Develop Bugs

[Q] Buying a Good MicroSD

I live in China and I'm having some trouble to find a good microsd.
First thing, prices vary wildly, it might be because some are counterfeits and or lower speed (something about the class).
So does one go about buying a good microsd card?
Which class is faster?
Is branded better? How to make sure it's not a counterfeit?

I would order one online if you can. There are different classes for Micro SD cards. The higher the class, the faster the read/write speeds are. I believe the classes go as follows : 2, 4, 6, 10

emanuel12 said:
I live in China and I'm having some trouble to find a good microsd.
First thing, prices vary wildly, it might be because some are counterfeits and or lower speed (something about the class).
So does one go about buying a good microsd card?
Which class is faster?
Is branded better? How to make sure it's not a counterfeit?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm live in Silicon Valley in Northern California, home to SanDisk, Patriot, and other big makers of SD cards. I come across tons of real and fake SD cards all the time.
First thing I look for is the brand name. The packing that the SD card usually displayed the brand name as well as it's labeled on the SD card itself. Also, brands like SanDisk have the model number of each card on the packaging, which you can reference online prior to purchase.
I have a Patriot 16 GB Class 10 Micro SD card that I purchased from Amazon.com. - They have a policy against counterfeit items and you can get a refund if one is sold to you. Another website to look at to find good deals on SD cards is NewEgg.com.
Class 10 is the fastest and the most beneficial to devices like phones or high-speed digital SLR cameras. I suggest class 10 SD cards should you want to run programs right off from the card itself.
Hope this helps! Cheers!

I ordered a lexar 16gb class 6 from ebay and get 9.1 write/30.2 read speeds.Sandisk is the best brand but I haven't seen a class 6 by them. I paid 35$ for my Lexar
Sent from my Nexus One

I just picked up a 16Gb, class 6 Kingston. I'm running my smartphone apps off it and it is WAY faster than the stock 8Gb, class 2 card that came with the phone.

sometimes the brand are affecting very much.. and also maybe you can try to buy in large store, so you can believe the seller, that it is not a fake one..
from the information, class 10 is the best (idk if this is real, since my class 10 card hasn't come), to find out if it was the right card and not a fake one, search in google on how to test a microSD card..
credit to the site:
http://www.overclockers.com.au/wiki/Fake_Memory_Cards

Thanks for that link very informative.
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA Premium App

I never knew there was different classes! I'll have a closer look before buying now!
Sent from my HTC Desire S using XDA App

This is probably a massive noob question, when you install a new SD card, do you just copy and paste the content of the old one onto the new one or is there anything special that needs to be done?

pdhunt said:
This is probably a massive noob question, when you install a new SD card, do you just copy and paste the content of the old one onto the new one or is there anything special that needs to be done?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would first format the new SD card in the device, then copy and paste the content of the old card to it.

i use team 16GB class 10 it was very fast in read and write..

Transcend 16GB class 10
or Transcend 8GB class 10 if ya don't wanna spend much money and if ya don't too need a large size on external mem
---------- Post added at 03:19 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:18 PM ----------
ryochaniago said:
i use team 16GB class 10 it was very fast in read and write..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How much u paid for that?
---------- Post added at 03:22 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:19 PM ----------
MouseIdt said:
I ordered a lexar 16gb class 6 from ebay and get 9.1 write/30.2 read speeds.Sandisk is the best brand but I haven't seen a class 6 by them. I paid 35$ for my Lexar
Sent from my Nexus One
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why don't ya choose class 10?
is it unavailable for yours?

The 64 GB Micro sd are coming!

I have a class 2, never tried anything faster so I wouldn't know the difference anyway, but it runs any program just fine.

