Which class of memory card is better to choose - an overview of SD formats. What is the speed class of memory cards SD card capacity

Most often, SD cards are used to expand the available memory of smartphones, tablets, drones and other devices, and among all existing species flash drives are especially popular. Although full-fledged SD is still actively used by owners of digital cameras and cameras.

What are SD cards?:

• standard SD: SD (SDSC), SDHC, SDXC, SDIO - 32 x 24 x 2.1-1.4 mm
• miniSD: miniSD, miniSDHC, miniSDIO - 21.5 x 20 x 1.4 mm
• microSD: microSD, microSDHC, microSDXC - 15 x 11 x 1 mm

In addition, relatively recently, the SD Card Association introduced new formats in the SD 7.0 and SD 7.1 specifications: SD Ultra Capacity (SDUC) with support for memory up to 128 TB and SD Express in which the legacy interface is supplemented with PCIe 3.0 and support for NVMe v1.3, which allows you to get speeds up to 985 MB/s while maintaining backward compatibility.

Just imagine a situation in which all your devices will have NVMe solid-state drives instead of outdated, slow interfaces. They boast high speeds equivalent to many SSDs, so SD Express cards will be similar in functionality to solid state drives. Additionally, PCI Express and NVMe support allows for faster data transfer speeds while maintaining backward compatibility.

Every year the cameras used mobile devices They are only getting better, there are more games, and complex desktop programs can already be run on tablets and smartphones. All this means an increase in demand for faster and higher-capacity flash drives. microSD Express cards, which should be available very soon, will have the same or slightly less power than what the options already on the market offer. But they will be able to guarantee that their maximum energy consumption will be at or below what was achieved by previous generations.

It is worth noting that in this guide we will consider microSD cards, but most of the information will help when choosing a flash drive of any other form factor. The SD Association approved the final microSD specification back in July 2005, when their memory capacity did not exceed 128 MB. Later, they managed to get rid of the limitation and more capacious SDHC and SDXC appeared on the market.

• microSD: memory capacity up to 2 GB, data transfer speed from 25 MB/s - use FAT12, FAT16 or FAT16B file systems.
• microSDHC: memory capacity from 4 GB to 32 GB, data transfer speed from 50 MB/s - usually use the FAT32 file system.
• microSDXC: memory capacity from 64 GB to 2 TB, data transfer speed from 50 MB/s - use the exFAT file system.

As we have already noted, most of the SD cards available on the market today have the microSD form factor, and the vast majority of them have the microSDXC specification. This means that they are much easier to find and buy.

microSDXC cards can be divided into several categories, depending on their data transfer speed. In the future, this information can be applied to all flash drives of the SD family that we mentioned above.

The SD Association has proposed several different speed classification systems to help determine which cards are best suited for which purposes.

The “Speed ​​Class” column is the most important indicator that reflects the direct data transfer speed of SD cards. Thus, “Class 2” drives (with a speed of 2 MB/s) are best suited for working with standard definition video, and “Class 10” cards (with a speed of 10 MB/s) are capable of recording and playing video in up to 4K format

Additionally, some SDHC and SDXC cards use an additional Ultra High Speed ​​(UHS) classification. There are three UHS classifications (UHS-I, UHS-II and UHS-III). Each introduces various innovative solutions that increase data transfer speeds.

For example, UHS-III v6.0, released in February 2017, includes two new full-duplex specifications. While UHS-I is limited to 104 MB/s and UHS-III theoretically has a maximum throughput of 624 MB/s at full-duplex, UHS-II can transfer data to and from the card up to 156 MB/s using half-duplex or 312 MB/s with full-duplex.

The classification established by the Video Speed ​​organization gives a brief overview of the cards: for example, the Video Class 10 indicator includes cards with a minimum sequential write speed of 10 MB/s. Video Class 90 cards (V90 at 90 MB/s) support video recording and playback at 60 or 120 frames per second.

Performance class

The relatively new classification of SD cards “Application Class”, which was not included in the table, has two classes: A1 and A2, which reflect the minimum IOPS performance of the cards. A1 cards are good for 1500 IOPS read and 500 IOPS write, while A2 increases these figures to 4000 IOPS and 2000 IOPS respectively.

