The Samsung Galaxy A53 5G is a budget smartphone that checks more boxes than you’d expect — but does its impressive spec sheet include expandable storage? It wasn’t that long ago when this wasn’t a question you had to ask when buying a phone. There once was a time when most smartphones included expandable storage as a default feature. You bought a smartphone, expected it to have an SD card slot for expandable storage, and that’s all there was to it.
But that’s no longer the case. Smartphones today are a lot different than they were a few years ago. Bezels are slimmer, processors are faster, and software is more powerful. And not every change has been a positive one. The race to create the slimmest and sleekest handsets possible also means numerous features have died along the way. Today’s phones don’t come with a 3.5mm headphone jack, an IR blaster, a removable battery, or expandable storage.
Thankfully, the Galaxy A53 5G is an exception to that rule. While you won’t find a headphone jack or removable battery, the A53 5G does come with an SD card slot for expandable storage. Simply insert the SIM removal tool into the bottom of the phone, pull out the tray, and there’s a spot for a microSD card on the opposite side of where the SIM card rests. Expandable storage has become increasingly rare in today’s smartphone market, so having it on the Galaxy A53 5G is a very welcome treat.
The A53 5G Supports Up To 1TB Of Extra Storage
Similar to most phones that still have an SD card slot, the one on the Galaxy A53 5G supports microSD cards up to 1TB in size. But you don’t have to use a 1TB card if you don’t need that much room. The A53 5G also supports 32, 64, 128, 256, and 512GB microSD cards. Samsung will probably recommend you use its own branded SD cards with the A53 5G, but in reality, cards from SanDisk, PNY, and other brands will work just the same.
It’s great that the Galaxy A53 5G supports expandable storage, but is that something you need to use if you have the phone? At the time of publication, Samsung only sells the A53 5G with 128GB of internal storage. And of that 128GB, only 100.1GB is available for you to use out of the box. People who only use a few dozen apps and stream most of their movies/music may be fine never using the A53 5G’s SD card slot. But if you want to download lots of games, photos, movies, etc., you’ll probably want to take advantage of that expandable storage. It’s perfectly fine if you don’t use it, but unlike many phones coming out today, we’re glad Samsung at least gives you that option.