Which class 10 32GB microSD card?

so, which would be the best, most stable class 10 micro sdhc card? i can't seem to find a definitive answer, as everyone seems to complain about the cards not being a "true class 10", etc. there are only a few reviews on newegg,
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ... 600006235 600082443&IsNodeId=1&name=Class 10
and amazon, a bunch of people complain about the speed ratings mot being true.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_s...32gb+micro+sd+class+10&ie=UTF8&qid=1318260310
which one do you guys have experience with, and would recommend? the kingstons are just out of the question, as i doubt that they'd be worth twice the coin.

It would be nice if you narrow it down to specific cards.
Although there is to note that most people do not need anything past a class 4 which is more than enough to handle day to day transfer between phone and card.
Sandisk seems to be a darkhorse here since they don't really show you a class number and it ranges from 2 - 6 mbps. The best way is to simply test it out with a SD card testing program.

thanks for the response. specifically, i like the PNY and SanDisk, but like you said, sandisk is secretive about their speeds. i don't want to buy, test the speeds, and return if i'm not happy with it. and is class 10 not required for recording HD video on our phones? thanks again

nah, class 10 is not required to record HD video. besides if i remember correctly, the dz only records up to 720p. you should still be fine unless you're shooting a 20 minute video.

There are some reports from people with various issues with Class 10 cards. Its not widespread by any means (plenty of people here seem fine with their Class 10), but it seems that Class 10 have more issues than lower Classes. So some here will recommend Class 4 or 6 (can't remember which) as the highest you should get.
I'd stay far away from PNY if I were you. I've owned 2 PNY products. Not Micro-SD, but an SD card and a USB thumb drive. On the thumb drive, the USB port and memory chip pulled/broke right out of the plastic casing with regular use (not damaged in any way). The thing just looked and felt flimsy. But I needed one in a hurry for a business trip, and I bought what the store had. I figured, its a USB thumb drive, you can get these things for free. How bad can it be? And I was shocked when the thing actually broke apart after a few weeks.
Similarly, the PNY SD card I have split into 2 pieces (along its seams). In both cases (PNY thumb drive and SD card), the memory chip itself still worked fine, and it was just a matter of using some super glue to hold together the plastic casing that failed. But it just displays shoddy and cheap build quality. I own 3 Sandisk Micro-SD cards, and a couple Sandisk SD cards and thumb drives. Never had an issue with any of them, and build quality is much better than PNY.
There is a long thread in accessories with SD recommendations:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1042324

DUDE! I had the same problem with the PNY thumb-drive! It was the attache series I think. Anyways yea stick to well known brands that are consistently rated high, sandisk, kingston, adata, etc. Honestly though, class 6 would probably be the fastest you'd need unless your gonna be taking extremely high quality pictures at a very fast speed lol aka multi-shot. But then again I'm not sure our phone is even up too that anyways lol.

I have an ADATA 16GB Class 10 from newegg. Has given me zero issues. I would imagine this is probably the same for the 32gb version.
Not sure if the 32GB would hold up. I found out that I'm not that big of a packrat on the size of the SDcard, so I went with a 16gb instead of paying more for space I'd never use, or take years to accumulate.
h2testw 1.4 log after testing it out when I received it:
Warning: Only 15786 of 15787 MByte tested.
Writing speed: 15.1 MByte/s
Reading speed: 18.5 MByte/s
It was definitely a step up from the 4GB class 4 kingston I was previously using, which was getting write speeds of around 5-6mb/sec. After moving onto the Adata, I noticed speedier loading in the photo gallery like night and day. It used to take 2-3 seconds to load the gallery, especially if it was a big picture folder. Now it takes literally milliseconds to load the content. Of course, this may just be anecdotal and placebo effect, but my general experience with android and sdcards for the last 3 years is on the line about it.

actually i retract the kingston comment, i think they had problems with 32gb class 10 cards specifically now that i recall...

