I readily admit that none of the options below are "optimal" compared to what we used to have with phones that accepted MicroSD cards. But such phones are becoming rarer. I want to capture here alternatives for those looking to expand their non-expandable phones. Probably the absolute best solution is to have a protective case that has a battery and MicroSD slot built into it. The Incipio Offgrid is such a case but it is only available to the S6 (at present). For the rest of us (all other brands including iphones) there are the following options: OTG (On The Go) plugs and cables. (If you search Amazon for OTG and the brand/model of your phone, you might find a specific cable) If you have come across specific products you would like to recommend, I encourage you to share those in this thread. Thanks Mods: If you don't feel this belongs here, feel free to move it.
I don't know what you need the extra memory for. I don't need much storage space. I can get by with minimal storage. I don't install many applications. I have photos backed up on cloud through Google, Flickr and my computer. I have music backed up on the cloud through Google and Amazon and my computer. I have spreadsheets backed up on Google and my computer. Maybe you could use the cloud more.
For me it's the Here Maps that uses all that storage. Without those I could get by on the 16GB very easily.
It does sound like you are one that has ready access to the cloud. Not all users do and even those that do may have a preference for local storage. In rebuttal to your statement "Maybe you could use the cloud more," I would say that maybe I choose not to. (I use Google docs extensively for document files. However my music and pics I prefer to keep locally.)
@palandri: At present, it is still a moot point. I still have my Note3 and don't see that I'll be making any upgrade decision before mid-November / early December. Most likely, I will buy a 64GB unit and then use my current 64GB MicroSD card in my Note3 and an OTG unit. But I've not made any hard-fast decisions yet. Much of what I'm reading about this year's new devices seems to be a downgrade from options I've had in the past. Maybe my viewpoint is the real problem. Maybe I need to accept this sealed batteries and non-expandable memory is the new standard. Observation has taught me that when people get used to a particular standard, they don't like change. "Old habits die hard." I readily admit that at age 64 I've noticed I am becoming very set in my ways and I make no apology about it. (In my youth, I always used to apologize for my opinions, feeling that I wasn't important. Now, I realize that I have just as much right to stick up for what I believe as anyone else does. Still, I have to accept that living in the past is counterproductive. As one rude person told me on a another forum, "shut up old fart and go get yourself a flip phone." I then realized that no amount of complaining, no matter how right I feel I am, is going to change a whole industry.)