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After a new round of testing, our top pick is the Samsung Pro Plus, while the SanDisk microSDXC card for Nintendo Switch is now our budget pick. Iphone Repair Parts
Most brand-name microSD cards are fine most of the time if you need extra space for storing videos or games. But some cards are a bit faster or more reliable, which can make them more versatile and a better long-term value.
After evaluating a dozen new microSD cards, we’ve found that the Samsung Pro Plus and the SanDisk microSDXC Card for Nintendo Switch are the best microSD cards for the majority of phones and tablets, as well as portable gaming consoles such as the Nintendo Switch and the Steam Deck.
This Samsung card is easy to find, speedy, and inexpensive compared with rivals. With 512 GB of storage capacity, it has space for dozens of game downloads or hours of 4K drone footage.
This microSD card is fast, attractively priced, and good for phones, tablets, game consoles, and more. It has less capacity than our top pick, but it still doubles the storage in a Switch.
This Samsung card is easy to find, speedy, and inexpensive compared with rivals. With 512 GB of storage capacity, it has space for dozens of game downloads or hours of 4K drone footage.
The Samsung Pro Plus is the fastest card we tested in this group of microSDXC cards and is our pick for most people. It is quick enough for storing 1080p, 4K, and up to 5K video in action cameras and drones, it adds ample storage to smartphones, game systems, and tablets, and it can function as the boot drive or storage for a kit PC such as the Raspberry Pi. With 512 GB, you have space for an expansive games library on the Nintendo Switch or the Steam Deck.
This microSD card is fast, attractively priced, and good for phones, tablets, game consoles, and more. It has less capacity than our top pick, but it still doubles the storage in a Switch.
The SanDisk microSDXC Card for Nintendo Switch is available in multiple capacities. In a previous round of testing, the 128 GB version performed the fastest and as a result became our top pick at the time. We recommend it for budding drone pilots, folks who need to add storage to security cameras, novice video game players who now have their first Nintendo Switch, and Switch owners who are interested only in downloading and playing Nintendo’s main titles.
You can use microSD cards to expand storage in some smartphones, tablets, and laptop computers; to store photos and videos for action cameras such as GoPro models or security cameras like the Wyze Cam; and to hold downloaded games in portable consoles like the Nintendo Switch or the Steam Deck. Some small computers, especially kit computers like the Raspberry Pi, use them as their main storage for the operating system and programs.
Before you buy, confirm that your device has a microSD card slot and that it supports microSDXC (microSD eXtended Capacity); otherwise, you’ll need to get a card that’s 32 GB or less (for card slots marked SDHC) or 2 GB for older devices that support only standard microSD cards (not labeled SDXC or SDHC). If your device has a full-size SD card slot, you can get an SD card or use a microSD card with an adapter. Full-size SD cards used to be significantly faster than microSD cards, but that isn’t really the case anymore.
Following are the features you should look for in a microSD card, regardless of how you plan to use it:
This Samsung card is easy to find, speedy, and inexpensive compared with rivals. With 512 GB of storage capacity, it has space for dozens of game downloads or hours of 4K drone footage.
The 512 GB Samsung Pro Plus microSD card is our pick for tablets, game systems such as the Nintendo Switch and the Steam Deck, drones, security cams, and action cameras. The Pro Plus was speedy in our tests and has all three of the speed certifications we look for (U3, V30, and A2); it’s also relatively inexpensive and available from multiple online retailers and big-box stores. Samsung’s 10-year warranty protects you against defects, but be sure to back up your data often.
It’s one of the fastest cards. The Samsung Pro Plus was faster than its competitors in our latest round of testing. In particular, it was fastest at random reads and write functions, which are important for loading small files. This can reduce load times in between game levels or while you’re saving a game, shaving off precious seconds and avoiding nail-biting waits. Also, the card’s sequential reads and writes are fast enough for viewing and recording 4K and 5K videos.
It can hold dozens of games. Games such as Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom occupy about 16 GB each. With a 512 GB capacity, you can store 30 copies of similarly sized titles on the Samsung Pro Plus, but many excellent independent titles occupy a fraction of that (Hades, for example, takes about 6 GB).
It’s reasonably priced. At around $35 to $40, the Samsung Pro Plus 512 GB microSD card is more affordable than the most expensive cards we tested, which cost closer to $60.
It’s easy to find. We’ve been able to find this particular model on the Amazon, Best Buy, B&H Photo/Video, Micro Center, Newegg, and Staples sites, and we confirmed its availability in the respective physical retail stores in our area. The same can’t be said for some of the lesser-known brands we’ve evaluated for this latest update to this guide and in the past.
While these Samsung microSD cards have a 10-year warranty, some of the competitors we tested have limited lifetime warranties. However, we think that 10 years is more than enough time. In 10 years there will likely be another generation of game consoles and action cameras, and you’ll probably want fresh cards for those.
This microSD card is fast, attractively priced, and good for phones, tablets, game consoles, and more. It has less capacity than our top pick, but it still doubles the storage in a Switch.
The 128 GB SanDisk microSDXC Card for Nintendo Switch was our former top-pick microSDXC card, but after a price drop we’re now recommending it as a budget microSD card.
