is 16 GB enough??

[ProudGrandma]

I am trying to buy a phone for my daughter. She has never owned a smart phone, so I dont' really know what she might need.  She isn't a gamer or anything like that..she would just use it for general things...like facebook, shopping apps, maybe a simple game or 2, hangouts, a weather app, pinterest, pandora, Life 360 (which is a tracking app)...that sort of thing.  Is 16 GB enough for her...or will I need to get 32?  

The problem is that we do tracfone and the last 2 phones I tried to buy for her (with 32 GB) have been sold out...and now all I have left are VERY expensive phones or ones with 16GB.  So I am trying to make the best decision and wisest decision.  

She is going off to college next year and the wifi on campus is actually quite good...but I dont' know if that matters much or not...I just thought I would throw it out there.  

If you are wondering, right now the phone I am considering is this one. https://shop.tracfone.com/shop/en/tracfonestore/phones/tf-samsung-galaxy-j7-crown

Can someone shed light on it for me?

thanks.

[Lady Florida.]

Well, 32 is probably better especially if she'll have photos or videos on it. It doesn't look like that phone has a slot for a memory card because that would have been my next suggestion. FWIW, dh has a J7 (but not Crown) and likes it just fine. He doesn't do much with his though. 

[theelfqueen]

I looked it up and it looks like you can use a micro sd to expand memory in the Galaxy J7 (I had an s7 and a note 8 and both support that) 

[Lady Florida.]

2 minutes ago, theelfqueen said:

I looked it up and it looks like you can use a micro sd to expand memory in the Galaxy J7 (I had an s7 and a note 8 and both support that) 

Oh, okay. I didn't delve into it any further than looking at the page the OP linked. I didn't see that option there. That would be your best bet @kfeusse You could give her one as a stocking stuffer if the phone is a Christmas gift (or even if it's not). 

[theelfqueen]

It could be different for tracphone ... I just did a quick search. 

[Just Kate]

I would definitely get her something bigger that 16gb. With only 16gb she would run out of room quickly with apps and especially photos. 

[Lady Florida.]

10 minutes ago, Just Kate said:

I would definitely get her something bigger that 16gb. With only 16gb she would run out of room quickly with apps and especially photos. 

Yes. Keep in mind that the phone system itself is going to take up a good bit of that 16gb. They don't tell you that up front so if you don't know it you get an unpleasant surprise at how much little room you really have. 

Edited December 6, 2018 by Lady Florida.

[Rachel]

My last two phones have been 16gb. Even with uploading pictures to the cloud and offloading unused apps, I’m always running out of space. The first year is usually ok, but if she will hold onto the phone for a couple years or longer I would get more memory. If there is a way to expand the memory that would be even better. 

[J-rap]

16 is definitely doable, and if it's her only choice she'll be thankful she has it!  But she'll need to be constantly deleting stuff in order to have enough memory.  My dd has that, and I had it on my last phone.  It's all workable, but we have/had to be diligent about deleting photos, deleting apps that we don't use, etc.   And more and more the newer apps and updates just take up more room.

On my last phone, it got to be such a hassle to even take picture.  I'd have to first delete photos, and then make sure I emptied the photo trash, etc. etc.  I vowed that my next phone would have a lot more storage.  I now have one with 128, and it is wonderful.

However, my dd still has her 16 GB phone, and she works with it.  She does pay the extra $1.99/month or whatever it is for the extra storage space on google (mostly for pics), and is pretty streamlined in what she uses.

[Lanny]

I think you had a recent thread about this?   The tracfone link you provided shows that it has 16 GB of "Internal Memory".  That is ROM.  

Question: How much Memory (RAM) does it have?   My very low end (new at the end of September 2018) Motorola Moto  has 1 GB of RAM. That is an absolute minimum for RAM.

That tracfone page shows that it has a battery with 3300 mAh capacity. That's quite good. There are a lot of phones with a lower capacity battery.  My phone has a battery with 4000 mAh capacity and I know there are some phones with up to 5000 mAh.  That is IMO a "huge" plus...

It says that it has Android 8.0 so it is a recent phone. 

I assume there is a reason  you do not want to buy an "Unlocked" and "Unbranded" phone from Motorola.com

This is the phone on Amazon.  I need to leave, so I don't have time to search for it on eBay, but I usually prefer to buy on eBay. https://www.amazon.com/TracFone-Samsung-Galaxy-Prepaid-Smartphone/dp/B07GC5QKVQ

You can probably buy a MicroSD with large capacity and provide more than enough Storage.  Best to upload the photos to Google Photos where they are safe...

Good luck with the phone you buy!

[gardenmom5]

for memory - how much does she download to her phone?

 

if you want to buy a used phone, my dss always use swappa.com.

[RootAnn]

I'd go with bigger. Some apps don't allow installation or storage on the SD card. She will run out of room constantly after about six months (or maybe a year). 

[Bambam]

No, I'd definitely go larger - nothing smaller than 32, IMO. 

ETA: You might want to consider Republic Wireless. We have three people on Republic Wireless vs. Tracfone (one lone holdout and he rarely uses his phone (usually it is not even on!). $23.xx/month (with tax) for 1GB of data, unlimited calls/texts, phone uses Wifi when available to save your data - I pay for my phone and my youngest dd - our total for the month is $46.xx. Oldest dd pays for her own phone service and elected the slightly more expensive option for 2 GB of data. 

 

Edited December 6, 2018 by Bambam

[scholastica]

My dh always says to get as much memory as you can afford. It makes life so much easier. Again, it’s always time or money. Low memory means you spend time doing things to get stuff off your phone, but more memory costs money.

[Baseball mom]

Could get an sd card & set all pics & videos to be saved to it.  Save phone space and save pics if phone crashes or get a new phone

[BooksandBoys]

I have a 16GB and I have to be aware all the time of what I have on it. I add and remove as needed rather than keeping them allnob there, store photos in the cloud, and still have to pay attention. I do not even attempt to use a higher memory app like Facebook anymore. I just don’t have enough memory. I’d look around for a phone with more memory. 

[ProudGrandma]

thank you very much.  I think we found one we like...with 32 GB of memory.  thanks for your opinion.

[Lanny]

OP good luck with the new phone!     NOTE: Depending upon the version of Android in it, and, how the manufacturer has configured the phone (Hardware and Software) this may or may not work for you. It works in the Motorola Moto phone I got at the end of September, which has Android 7.0

When I installed the MicroSD card, I had 2 options to select from. The first would Format it so it could be read by other devices.  The second, which I chose, Formatted it with Encryption, so it can only be used in my phone.

The phone has 16 GB of ROM (what they show as memory, which is really not memory, RAM is memory).  The MicroSD card I had been using in my old phone has 16 GB of capacity.

If I look in the Settings today, it will show 30+ GB of Memory and about 8 GB is in use. There are 47 Apps installed. Many from the factory and many that I installed.

If I was taking photos (I rarely do that) I would Upload them to Google Photos where they are safe.

[Okra]

If you aren't tied to a tractphone you should look at Republic Wireless.  They are also a budget phone service and I have been really happy with them.

They use unlocked phones, like Moto phones which you can usually get at a reasonable price.

I think the service and phones are a great deal.