In addition, if you see an SD card that is stamped A1 or A2, then you can be sure that this drive is capable of providing stable sequential write speeds of 10 MB/s.

Of course, don’t forget that the faster the card, the more expensive it is. Therefore, it makes sense to determine your needs in advance. If you are a professional photographer, then you will need a higher-performance card than what the average user can afford. If you plan to use it for a banal memory expansion, then you can easily get by with a simpler option.

And although the main goal of this article is to provide you with all the information you need to buy a micro SD (or full-size SD) card, below we will talk about several flash drives, each of which is ideal for performing certain tasks.

Best value for money

• The best value for money is the Evo Select 64GB U3 (about $11), followed by the Samsung Evo Select 128GB U3 (about $20), which has a larger capacity.

If you recently upgraded your PC and chose an SSD for it, you probably noticed that in recent years a huge number of all kinds of drives from Samsung have appeared. Therefore, it is likely that you will decide to install their proprietary microSD into your smartphone. One way or another, you shouldn’t be surprised by the brand’s presence on the market. Moreover, Samsung currently produces the best microSD

For just $11, the 64GB Samsung Evo Select offers speeds of 100MB/s read and 60MB/s write. The card comes with an SD adapter, and at the end of 2018 it became one of the best-selling cards on Amazon. If 64 GB is not enough for you, then pay attention to the Samsung Evo Select with a capacity of 128 GB. The model offers the same read speed, but faster write speed (up to 90 MB/s). Please note that the Samsung Evo Select 128 GB will cost a little more than the 64 GB version, with an average cost of about $20.

Of course, in this price segment there is a huge number alternative options. But be careful when buying microSD with U1 classification. Most of them have the same read speed as Samsung cards, but lower write speed (about 20-30 MB/s).

The highest performance microSD

• For tablets and smartphones - SanDisk Extreme 128GB U3/V30 A2 (about $30)
• For digital cameras and video recording - Delkin 1900x 64GB UHS-II U3/V60 (about $85)
• Alternative option - Samsung Evo Select 128GB U3 (about $21)

Almost any microSD from the mid-price segment is suitable for everyday use. Such cards, as a rule, have a fairly large capacity and high speed of writing and reading data. If you're looking for a microSD to perform some specific tasks (such as recording 4K video), then make sure that the drive meets all the necessary requirements. To do this, do not forget to use the table above.

If you are looking for a memory card for a smartphone or tablet, then you should pay attention to the fact that microSD has fast random access for reading small files. The SanDisk Extreme 128GB (SDSQXA1-128G-GN6MA) boasts sequential write speeds of 90 MB/s and read speeds of 160 MB/s. Of course, we are not talking about constant, but about peak indicators. What's more important is that the SanDisk Extreme 128GB has high random write and read speeds.

To record video using drones or any other video equipment, you will need a card with the highest rating (UHS-II V90). However, they are not available in microSD form factor. Next comes UHS-II V60 drives, providing stable read speeds of 60 MB/s. Delkin MicroSDXC cards (UHS-II U3/V60) boast read speeds of up to 300 MB/s and write speeds of up to 100 MB/s. Lexar Professional from the 1800x and 1000x series are also considered good. To get the most out of these cards, make sure that microSD slot your device supports UHS-II.

Finally, if high card performance is of primary importance to you and the device supports full-size SD cards, then it is better to use a full-size SD card instead of a microSD with an adapter. Lexar also produces the highest-performance SD cards. On average, their read speed can reach 300 MB/s.

The most capacious microSD

• Largest capacity - Kingston Digital Canvas React 512GB U3/V30 A1 (about $150)
• High capacity and high speed - SanDisk Extreme 400GB U3/V30 A2 (about $110)

Kingston, Micron and Sandisk offer the highest capacity microSD cards available on the market today. Until the second half of 2019, their maximum capacity can reach 1 TB. Kingston's "Digital Canvas React" series boasts cards with capacities up to 512GB. In addition, since their release their cost has dropped significantly and now such a card can be purchased for only $150. PNY also offers an option of similar capacity, although their 512 GB microSD card will cost a little more (about $190).

The maximum capacity of SanDisk cards is 400 GB, while other brands rarely boast 256 GB. SanDisk Extreme UHS-I microSD cards in 512GB and 1TB capacities will be available in April 2019, with MSRPs expected to be around $200 for the 512GB variant and $450 for the 1TB model.

