The glory days when every Android phone had expandable storage are long behind us.The first to go out were flagships and high-end options.The rest of the market slowly followed suit, starting with upper-mid-range offerings and trickling down to lower price brackets.
As I'm writing this, most new phones offering a microSD card slot are found in the budget segment, with the slot being an exceedingly rare sight even in that corner of the phone market.With all that said, you can still find a solid Android phone that can house microSD cards, as long as you're fine with making some compromises.There's exactly one modern Android flagship with expandable storage The rest went extinct a while ago Close The last generation of Galaxy S flagships from Samsung that had a microSD card slot was the Galaxy S20 series, which launched in 2020.
Other brands followed a similar trajectory, and in 2026, there's exactly one Android flagship phone with expandable storage: the Sony Xperia 1 VIII.The good news is that the phone is a competent all-rounder with an up-to-date Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset, signature Sony personality, a capable camera, and other unique features aside from the microSD card slot, such as dual front-firing speakers and a headphone jack.The two things that sour the experience are the exorbitant price and the fact that you can't find the phone in the US, at least officially.
But even if you import one, get ready to jump through multiple fiery hoops to make 5G work on it, and then jump again after each software update.Androids with expandable storage are hard to find in general, but they're still here The microSD card slot is becoming an endangered species in the world of Android As I've already noted, Android phones with expandable storage are harder to find in general with each passing year.A few years ago, you were able to get yourself an able mid-ranger that was very close to the high-end market both in terms of performance and camera quality—such as the fantastic Galaxy A52s—but nowadays, the market's barren of such devices.
Samsung stopped including a microSD card slot in its A5x devices starting with the Galaxy A56, but the A2x series still boasts one.The same is true for Motorola, which offers expandable storage only on its budget Moto G models.For people outside the US, the situation's similarly dire.
Brands offering cost-effective all-rounders such as Realme, Xiaomi, and Honor, include microSD card slots mostly on their low-end models that come with highly compromised cameras, poor software support, meek chipsets, and not enough RAM to provide an everyday experience free of lags and stutters.The silver lining here is that there's still a select number of phones with expandable storage that can offer fluid performance, solid cameras, and a few other goodies.These are some of the best affordable Androids with microSD card slots you can get right now Cheap, cheerful, and quite capable If expandable storage is a must for you, and you live in the US, you can still find a few quite capable Android handsets that you can use microSD cards with.
Samsung Galaxy A27 One of the best options around is the Samsung Galaxy A27.It sports a solid Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 chipset along with 6GB of RAM, a more than decent main camera—as long as you take photos during the day—and a brilliant 6.7-inch, 120Hz AMOLED display that's as good as those on much more expensive models.The killer feature of the A27, along with the microSD card slot, is six years of major OS updates, with the phone shipping with Android 16.
If you care about software support, the Galaxy A27 is the one to get.Galaxy A27 5G The Galaxy A27 5G upgrades Samsung's budget Android phone with a faster Snapdragon chip and a sleeker display.See at Samsung Expand Collapse Motorola Moto G Stylus (2026) Next up is the Moto G Stylus from Motorola.
This is a mid-range offering that sports a microSD card slot, comes with a great AMOLED screen, and is powered by the Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 SoC.This time, however, you're getting 8GB of memory, which is a welcome upgrade over the Samsung A27.The phone also offers 68W fast charging with an appropriate charger, comes with a handy stylus, and a camera setup that's more capable than the one on the Galaxy A27.
On the flip side, Motorola promises only two major Android updates, with the phone shipping with Android 16.If you ask me, this is the best phone with expandable storage you can get right now, as long as you're fine with only two years of major Android updates.If you're after something more affordable, you can also check out the Moto G (2026) and the Moto G Power (2026).
Motorola Moto G Stylus (2026) The Moto G Stylus (2026) combines a 6.7-inch 120Hz AMOLED display, Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 processor, 5,200mAh battery, and 68W wired charging with a built-in active stylus.It also supports microSD expansion, making it a versatile mid-range phone for note-taking, media, and everyday use.See at Amazon See at Motorola Expand Collapse TCL NXTPAPER 70 Pro Last but not least is the TCL NXTPAPER 70 Pro, with its signature feature being an IPS screen with a matte coating and support for TCL's NXTPAPER 4.0 tech, which makes using the phone much easier on the eyes compared to a regular phone.
The TCL NXTPAPER 70 Pro also comes with 8GB of RAM and the MediaTek Dimensity 7300 chipset, which is slightly ahead of the Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 found in the previous two phones, making this one the best performer of the three.The NXTPAPER 70 Pro is the best of the bunch for people who want an E Ink-like experience on their phone, along with fluid performance and a decent daylight camera experience.As for software updates, TCL is promising an upgrade to Android 17, but future OS updates are up in the air, which is less than ideal.
TCL NXTPAPER 70 Pro The TCL NXTPAPER 70 Pro is a budget-friendly phone built around its excellent 6.9-inch 120Hz NXTPAPER 4.0 display, which offers a matte, paper-like finish designed for comfortable long-term viewing.It also packs a quite capable Dimensity 7300 processor, a 5,200mAh battery, and a microSD card slot for expanding storage, making it one of the most compelling options on the budget smartphone market.See at Amazon See at TCL Expand Collapse Phones with expandable storage could soon stage a major comeback As you can see, the market for Android phones with expandable storage isn't in a great place.
Mid-range phones have all but abandoned microSD card slots, and while there's still a serviceable selection of Androids that can take a microSD card, they're a dying breed.That said, considering we're in the middle of the RAM-pocalypse that could last until the end of this decade, the moment's perfect for the microSD card slot in Android phones to stage a grand comeback.If brands have to choose between raising already-high prices and giving owners a way to expand their storage themselves while keeping prices in check, I wouldn't be surprised if many end up opting for the latter.
We just have to wait and see.
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