When you buy a memory card, you know you are not getting exactly what the figure on the box says, right? If you have been around long enough, you already know this even if you are really sure why it is so. (If you are curious and you have the time, read more about it here.) When it comes to mobile phones, the disparity between the advertised space and the real storage space is even worse.
When you buy a phone, you are not buying an empty digital container. It has its operating system installed along with other software the manufacturer chooses to add. These take up some or a lot of space depending on the manufacturer.
With that said, take a look at this infographic from Which?
Click to view original size.
Isn’t it infuriating that a company (we’re looking at you Samsung!) can advertise and sell a 16GB phone but only has 9GB of available memory? It would be like me selling you a three-bedroom house when in reality one of the bedrooms is filled with rebar-reinforced concrete.