In terms of price versus read/write speed (100 MB/s read and 80 MB/s write), the Kingston memory card falls right between the alternative recommendations, while the 400 GB SanDisk Extreme can be called the best option for those who really care about speed. This is almost the same card as the option above, but with more capacity and peak write speeds of 160 MB/s, read speeds of 90 MB/s and a unique A2 rating.

First of all, I suggest starting with the sizes of SD cards; at the moment there are three sizes of memory cards:

Full size SD memory card.

And the smallest MicroSD size

If you bought a smaller memory card, such as MicroSD, and you need MiniSD card, then with the help of an adapter you can easily correct the situation. The adapter will also help you switch from MicroSD to MiniSD or SD.

If you want to connect a memory card to a USB port, you will need an SD-USB adapter.

Generations of SD cards.

At the time of writing, there were three generations of SD cards:

SD memory card:

Year of manufacture since 2000;

Maximum capacity SD 1.0 - from 8 MB to 2 GB, SD 1.1 - up to 4 GB;

Initial file system FAT16.

Comment: today they are obsolete and are not used because they support low capacity and low write speed.

SDHC (Secure Digital High Capacity) memory card:

Year of manufacture from 2006;

Maximum capacity up to 32 GB.

The original file system is FAT32.

Comment: Nowadays this is the most popular type of memory card, this is due to its good recording speed and capacity. For many, the capacity of 16 GB and 32 GB is quite acceptable; another undoubted advantage is low price memory cards of this generation.

SDXC (Secure Digital eXtended Capacity) memory card:

Year of manufacture since 2009;

Maximum capacity from 64 GB. up to 2 TB (2048 GB);

The original file system is exFAT.

Comment: These memory cards are the future, since 32 GB of memory, which the previous generation SD can provide, is no longer enough for many; we must not forget that the quality and, accordingly, the file size are increasing, for example, instead of Full HD, 4K video has appeared. The capacity and speed of these SD cards is enough to not only record high-quality video on them, but also store it.

SD card capacity.

From the previous paragraph, I think many people understood that the capacity of a memory card depends on the generation of the SD card. Today, if you need a memory card up to 32 GB, it will be an SDHC card, if more than 32 GB, then SDXC. All that remains is to determine what size memory card to choose. Below is a table that will help you in your choice; the first column shows the storage capacity, the second - the number of minutes of video in high resolution Full HD + the number of pictures in the third column.

Speed ​​of memory cards.

A very important characteristic of memory cards is the writing speed. It is the recording speed that determines how quickly you can copy data to an SD card, or how fast the application recorded on the card will run, or what quality of video you can record on the memory card.

The SDHC standard provides five classes of memory cards:

Due to the fact that progress does not stand still, the speed of SD cards is increasing; in addition to class, there is the concept of rating; the higher it is, the higher the recording speed (multiplier 1× = 150 KB/s).

It is quite easy to determine the class of a memory card; all you have to do is take a close look at the packaging.

With this article, our website continues a whole series of useful materials, the purpose of which is to make it easier to choose any product from the thousands of options offered on the market. Agree, choosing a specific model of a device always takes a lot of time, which can be spent usefully. In today's material we will talk about choosing a memory card for a smartphone, tablet or camera.

Introduction

Flash memory is used today in almost all electronic devices - both in personal computers and laptops in the form of SSD drives, and in mobile devices - in the form of internal memory and flash cards. The latter will be discussed in this article. By using small map(their sizes have long allowed them to be used in the most compact and thin devices) you can increase the available memory of a smartphone, camera or tablet by many gigabytes, so you can carry more content with you - games, music, videos or books and magazines. In addition, the cost of capacious and fast cards Memory today is lower than ever.

Memory cards are not as fast as USB flash drives, but their speeds have long reached a level that allows you to easily record 4K video on them, much less view it. But different card models can vary greatly in their data writing and reading speeds - you will learn about this in the section dedicated to their characteristics. But it is worth noting that different devices can support cards of a certain maximum capacity - for example, cheap smartphones sometimes cannot work with microSD cards with a capacity of more than 32 GB. Also, don't expect new speed gains from an old camera by using a card with a higher speed class - it's likely that the card will run in a slower mode to ensure compatibility. To find out about support for specific speeds and memory card sizes, you need to refer to the official user manual of a particular device.

