To see product details, add this item to your cart.
FREE Returns
Return this item for free
Free returns are available for the shipping address you chose. You can return the item for any reason in new and unused condition: no shipping charges
Learn more about free returns. How to return the item? - Go to your orders and start the return
- Select the return method
- Ship it!
Ships from: Amazon Sold by: MemoryWhiz
To see product details, add this item to your cart.
FREE Returns
Return this item for free
Free returns are available for the shipping address you chose. You can return the item for any reason in new and unused condition: no shipping charges
Learn more about free returns. How to return the item? - Go to your orders and start the return
- Select the return method
- Ship it!
Ships from: Amazon Sold by: Amazon Warehouse
Other Sellers on Amazon
99% positive over last 12 months
- 6 VIDEOS
Image Unavailable
Color:
-
-
-
- To view this video download Flash Player
SanDisk Extreme Pro SDXC UHS-I U3 A2 V30 128GB + Adapter, SDSQXCY-128G-GN6MA
Return this item for free
Free returns are available for the shipping address you chose. You can return the item for any reason in new and unused condition: no shipping charges
Learn more about free returns.- Go to your orders and start the return
- Select the return method
- Ship it!
Return this item for free
Free returns are available for the shipping address you chose. You can return the item for any reason in new and unused condition: no shipping charges
Learn more about free returns.- Go to your orders and start the return
- Select the return method
- Ship it!
Return this item for free
Free returns are available for the shipping address you chose. You can return the item for any reason in new and unused condition: no shipping charges
Learn more about free returns.- Go to your orders and start the return
- Select the return method
- Ship it!
Purchase options and add-ons
Brand | SanDisk |
Flash Memory Type | SDXC |
Memory Storage Capacity | 128 GB |
Compatible Devices | Camera |
Color | Black |
About this item
- Built for extreme conditions Temperature proof, water proof, shock proof, and X-Ray proof
- Delivers 4K Ultra HD and full HD video recording and Playback
- Meets the new UHS speed Class 3 (U3) and UHS video Speed Class 30 (V30) for 4K UHD
- Read transfer faster with speeds up to 170MB/s
- A2 rated for Android app performance.
Frequently bought together
Compare with similar items
This Item SanDisk Extreme Pro SDXC UHS-I U3 A2 V30 128GB + Adapter, SDSQXCY-128G-GN6MA | Recommendations | dummy | dummy | dummy | dummy | |
Try again! Added to Cart | Try again! Added to Cart | Try again! Added to Cart | Try again! Added to Cart | Try again! Added to Cart | Try again! Added to Cart | |
Price | -20% $19.99$19.99 List: $25.00 | $13.29$13.29 | $18.91$18.91 | -5% $19.91$19.91 List: $20.99 | $16.45$16.45 | -9% $25.60$25.60 List: $27.99 |
Delivery | Get it as soon as Monday, Apr 1 | — | — | Get it as soon as Tuesday, Apr 2 | — | Get it as soon as Monday, Apr 1 |
Customer Ratings | ||||||
Easy to install | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.8 | 4.7 | 4.6 | 4.7 |
Storage Capacity | 4.7 | 4.6 | 4.8 | 4.6 | 4.4 | 4.6 |
Value for money | 4.6 | 4.3 | 4.6 | 4.5 | 4.3 | 4.5 |
Durability | 4.8 | — | — | 4.6 | — | 4.6 |
Easy to use | 4.7 | — | — | 5.0 | — | 5.0 |
Sold By | MemoryWhiz | FC Ecom | MemoryWhiz | Straight Trading Renewed | CalvinNHobbs | QuickWare |
flash memory type | SDXC | Micro SDXC | Micro SDXC | Micro SDXC | Micro SD | Micro SDXC |
memory capacity | 128 GB | 64 GB | 128 GB | 128 GB | 128 GB | 256 GB |
speed class | class 10 | class 10 | class 10 | class 10 | class 10 | class 10 |
write speed | 170 | 90MB/s | 90MB/s | 90 | 90 MB per second | 130 MB per second |
read speed | 100 megabytes per second | 200 megabytes per second | 200 megabytes per second | 190 megabytes per second | 160 megabytes per second | 190 megabytes per second |
Featured items you may like
- Amazon Basics Micro SDXC Memory Card with Full Size Adapter, A2, U3, Read Speed up to 100 MB/s, 128GB, BlackFREE Shipping on orders over $35 shipped by AmazonGet it as soon as Monday, Apr 1
- SanDisk 256GB Extreme PRO® microSD™ UHS-I Card with Adapter C10, U3, V30, A2, 200MB/s Read 140MB/s Write SDSQXCD-256G-GN6MAFREE Shipping on orders over $35 shipped by AmazonGet it as soon as Monday, Apr 1
- SanDisk 64GB Extreme PRO® microSD™ UHS-I Card with Adapter C10, U3, V30, A2, 200MB/s Read 90MB/s Write SDSQXCU-064G-GN6MAFREE Shipping on orders over $35 shipped by AmazonOnly 2 left in stock - order soon.
