Most microSD playing cards are quick sufficient for enhancing space for storing and making easy file transfers, however some present a little bit extra worth than others. If you happen to’ve obtained a tool that also accepts microSD playing cards — whether or not it’s a gaming handheld, a touch cam, a drone or an Android pill — we’ve scoured the market and put greater than a dozen high contenders by quite a few benchmark exams. You will discover our high suggestions under, alongside some common purchasing recommendation earlier than you seize one.
Desk of contents
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Finest microSD playing cards of 2025
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What to search for in a microSD card
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How we check microSD playing cards
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Different notable microSD playing cards
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Latest updates
Finest microSD playing cards of 2025
What to search for in a microSD card
Capability
The very first thing to determine when shopping for a microSD card is how a lot space for storing you want. Fashionable playing cards are often obtainable in sizes starting from 32GB to 512GB, with a number of fashions now obtainable in 1TB or 1.5TB capacities as effectively. The primary 2TB playing cards from main manufacturers have began to reach in current months as effectively, which is thrilling, however these are nonetheless pretty uncommon (and really costly) by comparability.
For many, a 128GB or 256GB mannequin needs to be a candy spot between worth and space for storing. However if you happen to want extra room — say, for stashing a bunch of video games on a Steam Deck — a 512GB card or higher may make extra sense and infrequently supplies a greater cost-per-GB ratio. As of late, you’ll find a good 128GB card for round $15 or much less, 256GB card for lower than $30 and a strong 512GB card for lower than $40 (with sooner fashions priced a little bit greater). There’s a starker improve whenever you go as much as 1TB playing cards, which frequently price nearer to $100, although we’ve seen some fall into the $70 to $80 vary inside the final 12 months. The primary wave of 2TB playing cards are a fair larger leap: the 2TB SanDisk Excessive, for instance, is priced at $200.
Be aware {that a} microSD card’s efficiency might differ relying on what capability you purchase. SanDisk says its 128GB Excessive card delivers sequential write speeds as much as 90 MB/s, for instance, whereas the higher-capacity fashions in the identical line supply as much as 130 MB/s.
After we discuss microSD playing cards at present, we often discuss with playing cards that use the microSDXC (eXtended Capability) customary, which have a capability between 32GB and 2TB. Your system must assist this for it to work with a microSDXC card. This can nearly by no means be a problem nowadays, however some older units (a Nintendo 3DS, as an illustration) are solely appropriate with microSDHC (Excessive Capability) playing cards, which vary from 2GB to 32GB.
Learn and write speeds
MicroSD playing cards are primarily judged on their learn and write speeds, that are often measured in megabytes per second (MB/s). Usually, most microSD playing cards have sooner learn speeds than write speeds.
These metrics can then be damaged down into sequential and random efficiency. Sequential learn and write speeds matter whenever you’re attempting to entry or save lengthy, fixed streams of information, comparable to opening a big video or copying a giant batch of recordsdata from a PC. If you wish to use a microSD card for media storage, that is notably essential. Random efficiency, in the meantime, is about how shortly a card can learn and write small recordsdata scattered all through the system.
Since random learn/write speeds are a lot decrease than sequential ones, storage system makers have a tendency to not promote them as loudly. However they’re essential if you happen to use a card with a gaming system or a single-board pc just like the Raspberry Pi, the place it typically has to quickly save and entry small bits of information in random places.
Velocity rankings
If you happen to take a look at a microSD card, you’ll see a buffet of numbers, letters and symbols. Most of those discuss with the cardboard’s pace class and efficiency rankings, that are decided by the SD Affiliation.
A card’s Video Velocity Class, or V-rating, particulars its minimal sequential write pace, which is particularly essential when recording video from a digital camera. It ranges from V6 to V90. A lot of the playing cards we examined had a V30 ranking, in order that they have a sequential write pace of at the very least 30 MB/s. This needs to be sufficient to assist as much as 4K video at decrease bitrates. Greater-rated V60 and V90 playing cards are often higher for capturing 8K, however they arrive at a a lot greater price.
