhone is a huge waste of time in my consideration. So what the iPhone has sold a lot and has no SD Card Slot. I could care less. It also has a pretty small screen and Apple has taken years to catch up to the rest of the market on screen size. I don't care about Apple at all. If you're concerned with his statement "It's a feature of all 2014 flagships", I suggest changing "all" to most, and we're @#$%^$$# done!

Personally I want a phone that has 32gb of internal memory and a SD Card Slot. If I cannot get one I may just continue to hold on to my 920 until I get a phone like the 930 but with Glance and a SD Card Slot. The likelihood is that I will have music, photo's and game saves on the memory card which I do not necessarily consider a big privacy risk.

RANT\
I think would be absolutely foolish for MM to release a flagship phone in the Icon/930 size without an SD Card Slot. If they do not release a phone like that soon (which I am expecting is Goldfinger) I will hold them in contempt, and I am not joking at all about how I would feel contempt for them. I do not fetish the wisdom of Nokia or Microsoft. The history of both companies is chock full of huge errors. Nokia had an outstanding position in the cellphone market only to see it evaporate and have to throw a hail mary pass to Microsoft. Now Nokia's Devices and Services is no longer Nokia. If you're a start up, selling to another company is often a sign of success. Nokia selling the cellphone division to Microsoft was a clear sign of failure. I'm sure there's plenty of books on the history of Microsoft's blunders.

I refuse to allow my affection for a company and their products blind me to their faults. Nor should any company allow esprit de corps or hubris to rationalize away their failures. I worked for the VHA (VA Hospital) system for twenty one years until I simply could not take it any longer and resigned in March 2013. I know what willful blindness can do to an organization.
/RANT

 

[tapehead]

No SD card = worthless phone to me. Unless it has 64GB out of the box minimum.

But my phone has about 90GB on it thanks to the SD card. So... I'm spoiled.

 

[poiman]

32GB is enough for me. I've used iPads for 1.5 years and they are 32GB. After all this time I'm still far away of that limit and I've more apps in it than I'll ever have on a smartphone. My LUMIA 920, which I used for 8 months, was also 32GB and I didn't even used half of its capacity over the time I owned it!

 

[b23h]

32GB is enough for me. I've used iPads for 1.5 years and they are 32GB. After all this time I'm still far away of that limit and I've more apps in it than I'll ever have on a smartphone. My LUMIA 920, which I used for 8 months, was also 32GB and I didn't even used half of its capacity over the time I owned it!

Congratulation.

I am sure somewhere in the definition of "flagship" is a reference to the lowest common denominator. If Nokia can put a SD Card Slot in a model like the 520, I see no purpose in not having one in a flagship device. Allowing oneself the possibility of expanding storage makes perfect sense to me. I expect the calculus goes like this, no SD Card slot equals suboptimum sales.

This conversation just bores the hell out of me quickly and while people will continue to argue ad nauseam that their personal usage doesn't require one, I expect we will see that SD Card Slots will become much more common in WP devices.

 

[ven07]

Sd cards are a must...... Give us the option to decide instead of deciding for us

 

[freestaterocker]

I would rather see the option for larger built in storage capacity... In a perfect world where WP had significant marketshare I could simply order the 64 GB variant of the 930 and be done with it. But where MS/Nokia aren't moving enough units to justify multiple SKUs, I agree that they should include an expansion slot and let us decide whether to use it or not.

I plan to make the 930 my next device regardless, so I'm already starting to decide where to make the necessary cuts, as I'm using about 12 GB of my built in 16 and 27 of the available 29 or so GB of the 32 GB SD card in my Ativ S.

 

[freestaterocker]

I plan to use my L1520 on my holidays as a single replacement of every device i used to drag along .
No more:
Tablet
Laptop
E-reader
DSLR camera
Camcorder,
... to keep an eye on, but just one device thats big enough to read the news or an E-book on, that makes great pictures and very good video's and has an office suite that allows me to make changes in documents on the go.
So, yes, i put an 128 gb card in my flagship, because that is what my 1520 is.

Am i worried about theft?
Yes i am, thats why i don't want to carry al the other equipment along anymore, and have my Nokia in my pocket where no one can touch it.

This post hits the nail on the head, IMO. I don't want to carry an extra device, even a small one, for my huge music collection. And I don't have Wi-Fi at home or work so streaming isn't an option. I realize I'm well in the minority here, but I need a large amount of local storage.

 

[poiman]

I believe it all comes down to the number of intense graphic games and number of music albums you have on your phone.

I personally don't see the point of having an entire music collection on a phone. Two or three new albums that I feel like they fit my mood in a given moment are enough and if for some reason I want to listen to something else I can listen to it in the cloud, so 500mb of music are enough for me at a time.

Games is the same. Who needs more than 3 intense graphic games at the same time? I play a game, finish it, delete it and start a new one. If I want to play some again later, just download it again.

 

[colinkiama]

just for the record, the dual-core 1.3 GHz Apple A7 SoC is the fastest phone chip on the planet and can obliterate Snapdragon 801 in any and all benchmark tests.
so yes Apple is very much flag ship even when it comes to specs.

on topic: I agree with OP that SD card on a volatile devices such as phones is a huge security and privacy risk. 32 GB is enough for 98% of users. the remaining 2% can always get 64 GB versions or lower models with SD cards or even better, a iPod classic to store their huge music library. I'm glad that Nokia saw the wise ways of Apple by striving for the best performance and security by using only internal memory for flagship phones.

It's only fast because they optimized it in the OS. Run android with that chip and it will lag like hell.

 

[colinkiama]

I believe it all comes down to the number of intense graphic games and number of music albums you have on your phone.

I personally don't see the point of having an entire music collection on a phone. Two or three new albums that I feel like they fit my mood in a given moment are enough and if for some reason I want to listen to something else I can listen to it in the cloud, so 500mb of music are enough for me at a time.

Games is the same. Who needs more than 3 intense graphic games at the same time? I play a game, finish it, delete it and start a new one. If I want to play some again later, just download it again.

But your data, all your precious data will be gone.

 

[Coreldan]

I don't really think that as much of a reason, I dont mind no SD card as it means no compromises have been made in the build of the phone. That's the biggest reason why Nokia leaves it out. It's a big trade off for build quality and durability and causes a lot of challenge in fitting components.

 

[Athanville]

i love your logic, exact same thing with me, games? i built a PC for that, music? i have 32Gb ipod for that, so my phone is just my social media hub and mails and calls. have a 925 still have 9GB free