- SanDisk Extreme PRO microSDHC Memory Card Plus SD Adapter up to 100 MB/s, Class 10, U3, V30, A1 - 32GB SDSQXCG-032GFREE Shipping on orders over $35 shipped by AmazonGet it as soon as Monday, Apr 1
- SanDisk 512GB Extreme Pro Durable, Captures 4K UHD Video, 200MB/s Read and 140MB/s Write microSD UHS-I Card for Recording Outdoor Adventures and Weekend TripsFREE Shipping by AmazonGet it as soon as Monday, Apr 1
- SanDisk 128GB Extreme microSD UHS I Card for 4K Video on Smartphones, Action Cams & Drones 190MB/s Read, 90MB/s Write SDSQXAA 128G GN6MN, Red/GoldFREE Shipping on orders over $35 shipped by AmazonGet it as soon as Monday, Apr 1
Product information
Product Dimensions | 0.04 x 0.59 x 0.43 inches |
---|---|
Item Weight | 0.2 ounces |
Manufacturer | SanDisk |
Language | English, English, English |
ASIN | B07G3H5RBT |
Item model number | SDSQXCY-128G-GN6MA |
Customer Reviews |
4.8 out of 5 stars |
Best Sellers Rank | #227 in Micro SD Memory Cards |
Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No |
Date First Available | June 17, 2017 |
Warranty & Support
Feedback
WARNING:
WARNING:
Videos
Videos for this product
3:46
Click to play video
Comparing The Sandisk Extreme Vs Sandisk Extreme Pro
Distractor_Beam
Videos for this product
1:13
Click to play video
SanDisk 128GB Extreme Pro microSDXC Memory Card REVIEW
Steven Allen
Product Description
Extreme sports require extreme readiness. The SanDisk Extreme microSDXC UHS-I card delivers the speed, capacity, durability, and Quality you need to make sure your adventure is captured in stunning detail. Now rated UHS speed Class 3 (U3), this fast, high-performing card teams up with your action camera to let you capture and share unforgettable extreme sports video.
Looking for specific info?
Customer reviews
Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers like the quality, value, and performance of the flash memory. For example, they mention it's high quality, has great capacity for the price, and is awesome for 4K video. Some appreciate the speed, saying it lives up to its advertised speeds. That said, they say it works well and is perfect for action cameras.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
Customers like the quality of the flash memory. They say it's excellent, high quality, and has good storage. Some say that the 65GB disk is great and has improved capacity to store audiobooks, ebooks, music, and photos. Customers also mention that the construction is very robust and has been super reliable so far.