The UHS Velocity Class, or U-rating, additionally refers to a card’s minimal sequential write pace. It is available in two varieties: U3, which mandates a minimal of 30 MB/s, and U1, which is rated for 10 MB/s.
The older Velocity Class ranking overlaps with the opposite two programs. It’s signified by a C image and goes from Class 2 to Class 10, with the quantity (once more) indicating minimal sequential write pace. This ranking is much less related these days, however you should still see a “C10” brand on some playing cards.
The Utility Efficiency spec, marked by an An emblem, is an indicator of random learn/write speeds. That is measured in IOPS, or enter/output operations per second, somewhat than MB/s. There are two classes right here: A1 playing cards supply a minimal random learn pace of 1,500 IOPS and a minimal random write pace of 500 IOPS, whereas A2 playing cards bump these as much as 4,000 IOPS and a pair of,000 IOPS, respectively. Each rankings additionally assure sequential write speeds of at the very least 10 MB/s.
To maintain it easy, most individuals ought to search for a card with V30, U3 and A2 rankings. It’s completely doable to get a strong card with out these: A U1 card is perhaps price it if you happen to simply want an affordable, high-capacity possibility, for instance. V60 and V90 playing cards are price a glance if you happen to’re critical about capturing high-resolution photographs and video as effectively. However general, playing cards with the certifications above ought to present the most effective mix of worth and efficiency at present.
It’s essential to emphasise that these rankings are baselines. Most V30 playing cards supply considerably greater write speeds than 30 MB/s, as an illustration, and a few A1 playing cards can outperform some A2 fashions in apply. The speeds marketed by producers aren’t at all times 100% correct, both: Typically the cardboard might be slower in real-world use, different occasions it could truly be a bit sooner.
UHS bus speeds
The opposite spec to notice is the cardboard’s bus interface. Most microSD playing cards obtainable at present are UHS-I, which have a theoretical most pace of 104 MB/s. There are additionally UHS-II playing cards, which have an additional row of pins on the again and might attain as much as 312 MB/s. (A UHS-III customary technically exists as effectively however hasn’t seen vast adoption.) These are labeled on the cardboard with a Roman numeral I or II.
UHS-II playing cards are often those with these greater V60 or V90 rankings. If you happen to shoot a number of 4K to 8K video or regularly use burst mode to seize extremely high-res photographs, the efficiency good points of UHS-II card can prevent time.
Nonetheless, these are rather more costly than UHS-I playing cards: This 128GB Lexar Skilled Gold mannequin, as an illustration, is a relative discount at $40. Whereas that's lower than many UHS-II fashions we’ve seen prior to now, it's nonetheless greater than double the standard worth of our high choose talked about under. You want a tool that’s appropriate with the UHS-II interface to see any advantages, too, and inventory for UHS-II playing cards is usually spottier. For now, the upper speeds aren’t definitely worth the worth premium for most individuals, so we caught principally to UHS-I playing cards with our suggestions.
Absolutely the quickest microSD playing cards you should buy proper now, although, are based mostly on a distinct interface referred to as SD Specific. This has technically been round for a number of years and now contains its personal subset of pace courses, however the gist is that it's a lot sooner than UHS-I or UHS-II: SanDisk’s lately launched microSD Specific card, which is the primary commercially obtainable mannequin we’ve examined, advertises sequential learn speeds as much as 880MB/s. For context, that’s faster than some older SSDs.
It’s a considerable improve that — spoiler alert — has largely held up in our testing, however nearly zero in style units natively assist SD Specific proper now, and once more, SanDisk’s card prices rather more than the most effective UHS-I choices. It’s nonetheless doable to make the most of the boosted efficiency with a devoted SD Specific card reader, however that provides much more to the ultimate price. It’s additionally price noting that SD Specific playing cards usually are not backwards appropriate with UHS-II (or UHS-III), so if you happen to attempt to plug one into a tool with a UHS-II slot, it’ll be restricted to UHS-I speeds. Nonetheless, the tech ought to have loads of attraction if extra devices that assist the interface do arrive. Moreover SanDisk, Samsung has stated it plans to launch an SD Specific card as effectively.
