Here’s how much storage the average AA uses

After you’ve finally decided on a new phone model, the next most important question is how much internal memory you want to equip it with. This is a choice that can often be very personal. After all, we all use our phones differently and prioritize different things. For some, the photos they take are the most important thing they have on their device, while others cannot imagine leaving home without their favorite music in lossless quality.

In early November we asked you how much storage space you were using on your phone. Here’s what you told us:

How much storage space do you use on your smartphone?

The results

Unsurprisingly, the most popular choice by far was the 64-128GB option. Of the nearly 4,000 people who took the survey, roughly 1,650 said you have that much storage space on your phone. That is 41.7% of the votes that tend in this direction. Most common devices such as the Samsung Galaxy S20 and OnePlus 8T are equipped with 128 GB standard. If it doesn’t, it’s usually not expensive to add additional storage – either by upgrading to a variant with more storage space or by purchasing a microSD card.

Connected: Phone memory showdown: who is bothering you the most?

With around 1,300 votes, the 64GB or less option was the next most popular choice. Almost 33% of you said you are using this much space on your phone. Again, the fact that the survey was conducted this way is not surprising. Before 128GB became the standard for most mid- to upper-end phones last year, 64GB was the basic amount of storage for most devices. I would know I still rock a Pixel 3 with 64GB of storage. If you are disciplined about not installing too many apps and making good use of apps like Google Photos and Spotify, you can easily use 64GB.

The survey was rounded off with almost exactly 1,000 votes between the two options with 128 GB to 256 GB and over 256 GB. Almost 20% of you voted for the former while 5.5% of you voted for the latter. Buying a phone with more than 256GB of storage can get very expensive. Additionally, some companies like Google don’t even offer a 256GB option with their phones. Unless you have an extensive music and movie library, most users won’t need at least 256GB of storage on their phone.

Here’s what you had to say

• Makapav: I don’t delete my WhatsApp messages and the backup with video. Now you can imagine why that’s at 40GB alone 😀
• Joe Black: I usually have 128GB phones, but when I have a phone with an SD card I often fill the space with MP3 / FLAC files so I don’t have to rely on WiFi to play music everywhere.
• Meh …: I’m floating around 35GB of the 64 on my Pixel 4. It makes me really nervous that my phone doesn’t have the space I wanted, but I can do it. I just wish it had an SD card slot.
• Tristan Lofgren: My phone is only 64 GB and I keep reaching the limit. I wish I had more space, if I didn’t notice I would use more.
• Chris Laarman: I feel uncomfortable with less than 128GB on a smartphone, but I keep my data in the cloud. I usually have a lot of apps installed because I see my smartphones as small tablet substitutes.
• Jdrch: My Note9 has a total of 912 GB of storage space. It’s likely 75 to 80 percent full.

That’s it for this poll. As always, thank you for participating by voting and commenting. When you have final thoughts, share them below.