"Lots of storage and fast." Read more
"...It is a bit nicer layout and much faster than the H2testw, though I could not find a Win10 version. The 64bit XP version I downloaded worked well...." Read more
"...I’ve had several long videos and it has plenty of space. I had my camera in 10 degree weather and had no issues with the cold messing with the card." Read more
"Got these for my DJI Mavic 3 Enterprise. Perfect amount of storage for sweet price. One of the many listed for use in the owners manual...." Read more
Customers like the performance of the flash memory. For example, they mention it works well, it's perfect for action cameras, and it lives up to its advertised speeds. Some say that it works great for recording two video streams simultaneously at 4K/UHD.
"...testing, I used the card in my android smartphone, and it performed very well...." Read more
"Works perfect for action camera like Go Pros." Read more
"...It is designed for XP and Vista, though it worked fine on my Win10. The program writes to and reads from the card...." Read more
"It’s too small of a size to store 4K video but it performs fine" Read more
Customers like the speed of the flash memory. They say it is incredibly fast, has no problems with read/write transfer speed, and lives up to its advertised speeds. The cards speed up all games and apps that are stored on them. They also say it greatly reduces sluggish performance and the write performance is consistent. Some customers mention that the sequential writes are about 50% better than random writes.
"...test the full read speed, I am able to confirm that the write performance is consistent with none of the telltale behaviors of low quality NAND...." Read more
"Lots of storage and fast." Read more
"Fast card at a good price." Read more
"...No problems with read/write transfer speed. Fast FAst FAST!!!" Read more
Customers like the value of the flash memory. They mention it has great capacity for the price, and is the best value and quality they have found for their memory. Some say that the product is authentic and includes 2 years free subscription of RescuePro Deluxe.
"Fast card at a good price." Read more
"...For its modest cost, I highly recommend it!" Read more
"...This memory card is a great value and will definitely purchase again" Read more
"...For the money and storage capacity, it's a very good deal. I am slowly migrating over to these cards full time, one at a time." Read more
Customers are satisfied with the video quality of the memory card. They mention that it's awesome for 4K video, ultra high-def video, and excellent. Some say that it has no problem with recording the 4K footage with amazing precision. Overall, customers are happy with the performance and functionality of the product.
"I use this memory card in my DJI mini 4 Pro Drone. Great for video’s and photo’s" Read more
"...This card has no problem recording 4k and no issues handling anything the S9+ can do. Ordered a 256gb card as well for my own S9+...." Read more
"...at the advertised 170mb/s. Storage is decent size and it is great for 4k videos. Ill post a picture of the read and write speeds." Read more
"...higher quality, this card prevents overheating, freezing, and loosing footage, 400gb gets you 12 hours of record time on the go pro hero 10, worth..." Read more
Customers find the installation process of the flash memory to be easy. They mention that it is convenient and can be installed in their phone the same day.
"Easy to use. Work as should." Read more
"...Use the micro sd adapter. Plug it into the terminal, backup and label. Simple. You have an exact image of all the data required...." Read more
"Runs fast, and also does the job. Very easy to install, works great with many Micro SDXD devices such as Dashcams!" Read more
"The memory stick was so easy to install. And was even better when used to take pictures and videos. Worked perfectly…." Read more
Reviews with images
-
Top reviews
Top reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.
For my testing I used AIDA64 with a linear write test from 0 to 100% fill. I find this to be a better way to test SD cards since it allows you to determine when a card is a fake or using QLC NAND, or very poorly binned TLC where only part of the capacity of the drive will perform at advertised speeds.
For reference, I performed some testing using my old 64GB Sandisk Extreme Pro micro SD card that I have confirmed to be genuine, and a key thing you will notice is consistent linear reads and writes across the entire capacity of the drive. The 64GB Extreme Pro has a slower write speed than the 128GB model, thus the true max write speed is measured.
Genuine Extreme Pro drives accomplish this by ensuring that the NAND is not a bottleneck for the controller, thus even as it gets full, it can maintain its write speeds.