By 2015, the memory card industry had focused on just two types - SD and microSD. The former are more often used in photo and video cameras, sometimes in laptops; the latter are more often used with smartphones and tablets. Once upon a time there were many more types of cards - some of you may probably remember names like MMC, Memory Stick Duo or xD-Picture. Fortunately, this fragmentation is now gone - almost any device supports either SD or microSD cards (or even both formats). We will talk about their differences, as well as other important characteristics below.

Main characteristics of memory cards

As we already reported in the introduction, now almost the entire memory card market is occupied by models of two types - microSD. They are used in all possible electronic devices: cameras, smartphones, tablets, e-readers, GPS navigators and even some game consoles.

SD and microSD cards are divided into four generations. SD 1.0 generation cards supported volumes from 8 MB to 2 GB, SD 1.1 generation cards - up to 4 GB, SDHC - up to 32 GB, SDXC (the most advanced and expensive) - up to 2 TB. SDHC and SDXC cards cannot be used with SD 1.0 / SD 1.1 devices.

The main thing to remember is that a device that can handle a newer SD card standard will be able to handle older cards, but most likely not the other way around (more on this below).

Memory capacity, GB

Memory cards with a capacity of less than 16 GB are hardly worth buying - their cost has already dropped to a very low level, and 16 GB is not so much for high-quality photos and videos. If you plan to get serious about photography or video shooting, you'll probably want to use a card with at least 32GB of memory, or better yet, 128GB. If you just want to increase the memory of your smartphone, then 32 GB will be quite enough in most cases.

Data writing and reading speed

The write speed of a memory card may be a very important parameter for you. The fact is that when taking photos and videos, cameras transfer the received data to the internal memory buffer, and from there the photos and videos are transferred to the card’s memory. If this buffer fills faster than the data can be written to the card (for example, when shooting in burst mode, when the camera takes a series of high-quality images), then it will simply be lost.

Read speed is not that important, but the higher it is, the faster you can work with the data written on the card. For example, if you want to watch high bitrate video on your tablet in FullHD or higher resolution, then you will need a pretty good card.

You can see examples of maximum and satisfactory card speeds below - in the " 10 best SD and microSD cards".

UHS interface support

UHS is a faster interface that is supported more expensive cards memory standards SD and microSD. UHS-I allows you to transfer information at a speed of 50 MB/s or 104 MB/s, and UHS-II - at a speed of 156 MB/s or 312 MB/s.

Speed ​​class

A designation of the form "Class x" or "Ux", which indicates the minimum standardized data transfer rate of a particular card. Memory cards can have the following speed classes:

• Class 2 - at least 2 MB/s, you can record SD video.
• Class 4 - at least 4 MB/s, you can record HD video or FullHD video.
• Class 6 - at least 6 MB/s, you can record HD video or FullHD video.
• Class 10 - at least 10 MB/s, high-quality FullHD video recording.
• UHS Speed ​​Class 1 (U1) - at least 10 MB/s, high-quality FullHD video recording.
• UHS Speed ​​Class 3 (U3) - at least 30 MB/s, video recording in resolution up to 4K.

In addition, manufacturers often designate the speed of their memory cards with a multiplier such as "100x" or "600x" in the name. Several of these multipliers correspond to speed classes (13x - Class 2, 26x - Class 4, 40x - Class 6, 66x - Class 10), and the fastest cards currently have a 633x multiplier and can transfer data at speeds of up to 95 MB/s .

Adapters included

Special adapters may be supplied with the memory card for use in devices that do not support its original type. In most cases, this is an SD adapter for microSD cards - a plastic housing for a microSD card that allows you to insert it into a slot for SD cards, which are much larger in size. If you plan to use one card on several devices that support different types, then the included adapter will definitely not hurt.

USB card reader included

You can transfer captured photo and video files to a PC not only by connecting the camera itself - it is much more convenient and sometimes faster to use a special card reader that is inserted into the USB port of the computer. The presence of such a card reader in the kit is very nice bonus, which usually doesn't cost too much.

