James Geddes Tech 04.30.2013 12:Apr PM EDT

Samsung Follows Surface Pro And Surface RT Mistake: Galaxy S4 Available Storage Much Less Than Expected

If you're thinking about buying a Samsung Galaxy S4, be prepared to get less than you paid for, when it comes to internal storage. Samsung seems to be making Microsoft's mistake of shipping a device with much lower-than-expected available storage. Microsoft shipped the 64GB Surface Pro with only 23GB of usable storage and the 32GB Surface RT with only 16GB of usable storage. The 16GB Samsung Galaxy S4 ships with only 8.82GB of usable storage.

It is widely understood that a device always ships with less than the advertised storage, but available user space is always close to the amount in specs. If you're planning on buying the 16GB Samsung Galaxy S4, be prepared to buy a storage card, because Samsung is using up 45 percent of the available storage for things like TouchWiz, system files, built-in apps and apps from carriers. The fact that Samsung is shipping a 16GB smartphone with only 8.82GB of storage is not the way the company should begin its Galaxy S4 chapter.

T-Mobile users in the U.S., unfortunately, have only the option of purchasing a 16GB Samsung Galaxy S4 and are now hoping the carrier will offer the 32GB and 64GB Galaxy S4. The large amount of storage space missing is very unusual, especially for a 16GB smartphone. Samsung obviously knew that this could be a potential problem, or at least they should have. The company doesn't have the best track record in recent months of making wise decisions that have ultimately blown up in its face, but it could have easily remedied this situation by including a microSD in the box, as many smartphone companies do.

So a word of advice for anyone thinking about buying a 16GB Samsung Galaxy S4: purchase a microSD card when you purchase the smartphone. Hopefully Samsung will address this situation and begin including a microSD card with the 16GB Galaxy S4. Once consumers realize they are not getting anywhere close to the storage advertised, the extra cost of including a microSD card in the box would go a long way in preventing bad press and backlash, something the company is already familiar with.