A be aware on card readers and reaching marketed speeds
Whereas the UHS-I interface has a theoretical most of 104 MB/s, some UHS-I playing cards can exceed that pace by proprietary extensions. Nonetheless, you want a appropriate card reader and host system to make the most of that additional efficiency. If you happen to discover a UHS-I card promoting speeds greater than 104 MB/s, that is what’s happening. You’ll be able to see these limits in motion with a Nintendo Change or Steam Deck: Each of these gaming units assist the UHS-I interface however don’t transcend its official pace, flattening any sequential good points some playing cards might have elsewhere. (Variations in random learn and write speeds can nonetheless matter, although.) The identical factor will occur if you happen to plug a extra highly effective UHS-II or SD Specific card into a tool that doesn’t settle for these interfaces.
The takeaway: Your microSD card will solely be as quick because the slowest hyperlink in your chain.
Guarantee
Many microSD playing cards are designed to be sturdy, with safety from water, excessive temperatures, X-rays and drops. Nonetheless, in case of disaster, a protracted guarantee is at all times good to have. Many producers supply lifetime or 10-year restricted warranties, although we’ve seen that “endurance” playing cards marketed to face up to extra hours of writing are often lined for a shorter time period. For instance, Samsung's Professional Endurance, a mannequin aimed toward safety cameras and different monitoring units, comes with a five-year guarantee.
Avoiding counterfeits
The reminiscence card market has had a specific drawback with scammers promoting pretend merchandise. To protect towards this, solely purchase from a identified model and a good retailer comparable to Finest Purchase, B&H Photograph or Adorama. If you happen to store at Amazon, solely purchase if the shipper and vendor is Amazon.com. (That stated, a handful of customers have reported receiving counterfeits even from Amazon immediately prior to now.) Bear in mind: If a worth appears too good to be true, it most likely is. Be cautious of any retailer providing considerably a cheaper price than others.
When you obtain a card, test its packaging for any irregularities. You’ll be able to run benchmark exams like CrystalDiskMark or BlackMagic Disk Velocity Take a look at to confirm its speeds aren’t drastically decrease than what’s marketed (or doable, given its specs). You can too use software program that’s designed to confirm the true capability and efficiency of your card, comparable to H2testw and FakeFlashTest.
How we check microSD playing cards
We've put shut to twenty microSD playing cards by a sequence of exams to confirm their sequential and random efficiency. These included benchmarks like CrystalDiskMark, BlackMagic Disk Velocity Take a look at, ATTO Disk Benchmark and AJA System Take a look at, in addition to a couple of “real-world” exams. We copied and pasted a small folder of photographs about 1.15GB in measurement to and from every card, then did the identical with a bigger 12.2GB folder containing a number of file varieties and subfolders, timing the method every time. We additionally checked how every card carried out on the Steam Deck, downloading video games of various sizes — together with Stardew Valley, Aperture Desk Job, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance and Apex Legends— then timing how lengthy it took to launch every sport and cargo save recordsdata.
The place relevant, we used a Kingston USB 3.2 UHS-II reader to check every card on each Home windows 11 and macOS Sonoma. Nonetheless, if a card might be bundled with (or is particularly marketed to make use of) a proprietary reader, we primarily examined with that, since we determine that’s the one most patrons will find yourself utilizing. For Home windows testing, we used an Alienware gaming PC with an Intel Core i9-10900F, Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 GPU, 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD. For macOS, we used a 2021 16-inch MacBook Professional with an Apple M1 Professional chip, 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. If a reader couldn’t join over USB-C, we used CalDigit’s TS4 dock to check the corresponding card on the MacBook.
We examined the 128GB model of every card wherever doable, although for a couple of playing cards — SanDisk's Excessive and Samsung's Professional Plus and Professional Final — we have been solely capable of check higher-capacity fashions. We additionally reformatted every card earlier than testing with the SD Affiliation’s Reminiscence Card Formatter device.