10 best SD and microSD cards

An SD card that will do an excellent job of recording high-quality FullHD video and taking large photos in burst mode. Those who record 4K video will want to use models that are recommended by their camera manufacturer.

A cheaper SD model, which should also do an excellent job of recording FullHD video and taking high-quality photos.

A very high-speed and quite expensive SD model that can easily cope with recording 4K video and has a large enough capacity for its temporary storage.

A slightly faster SD card than the first two models on this list. It also does an excellent job of recording FullHD video and has twice the capacity.

Of course, many people know about memory cards. Some may even be surprised why an article about them is needed at all. However, not everything is so simple. Among my friends there are many people who don’t really know anything about memory cards. And yet they do not live in a hut in the forest, eating fir cones. They quite actively use the Internet, mobile phones, and sometimes even communicators and tablets. Therefore, I consider it necessary to first talk about what memory cards are. And then I will move on to consider their varieties, classes, brands.

What is this - a memory card?

A memory card is a small and rather thick plate with a built-in flash memory module. This module is non-volatile, that is, information on the memory card is saved even when it is removed from any device. Information on the memory card can be deleted, overwritten, and so on. The service life of a memory card is very long - tens of years. The information on some cards can be protected in certain ways.

Types of memory cards

There is a whole bunch of different types of memory cards. I will only talk about the most common ones.

SD (Secure Digital). Perhaps the most popular type. Used in many cameras, video cameras, tablets, old players, communicators and pocket computers. It has a low price. Sold in almost all communication stores, computer stores, many markets, kiosks... Maximum volume - 4GB.

SDHC. All SD memory cards larger than 4GB (and many 4GB ones) are called SDHC (their maximum capacity is 32GB). This format is characterized by faster operating speed (data exchange, data recording) than SD. It is preferable, of course, to purchase SDHC cards, but keep in mind that some older devices may not work with them.

SDXC. A new standard that is not yet widely used. SDXC cards They have a very large capacity - up to 2 terabytes (that's 2048GB!) and a very high data writing speed. They are still expensive and are not on sale very often. Moreover, very few devices still support this format.

MiniSD. Similar to SD, but noticeably smaller. These days it is practically no longer used; miniSD has been replaced by the microSD format. Buying miniSD is now problematic, and they are expensive due to their rarity.

MicroSD (TransFlash). It probably currently ranks second in popularity after SD/SDHC, but in the near future it has every chance of becoming the most popular memory card format. Differs from SD in very small sizes; microSD cards are even smaller than miniSD. This is both a plus and a minus: on the one hand, with the advent of microSD it became possible to reduce the size of devices; on the other hand, such a miniature card is easy to lose. Prices for microSD cards are almost identical to prices for SD cards.

MicroSDHC. microSD memory cards larger than 4GB (and many 4GB) are called microSDHC (their maximum capacity is 32GB). This format has a faster operating speed (data exchange) than microSD. It is preferable, of course, to purchase microSDHC cards, but keep in mind that some older devices may not work with them.

Memory Stick. Memory card format developed by Sony; is closed. The speed of operation (writing/reading data) is high; maximum volume - 16GB. There are both large cards Memory Stick and small ones - Memory Stick micro (M1, M2). Memory Stick is distinguished by its high price (in my opinion, clearly overpriced). Used in Sony and Sony Ericsson devices. It is often found on sale, almost everywhere.

CompactFlash. An obsolete format previously widely used in PDAs. CompactFlash cards are very large in size compared to SD cards. Currently used by only a few users. The main advantages are very high data recording speed. The maximum volume is 256GB.

SmartMedia. This is a format that has fallen into disuse. It is almost impossible to buy SmartMedia cards, and their maximum capacity is only 128 MB.

MMC. Also an outdated format, which was previously a competitor to SD. It differs from SD by being slightly thinner and more economical. MMC cards can be inserted into SD slots of devices (but an SD card cannot be inserted into an MMC slot!). MMC cards are now rarely found on sale.

xD. Format developed by Olympus and Fujifilm; It is now slowly falling out of use. xD cards have very high prices; Only Olympus and Fujifilm devices work with them. Compared to SD cards, xD is perhaps only worse - for example, the maximum capacity of xD is only 2GB.

