How to choose the right microSD card for your device

Memory cards. We all need them for our cameras, our  dashcams, our smartphones, our tablets, our drones, our portable gaming devices and our security cameras – but which is the right one to choose.

microSD cards are becoming even more popular because of their small size and their high-capacity.

And being so small that have become the ideal storage solution for our mobile devices and other products like drones, dash cams and wireless security cameras.

But not all microSD cards are created equal and in choosing the right one you need to understand how it will be used.

Here’s what you need to know:

SPEED

Memory cards have speeds? You better believe it.

No, they’re not drag racing – the speed we’re referring to is the read/write speed.

In other words how fast it can store your content when you’re shooting your video or taking your photos and how quickly it can play them back on your device or camera.

CLASSES

How do you tell the speed of a card?

The speed of the card is determined by its class.

The higher the class the faster the card.

There are several classes – 2 (2MB/s), 4 (4MB/s), 6 (6MB/s) and 10 (10MB/s).

These classes are represented by a number inside a C.

If you have a smartphone, a tablet or portable gaming device any of these classes will do.

But if you have a better camera on your smartphone and intend to shoot 4K video then take a look at a UHC (Ultra High Speed) card.

MicroSD cards all come with an SD Card adapter which is handy if you want to use the smaller microSD card in a camera which has a larger memory card slot for SD cards.

UHS Class – Ultra High Speed

There are two UHS classes – U1 and U3 and these are what you look for if you’re using your microSD card to shoot 4K video.

These are signified by a 1 or 3 inside a U.

Drone photography – especially if you’re shooting 4K  –  would also be better served with a UHS card.

MicroSDHC

This stands for Secure Digital High Capacity which offers cards with capacities between 4GB and 32GB.

MicroSDXC

This is short for Secure Digital Extended Capacity which takes the storage capacities 64GB, 128GB and above.

ENDURANCE/EXTREME PRO

In some circumstances you need a microSD card that can be used constantly and that can handle certain conditions.
One example is a dashcam which records constantly. The dashcam keeps recording continually and when the card is full, it records over the top of the old video.

So the card has to be able not only handle that continual recording but it also needs to handle the conditions.

A dash cam can get quite hot because it is exposed to sunlight so the card has to be able to cope with that heat as well.

That’s why these Endurance/Extreme Pro cards are ideal.

Other microSD cards will work but may not last as long or be as reliable as the Endurance/Extreme Pro cards.

One of the most recommended memory cards for dash cams is the Samsung Endurance Pro microSD cards.