mputtr said:
It would be nice if you narrow it down to specific cards.
Although there is to note that most people do not need anything past a class 4 which is more than enough to handle day to day transfer between phone and card.
Sandisk seems to be a darkhorse here since they don't really show you a class number and it ranges from 2 - 6 mbps. The best way is to simply test it out with a SD card testing program.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Sandisk that came with my phone has the class 4 symbol printed on the card...
I'm thinking of getting a class 4 myself, don't feel like paying almost +100% for class 10. I'll probably get an A-Data, as it gives a decent price per GB. I'm just torn between 16 and 32 GB
As for Kingston, I think the quality of their products went down a lot in the last two years.

costipl said:
The Sandisk that came with my phone has the class 4 symbol printed on the card...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its an old card. Sandisk used to designate Class, but they don't anymore.
---------- Post added at 01:16 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:12 PM ----------
kaijura said:
I have an ADATA 16GB Class 10 from newegg[/url]. Has given me zero issues. I would imagine this is probably the same for the 32gb version.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you look through the thread I linked on my previous response, you will see there are some folks that claim more data corruption issues with 32 Gb cards versus smaller capacities. It seems purely anecdotal. But my point is, don't assume.

My adata 32gb class 4 is going strong since august...

sooo... is class 6 good enough for games, apps2sd, recording HD video, etc?

Cobra281 said:
sooo... is class 6 good enough for games, apps2sd, recording HD video, etc?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My sandisk class 4 is fine, class 6 would be better than fine my class 4 gets 6 speeds though
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App

xT4Z1N4TRx said:
My sandisk class 4 is fine, class 6 would be better than fine my class 4 gets 6 speeds though
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
can you please tell me the model # of your sandisk? i need a new sd card asap. running outta memory

Cobra281 said:
can you please tell me the model # of your sandisk? i need a new sd card asap. running outta memory
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For me I bought this off ebay ( http://www.ebay.com/itm/380405008880?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649 ) and it has been working great for me. I loaded it up to about 28Gig and had no trouble. Currently I have 10gig free.

I've got the Sandisk 32gb class 10.
But the one from Samsung seems great.

The SanDisk 64GB MicroSDXC is also fully compatible despite the device being a sdhc device. Apparently the protocol differences lie on code and not on hardware.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App

ampdj89 said:
The SanDisk 64GB MicroSDXC is also fully compatible despite the device being a sdhc device. Apparently the protocol differences lie on code and not on hardware.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
did they already verified that it works on the DZ?

mputtr said:
did they already verified that it works on the DZ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea according to this article and many other phones on Gingerbread. I suppose there shouldn't be any problem under ICS.
http://androidcommunity.com/sandisk...working-on-multiple-android-devices-20110927/

well. that is fantastic.. Maybe when the prices go down in a year i can get that to upgrade my 32gb card.

problem with SDHC

Hello, I have a problem with my Wildfire S, it have problem with SDHC class 4 cards. When I will use SDHC class 6 or 10 card it will work properly?? My friend have wildfire S, and he have the same problem.

I'm also running a class 4 MicroSDHC without issues. So what problem do you have?

Another person here without issues with Class Four 4 gig SDHC. Cheap Taiwan no name.
Got it from a busted camcorder that sat in the snow at a ski hill all winter and I found it in the spring.
---------- Post added at 05:23 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:21 PM ----------
leleszek said:
Hello, I have a problem with my Wildfire S, it have problem with SDHC class 4 cards. When I will use SDHC class 6 or 10 card it will work properly?? My friend have wildfire S, and he have the same problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What size is it?
There have been known issues with some 16 and a lot of 32 GB cards being too slow to respond in the phone and have mounting issues.

questions on SD cards and class ratings..

so im doing research on SD cards since ive never really gotten one i really had to pay for...
im starting to see class ratings and im wondering if 1 is better or 10 is better... so far i only see them go up to 10 and im guessing via the price that it would happen to be that the class 10 rating is the best...
but even then can anyone give there opinion to as what SD card to get that would be the fastest and the best. disregarding the price?

