For a while, and particularly in 2015, it looked like the expandable storage via microSD card was going by the wayside, with OEMs sacrificing this feature in favor of sleeker designs and premium build qualities, leaving consumers dependent on buying devices with higher built-in storage to meet their needs. Luckily, that was a trend that quickly ended, and now, most Android smartphones offer expandable storage capabilites via microSD card.
If you listen to a lot of music, take a lot of pictures, download quite a few apps, or store movies or TV shows on your device's storage to watch later, choosing the right microSD card is an important decision. We're here to help you out with this roundup of some of the best microSD cards you can buy, based on storage capacity, speed, and budget. Let's take a look!
Common terms
When buying a microSD card, there are some terms that you may come across, like SDHC, SDXC, and Class. If you were wondering what these mean, here's a quick explanation.
- SDHC and SDXC – SDHC stands for Secure Digital High Capacity, and SDXC stands for Secure Digital (e)Xtended Capacity, and the difference between the two is simply the amount of data they can store. SDHC microSD cards come with a capacity up to 32 GB, while anything 64 GB and above is of the SDXC variety. Keep in mind that some entry-level smartphones only support the SDHC variety, so do check the compatibility and support your device comes with before making your choice.
- Class – You may have seen the numbers 2,4, 6, or 10 with a circle around them on your microSD card, and these numbers signify the class. While every microSD card may have different theoretical maximum transfer speeds, the class tells you the minimum write speed that is sustained. With a Class 2 microSD card, you will get write speeds of at least 2 MBps, and with a Class 10, that jumps to 10 MBps. Nowadays, most microSD cards, and every option in this list, are of the Class 10 variety.
microSD card options
There are a lot of options when it comes to microSD cards, with numerous brands offering various storage capacities, speeds, and price points. To make your search easier, we've selected a few of the top brands and the most common names when it comes to expandable storage.
Sandisk
The Sandisk Ultra microSD cards are available with storage capacities ranging from 8 GB all the way up to 200 GB. Assuming you have a compatible device, Sandisk is one of the few options when it comes to options beyond 128 GB, and also less than 16 GB. The 8 GB and 200 GB microSD cards offer transfer speeds up to 48 MBps and 90 MBps respectively, with all the rest allowing for up to 80 MBps. As is the case with every microSD card on this list, these are waterproof, temperature proof, X-ray proof, shock proof, and magnet proof. You can check out the prices below.
| Storage capacity | Current price on Amazon |
|---|---|
| 8 GB | $6.75 |
| 16 GB | $8.45 |
| 32 GB | $10.59 |
| 64 GB | $19.99 |
| 128 GB | $41.71 |
| 200 GB | $78.95 |
Samsung EVO Select
The Samsung EVO Select microSD cards start from 32 GB, and go all the way up to the recently introduced 256 GB microSD card. Like the Sandisk microSD cards, all of these offer transfer speeds up to 80 MBps, with the exception of the 256 GB variant, that goes up to 95 MBps. You can check out the prices below.
| Storage capacity | Current price on Amazon |
|---|---|
| 32 GB | $9.99 |
| 64 GB | $19.99 |
| 128 GB | $39.99 |
| 256 GB | $199.99 |
Transcend
The Transcend Premium 400x microSD cards range from 16 GB to 128 GB. They don't offer as much speed as some of the other options in this list, with transfer speeds up to 60 MBps across the board, but the 16 GB and 64 GB variants are the cheapest when compared to the others with this storage capacity. You can find the prices of the different options in the table below.
| Storage capacity | Current price on Amazon |
|---|---|
| 16 GB | $5.99 |
| 32 GB | $9.99 |
| 64 GB | $19.99 |
| 128 GB | $45.99 |
Lexar
The Lexar microSD cards offer storage capacities ranging from 16 GB to 200 GB. These high-performance cards feature the highest transfer speeds of the lot, with all of them allowing for up to 95 MBps. They are comparatively pricey, but if speed is what you're looking for, and you have a compatible device, then the Lexar microSD cards are the best option. All the cards also come with a USB 3.0 reader, which should make transferring files to and from a PC very quick and easy. Below are the price points.
| Storage capacity | Current price on Amazon |
|---|---|
| 16 GB | $9.99 |
| 32 GB | $14.50 |
| 64 GB | $22.45 |
| 128 GB | $41.95 |
| 200 GB | $79.95 |
So, there you have it for this roundup of some of the best microSD cards out there! Of course there are plenty of other great options out there, but hopefully this helped set you up on the right path.
from Android Authority http://ift.tt/2bgKGKM
via IFTTT
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire