Rahman asked smartphone users to share how much storage on their device is taken up by the system partition, which holds the operating system and pre-installed software that cannot be removed.<\/p>\n
“Samsung devices, in particular, seem to reserve a ton of space for system apps\/files,” Rahman found.<\/p>\n
Numerous Samsung users reported system partitions over 60GB in size, with one even going up to 75GB.<\/p>\n
If you opted for the entry-level Galaxy S23 128GB model, you would effectively have only half of its advertised storage available out of the box.<\/p>\n
It is also over four times the size of the system partition on Google’s Pixel 7 Pro, which runs the “cleanest” version of Android.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Galaxy-S23-front-and-back.jpg\")
<\/a>Samsung GalaxyS23<\/p><\/div>\n
What makes matters even worse is that the Pixel 7 typically comes with A\/B system partitions, meaning it actually has two copies of the OS.<\/p>\n
That allows for updating the phone without having to reboot.<\/p>\n
Another smartphone which seemed to take up little system space was the OnePlus 10T, with one user reporting a 14.6GB partition.<\/p>\n
Rahman said that Samsung’s bigger system partition size made sense when considering how many markets it serves and the many kinds of users it has.<\/p>\n
The company also has a long list of partners that buys space on Samsungs, providing access to its vast customer base.<\/p>\n
These include Facebook, Microsoft, Netflix, and Spotify, whose apps ship pre-installed on Galaxy smartphones.<\/p>\n
In addition, Samsung pre-installs its own ecosystem of apps \u2014 including an app store, browser, SMS app, and voice assistant \u2014 alongside Google’s apps that serve many of the same functions. Often, these apps are not removable.<\/p>\n
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