Memory card slots

If a device allows the use of memory cards, then it is said to have a memory card slot. A slot is a hole (slotted) where a memory card is inserted. (Of course, this is not a simple slot, but a special one: special contacts are connected to it, with the help of which information is read from the cards). One device may have slots for different types of memory cards, but usually there is only one slot. And in most modern devices - for microSD.

Memory card adapters

As you learned from the above material, memory cards can be divided into two types (according to size): large and small. The most popular large cards are SD and Memory Stick. The most popular small ones: microSD and Memory Stick Micro. It can be said that the technology of SD and microSD is, generally speaking, the same, the only difference is in size and some details. That is why it is possible to use so-called adapters (some call them “shirts”).

An adapter is a device that looks exactly like a large memory card, but in reality it is a kind of miniature box. You can insert a small memory card (for example, microSD) into it, and after that the adapter itself will turn into full size map memory (for example, SD). The small card in the adapter can be used with a device that only supports large cards. A classic example is to put a microSD card from your phone into a camera that supports SD cards.

All this provides versatility, the ability to quickly and conveniently transfer data from one device to another without the help of a computer. This is why it is better to buy a microSD card - you can always use it with a device that supports SD cards. But the opposite is impossible: the size of the SD card cannot be reduced in any way!

It is worth noting that adapters are usually sold complete with small cards. But even if the adapter is not included in the kit, you can buy it additionally - the issue price is usually no more than 100 rubles. It is not necessary to buy an adapter from the same company that produced the small memory card: there is no difference between adapters of the same format from different manufacturers.

SDHC/microSDHC memory card classes

On the packaging (and often on the cards themselves) with SDHC/microSDHC cards you can read information about the so-called card class. It is designated by a number (number). The higher the number, the faster the card's operating speed (data writing and reading speed). Usually, the higher the power consumption of the card and, of course, its price. Here is a list of these classes:

• class 2 - data recording speed of at least 2Mb/s
• class 4 - data recording speed of at least 4Mb/s
• class 6 - data recording speed of at least 6Mb/s
• class 10 - data writing speed of at least 10Mb/s
• class 16 - data recording speed of at least 16Mb/s

Available for sale and SDHC cards“no class” - the data writing speed on them usually does not exceed 1Mb/s. Cards with even higher write speeds (of a higher class) have also appeared on sale, but I don’t see the point in buying them - the price is high and the benefits are questionable.

For cameras and video cameras, it is advisable to buy memory cards of at least class 4 (although, in principle, class 2 and even “classless” cards are sufficient for amateur photography). To record video in high resolution, a card class 6-10 and higher is desirable. For readers and phones, even the most ordinary cards “without a class” are quite enough.

Memory card capacity

Many people have a question: what capacity memory card should they buy? The answer, in general, is simple - you need to proceed from your own needs. I hope that the following list will help identify them, which shows how much memory different types of files occupy:

• Documents DOC, XLS - usually within 1MB
• Electronic book (FB2, EPUB, TXT, MOBI) - usually within 1MB
• 8-10 megapixel photo of excellent quality - usually within 3 MB
• 5MP photo of good quality - within 1MB
• Song 3 minutes in average quality - about 3MB
• Song 3 minutes in good quality- about 6MB
• Film in more or less decent quality - about 500MB or more
• Film in good quality - usually 1GB or more

I also give you another list that indicates what size cards it makes sense to buy based on what device you are purchasing them for:

• For a reader (reader) - 4GB is enough
• For a phone - 4GB is enough
• For a communicator (smartphone) - 8GB is better, or even 16GB
• For a tablet - 16GB is better, if you like to watch movies - 32GB
• For a camera - 4GB (if you shoot only photos and not very many), 8-16GB (if you shoot a lot of photos and occasionally video)
• For a video camera or camera that shoots video in good quality - 16GB, or better yet 32GB

Card readers

Memory cards are mainly intended for use in portable devices - digital cameras, players, phones, tablets. But if desired, they can be connected to both laptops and desktop computers. To do this, you need a small device called a cardreader. Some (usually quite expensive) laptops and desktops already have a card reader built-in; for others, you need to buy a separate device, its cost ranges from 150 to 700 rubles (in very rare cases higher).