Different notable microSD playing cards
Samsung Professional Final
The Samsung Professional Final was the closest competitor to the Lexar Skilled Silver Plus throughout our benchmark exams, but it surely's tangible worse when it comes to sequential write speeds, sometimes prices extra and doesn’t supply a 1TB possibility. The Samsung Professional Plus is a bit slower for sequential reads, but it surely’s shut sufficient in any other case and often simpler to search out at a cheaper price.
Kingston Canvas Go Plus
The Kingston Canvas Go Plus is a nice card and price shopping for over the Samsung Evo Choose if the 2 are ever obtainable for a similar worth, however its sequential write speeds lagged effectively behind the Lexar Silver Plus and, to a barely lesser extent, Samsung Professional Plus.
Delkin Gadgets Energy
We haven't used it ourselves, however if you happen to’re prepared to pay for a extra highly effective UHS-II card constructed for heavy-duty video recording, the Delkin Gadgets Energy has examined effectively elsewhere and will ship considerably sooner sequential write speeds than our picks above. It’s one of many few UHS-II playing cards we may truly discover in inventory, but it surely prices a ton, with a 128GB mannequin usually priced round $80.
SanDisk Excessive
The SanDisk Excessive successfully matched the Professional Plus in a couple of of our sequential exams, however that was partly resulting from us solely having the ability to safe the 256GB mannequin, which is higher-rated than the 128GB model. It’s a nice alternative if you happen to see it on sale at a good vendor, but it surely’s broadly slower than our high choose and infrequently prices extra.
SanDisk GamePlay
The SanDisk GamePlay performs equally to the SanDisk Excessive however prices bit additional as of our newest replace. We couldn’t get it to succeed in its marketed speeds with the corporate’s personal “Professional” card reader or different third-party choices, so it fell wanting our high picks.
SanDisk Pokémon
The SanDisk Pokémon does outperform its marketed learn and write speeds, however not by sufficient to outpace the Lexar Silver Plus or Samsung Professional Plus. It basically costs additional for having an image of Pikachu (or Gengar, or Snorlax) on a product you’ll by no means take a look at.
Lexar Skilled 1066x
The Lexar Skilled 1066x is one other OK different to the Samsung Professional Plus if our essential picks are unavailable, however its sequential reads and random speeds aren’t on par with both Samsung’s card or Lexar’s personal Silver Plus. That stated, it’s price getting over the Samsung Evo Choose if you happen to see it for a cheaper price, as its sequential write speeds are a lot sooner. It additionally comes with a lifetime restricted guarantee.
SanDisk Excessive Professional
The SanDisk Excessive Professional is an in depth analog to the Samsung Professional Final however, as of this writing, is both unavailable at most trusted retailers or priced too excessive by comparability. The Lexar Skilled Silver Plus has sooner sequential write speeds as effectively.
PNY Elite-X
The PNY Elite-X typically goes for affordable and wasn’t too far off the random learn/write efficiency of Samsung's Professional Plus in CrystalDiskMark, however its sequential speeds have been effectively behind our high picks.
Latest updates
February 2025: We’ve up to date this information with a brand new high choose: the Lexar Skilled Silver Plus. The Samsung Professional Plus, our earlier suggestion, stays as a runner-up. We’ve additionally added SanDisk’s lately launched microSD Specific card as a choose for individuals who need absolutely the quickest card doable, albeit with heavy caveats. This is among the first microSD playing cards to make use of the SD Specific bus interface, so we’ve included extra particulars on what that entails in our “what to search for in a microSD card” part. Lastly, we’ve eliminated our write-up for SanDisk’s Apex Legends card, because it seems to have been discontinued, and included testing notes for a few the corporate’s newer releases.
November 2024: We've checked again with this information to make sure our suggestions are nonetheless correct and made mild edits for readability.
August 2024: We’ve up to date this information to notice the lately launched 1TB fashions for 3 of our high picks: the Samsung Professional Plus, the Kingston Canvas Go Plus and the Samsung Evo Choose. We’ve additionally made positive all pricing particulars are as updated as they are often.
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