Sd and microsd cards, everything you need to know and the best options

The market is full of SD and microSD cards, there are so many different models that they can confuse the user. For this reason we have prepared a small guide to explain the main characteristics of these cards and we have made a selection of the best models to facilitate your purchase.

What are SD cards and different types

Secure Digital (SD) is a memory card format for different portable devices such as digital cameras, mobile phones, computers, laptops and game consoles among many others. The SD standard was developed by SanDisk, Panasonic and Toshiba and introduced in 1999 as an evolutionary upgrade to MMC cards. Currently the standard is maintained by the SD Card Association.

The SD standard recognizes three different card formats in terms of size: original SD, miniSD and microSD. Currently the miniSD are not used since they have been replaced by the microSD which are much smaller.

	Size	Approximate weight
SD	32 x 24 x 2.1 mm.	2 g.
miniSD	21.5 x 20 x 1.4 mm.	0.8 g.
micro SD	15 x 11 x 1 mm.	0.25 g.

In the following image you can see an example of the three formats of SD memory cards, from left to right: microSD, miniSD and SD.

In turn, SD cards are divided into classes according to the performance and storage capacity they achieve. The SDA has created three standards to differentiate SD cards: SD, SDHC and SDXC. Although they all have the same format, there may be incompatibility problems due to differences in the operating buses.

	Year	Capacity	Bus performance
SD	1999	1 MB - 4 GB	12.5-25 MB / s
SDHC	2006	2 - 32 GB	12.5-104 MB / s
SDXC	2009	32GB - 2TB	156-312 MB / s

In addition to the previous standards and formats, SD memory cards differ in one fundamental aspect: the Speed ​​Class Rating, which seeks to provide information on the performance of the card in a very fast way. We have a total of six categories:

	Minimum yield guaranteed	Typical use in video recording
Class 2	2 MB / s	SD video
Class 4	4 MB / s	720p-1080p video
Class 6	6 MB / s	720p-1080p video
Class 10	10 MB / s	1080p video
UHS-I Class 1	10 MB / s	1080p real-time video
UHS-I Class 3	30 MB / s	4K / 2160p video

The best SD cards on the market

One thing is theory and another is practice, that is why we have selected the three most interesting memory cards on the market in both SD and microSD formats and we present them to you so that you are right with your purchase and get the maximum return on your money invested.

The first two models correspond to models with extraordinary performance, while the third option is "smart buying" with a much cheaper solution but also with excellent performance.

Remember to choose a category 10 SD or microSD card for your reflex camera or electronic device. It is the sure way to get 100% profit from it. Choose well and with patience.

SanDisk Extreme Pro | 28 euros.

One of the fastest SD cards on the market with a read rate of up to 95 MB / s for both read and write.

Samsung Pro | 23 euros.

A card that follows the very cool SanDisk Extreme Pro, with transfer rates of up to 90MB / s both read and write.

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Samsung EVO + | 32 euros.

The economical option but still offering excellent performance with a transfer rate of up to 80MB / s read, its write speed promises a creditable 20MB / s.

The best microSD cards on the market

SanDisk Extreme Pro | 53 euros.

Same features as the SanDisk Extreme Pro mentioned before but with a microSD size.

Samsung Pro | 60 euros.

Again very close to the SanDisk model with transfer rates of up to 90MB / s.

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Samsung EVO + | 26 euros the 64GB.

The newer and inexpensive option is also presented in microSD format.

With this we end our guide to the best SD and microSD cards of the moment. Which is your favorite? Do you recommend us to include some in the list? We are waiting your comments.