FWIW,here's an article from XDA NEWS on theNote 5 & has some thoughts/speculation/explanation on why the SD Card slot was not included,seems that it wasn't just related to slimming the phone size down,cost reductions:
http://www.xda-developers.com/note5...es-and-thoughts-on-microsd-removable-battery/
The difference with newer Samsung devices is that they use UFS 2.0 storage, which has faster speeds. However, it is reported that the memory handler of this solution is incompatible with that of traditional microSD cards, so Samsung had to opt for one or the other. Eventually, there might be a way around it and future phones might marry the standards. But I want to point this out because many blame the lack of microSD on the design of the phone, when in reality it’s a conscious choice related to actual storage.
Whether or not the reasons stated are fact,reasonable assumptions/etc....,I don't know,that's a little above my pay grade,but,there it is.
Anyone else have thoughts on this?