Card readers are connected to the USB port of a computer/laptop. First you need to insert the card into the card reader, then connect it to the computer. A removable disk will be displayed in Explorer - this is the memory card; You can work with this removable disk as with a regular flash drive. At the end of the work, you need to remove the card reader from the USB port (after “safely disconnecting” the device), and then remove the memory card from the card reader. Such a simple mechanic.

Perhaps more popular are card readers designed to work with only one type of memory card - for example, SD. They are distinguished by their low price and compact size. Card readers for micro cards SD, by the way, are very small, and they can be used like regular flash drives - to do this, just insert a microSD card into the card reader. Of course, you can use SD, xD, and so on card readers as a flash drive, but their size is noticeably larger.

Nowadays, so-called universal card readers are also common. You can use memory cards of almost all formats with them: SD, microSD, Memory Stick, Memory Stick micro and so on. They are, of course, larger than regular “mono” card readers, and are somewhat more expensive. But personally, I recommend purchasing a universal card reader - after all, you can use any cards with it.

Some features of memory cards

Perhaps, memory cards have only one drawback: they are quite power-hungry. This means that a device in which a memory card is not inserted will work longer without recharging than its counterpart with a memory card in use. However, the difference in operating time is usually small, and I would not call this minus significant.

Another feature of memory cards is open (in the vast majority of cases) contacts. Accordingly, you need to be quite careful, try not to damage these contacts (not scratch them, for example), and not allow dust and dirt to accumulate on them.

Another feature of memory cards is that some models of the same type may not be compatible with specific electronic devices. In practice, this means that the SD card may simply refuse to work with your reader, phone or tablet: the problem here, as a rule, lies in some minor flaws software devices. This feature must be kept in mind, and when purchasing a memory card for a device, you must check its compatibility with this device. Otherwise you may be disappointed.

Manufacturers and brands of memory cards

Many electronics manufacturers produce memory cards. Perhaps the most famous are SanDisk and Transcend. They produce cards in a variety of formats and grades; the prices for SanDisk and Transcend products are quite high. At the same time, SanDisk cards (and Transcend), for example, do not work with some devices - it is not known who should be blamed here, but the fact remains, and you should not think that a high price automatically guarantees absolute compatibility. But in general, the cards from SanDisk and Transcend are very high quality.

Cards have a lower price Kingston memory and Apacer. Their compatibility is also not absolute, but I can say that Kingston cards (according to my subjective feelings) are compatible with a larger number of devices than SanDisk. In general, Kingston is a kind of golden mean, excellent value for money. Apacer cards are usually a little worse in quality, and their level of compatibility is lower, but their price is even more modest.

Of course, memory cards are also produced by other manufacturers: Toshiba, Samsung, Silicon Power, A-Data and so on. The list is very long, I see no reason to list it in its entirety. In any case, all of the above manufacturers produce fairly high-quality products that you can buy without fear (but - preferably - with testing on a specific device).

Let's try to find out what class of memory card you should equip your smartphone, tablet, laptop, video camera or camera when such a need arises, and which class of memory card is better for each of these devices?

To do this, we will consider in detail what classification of memory cards currently exists, and how one miniature storage device differs from another.

Before you find out what a storage device class means, you should clarify the concept of storage media speed. There are two different values ​​for this parameter: the first is the speed of reading or transferring data, and the second is the speed of writing data. The read speed is almost always faster than the write speed, but it has no direct relation to the class of equipment: it may even turn out that a flash drive labeled “class 4” will be read faster than a class 10 flash drive.

Of the two numbers describing the characteristics of the media, this will be larger number: The higher the reading speed, the easier and faster you can transfer information to an external device. The recording speed is important for the performance of the equipment, and it is this that allows you to record video in the format high resolution. You can find out whether the manufacturer offers a good speed recording mode by looking at reverse side packaging.

Since some unscrupulous manufacturers indicate inflated specifications on their products, it is better to purchase memory cards from well-known brands, but, in any case, it is always possible to check the speed data yourself. It's easy to check the speed using special programs, for example, USB-Flash-Banchmark and Check Flash, which can be downloaded for free, or the H2testw utility.

Existing card types

Modern digital storage media comes in different sizes: mini, micro and full-format, with the smallest dimensions intended for a smartphone, tablet or mobile phone, and those that are larger are used in video cameras and cameras.