It has less storage space than our top pick but still offers plenty of room. Its 128 GB of storage could be sufficient for a novice Switch player or a person who plays only a handful of favorite titles. It’s certainly the minimum we recommend to increase the storage of a Nintendo Switch or other gaming handheld right now. Prices vary slightly, but at under $15, it’s easy to live with as an impulse buy.
It will easily double a Switch’s storage. The original Switch and Switch Lite have 32 GB of built-in storage, while the Switch OLED model has 64 GB, so this card can store lots more games. SanDisk’s Nintendo Switch–branded card was also faster than the competition in our previous round of testing, and it should be easy to find at Nintendo’s stores, through online retailers, and at physical retail shops.
Using the microSD card reader built into a Dell Latitude 5430 laptop, we ran CrystalDiskMark, a benchmarking program designed to test sequential and random speeds on solid-state storage. We reformatted each card using the recommended utility from the SD Association to stabilize performance.
Sequential read speed indicates how fast large blocks of data can be read from the memory card—for example, when you’re watching a movie stored on the card, loading a game level, or copying photos or videos from the card to your computer. Sequential writes are important when you’re putting big chunks of data onto the card: recording a video, shooting pictures, or downloading a movie or a game to your device.
All the cards we tried had sequential read speeds at about 89 MB/s in our CrystalDiskMark testing. Sequential writes were a bit more varied, but most of the cards did fine, with results between 77 MB/s and 82 MB/s. Cards with higher write speeds can keep up with 4K video captured at 60 fps or high-resolution pictures shot in burst mode.
Since microSD cards mostly serve as media storage these days, sequential speeds matter more, but random access speed is still important. Apps often save data in small chunks scattered across the storage device, so a microSD card used for operating systems, applications, or game save files needs to be fast at reading and writing small bits of data (often around 4 KB) in random locations.
In this regard, the Samsung Pro Plus card outpaced the other cards, as it was able to write random files at 7 MB/s, significantly faster than the 2 MB/s to 4 MB/s results we saw from the slowest performers. If your operating system and programs live on the card (as in a Raspberry Pi), or if you’re playing a game downloaded to it (as on a Nintendo Switch), it’s important that your card’s random read and write speeds not hold you back.
Class rating: All new microSD cards are rated at Class 10, which means they’re capable of transferring at a speed of at least 10 MB/s.
U rating, also known as UHS speed class: U1 refers to a card capable of 10 MB/s, and a U3 card is capable of 30 MB/s. Both are fine for 1080p and 4K video, while U3 can handle 5K video.
V rating: V10 and V30 are more than sufficient for 1080p to 4K video. V30 is rated faster (30 MB/s) and also indicates that you can use the card with a 4K camera.
A rating: A1 and A2 are the speed ratings for application-heavy use, with A2 being more capable. We don’t think an A rating is a must-have, because running a program from your Android phone’s internal storage is always faster, and it may be irrelevant soon—newer flagship Android phones such as the Google Pixel 8 and the Samsung Galaxy S23 lack microSD card slots.
Beware when buying microSD cards online. In recent years, Amazon has had issues with third-party sellers hawking counterfeit memory cards.
To avoid getting scammed, buy directly from a reputable seller such as Adorama or Best Buy. This is an instance in which buying in person from a big-box store is a good idea; you may pay more, but you’re more likely to get the genuine article. Another way to avoid fakes is to search for “Where to buy” links from the card manufacturers to find authorized retailers. If you are considering options on Amazon, look for “Ships from and sold by Amazon.com,” and be sure to select the original packaging if that’s an option.
Some Amazon customers have reported receiving fake cards directly from Amazon. If you suspect that your card is a fake, contact Amazon customer support for an exchange. Look for strange packaging and test the card with CrystalDiskMark or another disk-transfer test to check its speeds. Other downloadable tools can help you confirm that you received the capacity you paid for.
Most of the cards we tested worked well enough but fell short of our picks in price or speed, so they’re not the first options you should consider. This group included the Kingston Canvas Go Plus, Kingston Canvas Select Plus, Lexar 633x, Lexar Play, Lexar Professional 1066x, PNY Premier-X, PNY Pro Elite, PNY XLR8 Gaming, Samsung Evo Select, Samsung Pro Ultimate, and SanDisk microSDXC card for Nintendo Switch (512 GB).
We also evaluated several other cards against our budget pick but then dismissed them because they were too expensive, had short warranties, or hadn’t been updated with the latest V30 or A ratings. This group included the Kingston Canvas Select Plus, Lexar Play, Lexar 633x, PNY Elite, PNY Premier-X, Samsung Pro Endurance, SanDisk High Endurance, SanDisk Ultra (for Chromebooks), SanDisk Ultra Plus, and Silicon Power Superior Pro (3D NAND).
This article was edited by Signe Brewster and Caitlin McGarry.
Joel Santo Domingo is a senior staff writer covering networking and storage at Wirecutter. Previously he tested and reviewed more than a thousand PCs and tech devices for PCMag and other sites over 17 years. Joel became attracted to service journalism after answering many “What’s good?” questions while working as an IT manager and technician.
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