well, the higher the class the faster the reads/writes and mostly useful when coping large files..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secure_Digital#Speed_Class_Rating

10 Is best however 4 or 6 is all you need...most stock cards are 2s
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda premium
---------- Post added at 04:57 AM ---------- Previous post was at 04:53 AM ----------
Sandisk is a good brand to choose...I'd just stay away from off brands
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda premium

Check this friggin' animal out:
SanDisk Ultra 64 GB microSDXC Class 10 UHS-1 Memory Card 30MB/s with Adapter SDSDQUA-064G-U46A
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007WTAJTO/ref=cm_sw_r_an_am_ap_am_us?ie=UTF8

another good one in 32 GB
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-32GB-Speed-MicroSDHC-Memory/dp/B005TUQV0E/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1345727530&sr=8-3&keywords=samsung+32+gb+class+10+micro

narrowed my Micro SD... WHich is best..

Samsung 32GB High Speed MicroSDHC Memory Card
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-32GB-...1348540220&sr=8-7&keywords=micro+sd+card+32gb
SanDisk Ultra 32 GB microSDHC Class 10 UHS-1 Memory Card 30MB/s with Adapter SDSDQUA-032G-U46A
http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-micro...1348540220&sr=8-6&keywords=micro+sd+card+32gb

sandisk

whichever is cheaper... in this case... sandisk

miguel11691 said:
Samsung 32GB High Speed MicroSDHC Memory Card
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-32GB-...1348540220&sr=8-7&keywords=micro+sd+card+32gb
SanDisk Ultra 32 GB microSDHC Class 10 UHS-1 Memory Card 30MB/s with Adapter SDSDQUA-032G-U46A
http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-micro...1348540220&sr=8-6&keywords=micro+sd+card+32gb
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you can't go wrong with any of them, both offers stability, reliability and speed.

whichever is the cheapest my lad, both pretty solid brands.

I use Samsung, happy with it. Not sure if this will help but.

Get whatever is cheaper. Both appear to be good cards based on the reviews. Keep in mind that most if not all phones will not be able to take advantage of the Ultra-High Speed (UHS) capabilities of the latest UHS-1 cards (50+MB/s read) as seen in jasvncnt1 SD Card Tester results. I get similar results with my Class 10 cards.
A while back, a lot of people were recommending the Sandisk 32GB Class 4 microSDHC cards over just about anyone elses regardless of class rating. While this may have been true back then, most manufacturers are now producing pretty decent memory. I've got a Sandisk 32GB Class 4 in my Fascinate, a PNY 32GB Class 10 in my Lenovo K1, and a G.SKILL 32GB Class 10 in my Galaxy S3 and have had no issues with any of these cards.
Come to think of it, the only card that I've had issues with is the Samsung 16GB Class 2 card that came with my Fascinate. After about about a year and a half, it became permanently write protected. I can still read from the card, but can no longer write to it.
Hope this helps.

Samsung.

I got that Samsung and its perfect. But would have gotten either one at the time...found the samsung locally at frys first and it was cheaper so it won...no issues what so ever

Samsung phone plus Samsung SD Card
I chose sandisk. Never had an issue with them
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

jasvncnt1 said:
I use Samsung, happy with it. Not sure if this will help but.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that test was done on the internal sd card....not the removeable external sd card.
---------- Post added at 03:32 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:29 PM ----------
i have had 2 of those sandisk uhs-1 cards identical to the op's choice. they worked great for about a week, then i had all sorts of reliability issues with them. bummed me out, but i sent them back and went with the samsung. haven't had 1 issue since and performance is great.

Brandon said:
that test was done on the internal sd card....not the removeable external sd card.
---------- Post added at 03:32 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:29 PM ----------
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dam your right, sorry I'm an idiot. Maybe this one...

Just as a point of reference, I've attached the SDCardTester results from the PNY 32GB Class 10 card that I use in my Lenovo K1 tablet running JB AOSP.