For a long time, the main storage medium was CompactFlash, or CF cards, measuring 43 x 36 x 3.3 mm, and although the age of these formats has passed, they are nevertheless still used in some DVRs today.

The most common type of digital storage equipment currently is the SD Card (Secure Digital Memory Card) or SD card.

This device, no larger than a postage stamp, with dimensions of 32 x 24 x 2.1 mm, surpassed CF cards in all respects, and almost all modern equipment is compatible with it. Higher-capacity devices are now abbreviated SDHC, and ultra-high-capacity devices are abbreviated SDXC.

Micro SD or micro SD card is simply a miniature version of an SD card, measuring 11 x 15 x 1 mm, which is inserted into devices with limited space, such as phones. However, if necessary, it can even be installed in a laptop if you use a special adapter that exists for this purpose. There is also a mini SD with dimensions of 21.5 x 20 x 1.4 mm, since some types of equipment are equipped with just such slots.

Classes of SD memory cards

Let's assume that we already know what size the storage device should be, how much of its memory we need for optimal operation. All that remains is to find out what a memory card class is and what this SD card parameter affects in order to select the one you need. It is this characteristic that will determine the speed at which we can transmit or receive the information we are interested in.

So, this is a parameter that determines the speed of the SD memory card, according to which all devices are divided into:

1. Class 2 - speed from 2 Mb/s to 4 Mb/s. Since the writing speed is very low, this class of flash drive should not be used in video cameras or digital cameras. The relative cheapness of the card compensates for the lack of speed, so it can be safely used to reproduce sound and images, that is, in audio or video players, since in this case high speed is not needed.
2. Class 4 - speed from 4 Mb/s and higher. For amateur home photography with digital cameras, you can use class four. The fourth class, in addition, is installed in the DVR and some inexpensive non-professional video cameras.
3. Class 6 - guaranteed speed of 6 Mb/s and higher. A flash drive of this level can already be installed in semi-professional video cameras and SLR cameras that shoot in RAW format. They allow you to get fairly high quality shooting.
4. Class 10 - speed is 10 Mb/s and higher. A Class 10 flash drive can be equipped with a car recorder, professional video and photo equipment with Full HD recording. Class 10 allows you to take burst photos, shoot in RAW format and save images, which is of great importance for professional photographers. However, such devices are somewhat more expensive, for example, a card microSDHC memory class 10 will cost at least 1000 rubles.
5. SD Class 16 - speed of at least 16 Mb/s, however, it is still very difficult to buy this card in our country, since it has not yet been widely sold.
6. Ultra High Speed ​​(UHS) - such ultra-high speed cards can only be used with devices compatible with them, which is usually written about in the instructions. Class 10 UHS I is a high-speed card, the writing speed of which can reach 50 MB/s or more.

There is a UHS specification that regulates the speed of equipment. According to the UHS-I standard, the data exchange speed must be at least 50 Mb/s and up to 104 Mb/s, according to the UHS-II standard - at least 156 Mb/s and up to 312 Mb/s. The class 10 uhs i card allows you to provide maximum high level recording in real time and, in addition, get large-size video in HD format.

How to determine the class of a memory card? You just need to look at it carefully: the circled number on the front of the digital storage medium will be the desired value.

How to choose a flash drive

Please note that the latest memory device formats may not be compatible with older hardware. For example, if a smartphone supports the micro SD format, this does not mean that it will also support high-speed microSDXC. Therefore, to find out this possibility, it is better to read the documentation for your smartphone in advance.

Micro SD, like SD media, comes in two formats (SDHC with a capacity of up to 32 GB and SDXC with a capacity of 64 to 512 GB) and are used in all modern smartphones and tablets. The tenth speed class of such information media is no different from their full-size counterparts. Thus, the higher the card classes sdhc memory, the faster the data transfer occurs, which is the main advantage of those micro SD cards that cost more for the same capacity.

For example, a microsdhc class 10 32GB memory card costs about 1,500 rubles. Ideal for modern digital devices such as phones, camcorders, smartphones, PDAs, audio players and game consoles. If you don’t skimp on the class of equipment, pursuing immediate benefits, you can get long-term excellent results in the further use of the equipment: high-quality pictures and stunning videos, as well as funds from their sale.