Subj : Buying a new phone over Black Friday? Dont make this costly stora To : All From : TechnologyDaily Date : Fri Nov 21 2025 07:45:07 Buying a new phone over Black Friday? Dont make this costly storage mistake Date: Fri, 21 Nov 2025 07:30:00 +0000 Description: If you're thinking of buying a new phone over Black Friday, I'd urge you to consider choosing a 256GB model here's why. FULL STORY ====================================================================== Picture the scene: youre standing on the sidelines at your childs soccer game, and theyre gearing up to take the winning penalty kick. Youve framed up the shot nicely, hitting record in preparation for their big moment, then disaster strikes: iPhone Storage Full. You can free up space on this iPhone by managing your storage in Settings. Cue expletive. Weve all been in similar situations before I once received that dreaded message while interviewing an actor on a red carpet and theres no such thing as a good time to run out of phone storage, regardless of whether you use an iPhone or an Android phone. So, if youre in the market for a new phone over Black Friday , my one big piece of buying advice is to consider choosing a 256GB capacity model over the invariably cheaper 128GB model. And there are a few reasons why I say this. Firstly, it's worth noting that you probably wont realize the limits of a 128GB storage capacity until a couple of years into owning a new phone. Youll be able to download and use all of your favorite social media apps, take over 1,000 photos, and even download some Netflix movies before your device starts warning you to take it easy. But most people hold onto their phones for longer than two years, and its at the two- or three-year mark that the decision to choose the cheapest storage capacity will start to feel like a mistake. The iPhone 17 ships with 256GB of storage as a minimum (Image credit: Future) Thats because those aforementioned apps and photos are not the same apps and photos from 10 or even five years ago. As phone cameras have advanced, photos captured on them have got larger in size, and apps too have ballooned in size thanks to new features, higher-quality graphics, and more regular updates. Weve detailed why it feels like smartphone storage is disappearing at a faster rate in a separate article on TechRadar, but the bottom line is that certain app types have seen their storage demands increase by as much as 1,000% over the past 10 years. Phone manufacturers know this. Apple scrapped its 64GB iPhone storage capacity from the iPhone 16e onwards, and it did the same with 128GB on the iPhone 17 line (so if you buy one of those newer models, youll get 256GB as standard). That alone should tell you that 128GB is a capacity thats no longer fit for purpose. Of course, there are ways to circumvent the problem of on-device storage. Features like Optimize iPhone Storage and cloud services like iCloud and Google One remove the need for masses of physical real estate, but they cost money to be used effectively, require an internet connection to function, and only apply to photos (no amount of iCloud storage will let you download four films for a long flight). My advice, then, is to pay the premium for extra device storage at the point of purchase. Bite the bullet and go for a 256GB model where possible (512GB is overkill for most), and you wont be left spending hundreds on additional cloud storage, or pulling your hair out at your childs soccer game. Dont know where to look for good 256GB phone deals? Fear not. Black Friday sales have already begun, so below, Ive rounded up a few great early deals on 256GB models. Today's best 256GB phone deals in the US The 256GB Google Pixel 10 is $200 off in this early Black Friday deal, which is a bigger discount than we'd normally expect to see from a recently-released flagship phone. While this link leads to a discount on the Frost color option, all of the Google Pixel 10 models are on sale at the same price, just listed on their own pages. View Deal The Samsung Galaxy S25 FE takes everything great about the Galaxy S25, bumps the screen size up, trims the specs down, and slashes the price tag. At this discounted price, this 6.7-inch phone with 256GB of storage is a clear winner against several Android rivals, and stands up well against the iPhone 16e. View Deal Today's best 256GB phone deals in the UK The 256GB Google Pixel 10 is 100 off in this early Black Friday deal, which is a bigger discount than we'd normally expect to see from a recently-released flagship phone. While this link leads to a discount on the Frost color option, all of the Google Pixel 10 models are on sale at the same price, just listed on their own pages. View Deal The Samsung Galaxy S25 FE takes everything great about the Galaxy S25, bumps the screen size up, trims the specs down, and slashes the price tag. At this discounted price, this 6.7-inch phone with 256GB of storage is a clear winner against several Android rivals, and stands up well against the iPhone 16e. View Deal Today's best Black Friday deals (US) quick links Amazon: 45% off TVs, AirPods, air fryers & vacuums Apple: iPads, AirPods & MacBooks from $119 Best Buy: $1,000 off TVs, laptops & headphones Dell: laptop deals from $249.99 Home Depot: 40% off appliances, furniture, grills & tools Lenovo: 45% off laptops & tablets Lowe's: up to 30% off appliances, holiday decor & tools Samsung : up to $2,000 off appliances, TVs & phones Target: 40% off Christmas decor, clothing & furniture T-Mobile: up to $1,100 off latest iPhone 17 Walmart: furniture, cheap TVs & vacs from $69 Wayfair: 54% off Christmas, furniture & decor Today's best Black Friday deals (UK) quick links Amazon : up to 66% off tech & essentials AO : up to 500 off Dyson, Bosch & Hisense Argos : up to 50% off appliances, tech & toys Boots : save on 1,000s of beauty products Currys : deals on Ninja, Shark & Lenovo Dell : laptops from 279 Dyson : up to 550 off vacuums EE : Switch 2 bundles from 20/month John Lewis : up to 50% off tech & fashion Lego : sets & accessories from 2.99 Samsung : deals on appliances & phones Very : up to 40% off tech, toys & fashion Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button! And of course you can also follow TechRadar on TikTok for news, reviews, unboxings in video form, and get regular updates from us on WhatsApp too. ====================================================================== Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/seasonal-sales/buying-a-new-phone-over-black-friday- dont-make-this-costly-storage-mistake --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 (Linux/64) * Origin: tqwNet Technology News (1337:1/100) .