Small Tech Storage – MicroSD Cards

Many of your high-tech goodies will require a MicroSD card. Don’t just settle for the cheapest one – get the right one for your specific gadget. Here’s what you need to know:

So, there are differences other than storage capacity in MicroSD cards? Absolutely. And these differences will make or break your experience with a new tech toy.

Back in the day, you could get a card rated Class 10 and you were all set. Not any longer. Everyone wants a fast card, but MicroSD cards have several different ways they are fast. Action cameras, like GoPro and DJI Osmo models, require different specs than a cell phone or tablet.

What’s going on?

For casual users who don’t care about high performance, most inexpensive cards will work fine. It really depends on your application.

Buying a new camera? If you’re just taking still photos, any card in any size should do fine. If you want to use the camera for video, or if you’re purchasing an action camera such as GoPro, you’ll need to start considering card specs.

How about smartphones or tablets? Normal use, such as photos, music, etc. – any card in any size should do fine. If you’re running applications from your card, using photo filters, etc. and you want snappy performance, the card specs matter.

How about gaming consoles? Now you’re talking about serious performance specs.

And, as you can imagine, the faster cards will be more expensive.

What do all the codes mean? Lots. Here are the details about what the most common codes mean. It’s a lot of information that you can really geek out over, but no need to remember these unless you want to.

Max Size (not a speed rating – go for the max affordable)

microSD              up to 2GB

microSDHC         up to 32GB

microSDXC         up to 2TB

microSDUC         up to 128TB

Video Class (speed while writing video data to the disk – important rating for cameras, including action cams)

2             720p

4             720p/1080p

6             720p/1080p/4k (slow speed)

10          720p/1080p/4k (low Frames Per Second (FPS))

V30        1080p/4k (Mid-FPS) – (Good choice for an action camera)

V60        4k/8k (Higher FPS)

V90        4k/8k (Max FPS)

Application Performance Class (speed while using the disk with apps, similar to a computer – important rating for smartphones/tablets/gaming)

A1          Editing & Updating application data

A2          High performance, special uses, gaming - (Good choice for smartphone, tablet for games and apps)

The Bottom Line:

Buying an action camera (GoPro, DJI)? Look at the V rating. Purchase at least a V30 and you can record great, basic 4K.

Getting a drone or high-end video camera? At least a UHS-II V60, but preferably a UHS-II V90.

Buying a MicroSD card for a phone, tablet or gaming system? Try to get one rated at A2.  You’ll be glad you did.

And of course, the more space you have on your card, the more you can store.