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Best Micro SD card

Last Updated on September 14, 2021

For anyone who remembers the era of floppy disks and early hard drives, the idea of getting gigabytes and gigabytes of data onto something smaller than a fingernail still feels like something out of sci-fi stories, but Micro SD cards can make that idea a reality.

These ubiquitous cards can be used in phones, tablets, laptops, Chromebooks, game consoles, cameras, and a huge selection of other devices. Today these cards are readily available at huge capacities, even at reasonable prices. Modern Micro SD cards are big enough to store your entire music collection, a massive volume of photographs, lots of high-resolution videos, massive modern games, and countless other types of large file storage.

Here’s our selection of the best Micro SD cards available today, that offer you fast and reliable storage at reasonable prices.

Products at a Glance

Our Recommended

Best Micro SD card

1
PROS
  • Great speeds
  • Excellent price
  • Robust warranty included
CONS
  • Not the largest capacity
  • Cheaper cards are available
  • Speed might be overkill for some uses
2
PROS
  • Great value
  • Decent speeds for the price
  • Lifetime warranty
CONS
  • Modest capacity
  • Speeds could be better
  • Worth spending a bit more for a better card
3
PROS
  • Extreme high capacity
  • Decent speeds
  • Good value in terms of dollar per gigabytes
CONS
  • Expensive
  • Speed could be more impressive
  • Smaller card would suit many users
4
PROS
  • Budget-friendly price
  • Sensible choice for modest storage needs
  • 10 year warranty
CONS
  • Low capacity
  • Slowest card in the lineup
  • You can pay a little more for a much better memory card

How do read/write speeds affect usage?

The read speed is the rate at which data can be read from your memory card, and the write speed is the rate at which data can be written to your memory card.

Certain bandwidth-demanding tasks can only be performed with cards fast enough to keep up. Tasks like recording real-time HD video, or playing games in-game systems can require faster speeds. It’s best to consult with the manufacturer guidelines for any device you’re intending to use a MicroSD card with to check it’s up to the task.

In general use, file transfers to and from the memory card will always benefit from higher speeds, even if slower cards would be supported too.

What are the limits on the warranty on these cards?

The exact terms of the warranties vary between companies, you can check with Sandisk here and Samsung here.

Our Verdict

We went with the Samsung 256GB EVO Select MicroSDXC as our top pick because it’s a great all-round card that offers plenty of storage capacity for the majority of uses, has really impressive read and write speeds, and comes in at a very reasonable price. It’s the obvious choice for anyone after a MicroSD who is just after a good deal on a card with good performance.