Slow transfer rate between android phone and win11

I'm setting up and old Galaxy S8 as a music/audiobook player. To this end I installed a 64GB card in the phone and transferred my music library to the card. I transferred around 40GB via a USB3 link and it took......15 hours! I also tried removing the card from the phone and putting it in an adapter connected directly to the PC but there was no difference in the transfer rate. I still don't understand why it was so slow. That's question one.

Now I need to make alterations to the metadata of the files in the music library and thought that, using my app of choice, MP3Tag, I could connect the phone 'card' directly to the app. Unfortunately even though I have the phone set to USB file transfers and even though Windows 'sees' the Phone in the left hand Explorer window the app doesn't 'see' the phone. So that's my second question, why don't individual apps 'see' the phone when Windows does?

None of this is wildly important but I would like to know if there's a way around those two problems.

Cheers!

The fastest connection is to use a USB Type-C cable directly between your phone and a USB 3.0 or faster port. If you swipe from top to bottom, you should see a message to trust your computer and allow transfers. You have to allow access to your phone before you can see the files in File Explorer. Also make sure you have selected MTP for best performance. Upon opening your phone in File Explorer you should see two folders. One is the internal storage and the other is the SD card. You can copy/paste and delete files directly. The only limitation is you cannot preview files or modify them directly from the phone, you can only open them if you want to see contents and you have to copy to your PC before you modify them. You can then copy back to the phone. If it is only for a few files and want to do it via Wi-Fi you can use CX File Explorer which can access a shared folder on PC and copy-paste files there. You can also configure it so you can access your phone from the PC via FTP.

This is also very rapid and trustworthy: MyPhoneExplorer | Functions
You need however further install the MyPhoneExplorer client on your mobile phone.

rogerrabbit said:

This is also very rapid and trustworthy: MyPhoneExplorer | Functions

Click to expand...

Totally agree. I have used it for ages. I chose to pay £10 because I think the developer deserves it. I find it fast and reliable. It's never failed me yet. I have no connection with the developer. Just a very satisfied client.

Whatever utility you use, you must fist allow access to your phone. If you ignore the access message, you won't be able to access any files from the PC. You have to explicitly allow access before you can see the data and copy them. Using Cx File Explorer all you need is to connect at your home Wi-Fi and copy your data to a shared folder on your PC. Or you can configure Cx File Explorer to allow access to your phone from the PC via FTP using the phone's IP address.

There's perhaps 3 potential bottlenecks...
the age of the device, the Class of SD Card and the manner of tethering.

Like I said, fastest is USB (aka direct cable connection), then Wi-Fi and the slower of all, Bluetooth. What about connecting a standard USB flash drive with a USB type-C to USB A (aka OTG) adapter? In some models with older Android you can use Cx File Explorer to copy files to USB, in newer versions I use MLUSB Mounter.

sikm said:

I'm setting up and old Galaxy S8 as a music/audiobook player. To this end I installed a 64GB card in the phone and transferred my music library to the card. I transferred around 40GB via a USB3 link and it took......15 hours! I also tried removing the card from the phone and putting it in an adapter connected directly to the PC but there was no difference in the transfer rate. I still don't understand why it was so slow. That's question one.

Now I need to make alterations to the metadata of the files in the music library and thought that, using my app of choice, MP3Tag, I could connect the phone 'card' directly to the app. Unfortunately even though I have the phone set to USB file transfers and even though Windows 'sees' the Phone in the left hand Explorer window the app doesn't 'see' the phone. So that's my second question, why don't individual apps 'see' the phone when Windows does?

Click to expand...

I have seen very slow transfers to SSDs when a typical meter-long cable is used, instead of the short USB-C cable supplied with the drive. Maybe a similar problem occurred with your phone. I've also seen the same problem with some adapters, so all I can suggest is try some different cables, adapters, and ports to try to isolate the issue.

As for the second issue, note that your phone does not mount as a USB drive (unless it's really quite old). For security reasons, modern phones mount via MTP (Media Transfer Protocol) which limits their direct usability with most programs. You shouldn't have that issue if you pull the card from the phone and plug it directly into the computer (with an appropriate adapter). In that case, the card should mount like any other drive.

If you use a cheap USB 2.0 card reader prefer a USB 2.0 port (if any) on your PC. These cheap adapters have compatibility issues when connected on USB 3.0 or faster ports. Otherwise you must buy a more expensive USB 3.0 card reader. I had a cheap unknown brand USB card reader and when transferring large files and the speed exceeded 30MB/sec, it crashed and disconnected. I had to use a third party application to limit the speed under the threshold of 30MB/sec to avoid crashing. This application was Ultra Copier.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

Well I've addressed the slow transfer rate by putting the micro card in an A23 and transferring a smaller number of files. That worked. I've ordered a new adapter, my current one is old and needs replacing and I will try the recommended apps.

As to the first issue, as I said at the beginning the phone was showing - and was accessible - in Windows just not in the apps running under windows and this would appear to be because of the age of the S8 - as compared to the A23.

So I'm sorted.

Thanks all once again.

Yes, in MTP mode you can't access the phone directly from the applications. You have to use the "legacy" USB mass storage device mode, if available, which treats the phone as a USB disk, but as far as I know doesn't allow access to all areas. Also I think you can only access the internal storage, not the microSD card. So it's not helping in your case.

Google AI: MTP vs USB Mass Storage (UMS)