Common counterfeit behaviors are cards that perform fast for a first few GB and then become very slow (Basically allocating part of the NAND in a pseudo SLC mode before you encounter the bad QLC performance). Other methods are taking a decent NAND bin that is a low capacity, e.g., taking a 32GB NAND package and formatting a 128GB+ partition table. In those cases a drive can benchmark well but corrupt all data as soon as you exceed its actual capacity.
Genuine reference (64GB Sandisk Extreme Pro micro SD) (I attached and labeled screenshots of the AIDA64 test):
Average read speed across the entire drive: 92.7MB/s
Average write speed across the entire drive: 87.5MB/s
Next I tested the 128GB Sandisk Extreme Pro micro SD card with the same Transcend RDF8 card reader. As expected, writes will be bottlenecked by the reader.
Average read speed across the entire drive: 93MB/s
Average write speed across the entire drive: 86.8MB/s
Overall, from my testing the card I received seems to be genuine, and the performance is in line with other Sandisk Extreme Pro micro SD cards. While I am unable to test the full read speed, I am able to confirm that the write performance is consistent with none of the telltale behaviors of low quality NAND.
As a final note, fakes will always change. Companies that make counterfeit cards can see examples of genuine ones and adjust their process to match the genuine part visually. What they can’t fake, is the performance, consistency, and capacity all at the same time. Know the limits of your card reader and test within those limits to ascertain whether your card is genuine or not. Counterfeit cards have the most trouble with write performance and consistency, thus longer write tests are most important.
For further testing, I used the card in my android smartphone, and it performed very well. Since Android is designed around limiting micro SD card use to tasks which have a lower IOPS demand by default. The vast majority of use cases will be for bulk storage, and saving larger files such as when you record 4K video.
The card had no problem keeping up with raw files being captured, as well as 4K video at 100Mbps (well within the write speed limit of the card (which in terms of Mbps, would be in the 700Mbps range)
Due to the performance and verification of it being genuine, I rate it 5 stars.
Reviewed in the United States on January 10, 2022
For my testing I used AIDA64 with a linear write test from 0 to 100% fill. I find this to be a better way to test SD cards since it allows you to determine when a card is a fake or using QLC NAND, or very poorly binned TLC where only part of the capacity of the drive will perform at advertised speeds.
For reference, I performed some testing using my old 64GB Sandisk Extreme Pro micro SD card that I have confirmed to be genuine, and a key thing you will notice is consistent linear reads and writes across the entire capacity of the drive. The 64GB Extreme Pro has a slower write speed than the 128GB model, thus the true max write speed is measured.
Genuine Extreme Pro drives accomplish this by ensuring that the NAND is not a bottleneck for the controller, thus even as it gets full, it can maintain its write speeds.
Common counterfeit behaviors are cards that perform fast for a first few GB and then become very slow (Basically allocating part of the NAND in a pseudo SLC mode before you encounter the bad QLC performance). Other methods are taking a decent NAND bin that is a low capacity, e.g., taking a 32GB NAND package and formatting a 128GB+ partition table. In those cases a drive can benchmark well but corrupt all data as soon as you exceed its actual capacity.
Genuine reference (64GB Sandisk Extreme Pro micro SD) (I attached and labeled screenshots of the AIDA64 test):
Average read speed across the entire drive: 92.7MB/s
Average write speed across the entire drive: 87.5MB/s
Next I tested the 128GB Sandisk Extreme Pro micro SD card with the same Transcend RDF8 card reader. As expected, writes will be bottlenecked by the reader.
Average read speed across the entire drive: 93MB/s
Average write speed across the entire drive: 86.8MB/s
Overall, from my testing the card I received seems to be genuine, and the performance is in line with other Sandisk Extreme Pro micro SD cards. While I am unable to test the full read speed, I am able to confirm that the write performance is consistent with none of the telltale behaviors of low quality NAND.
As a final note, fakes will always change. Companies that make counterfeit cards can see examples of genuine ones and adjust their process to match the genuine part visually. What they can’t fake, is the performance, consistency, and capacity all at the same time. Know the limits of your card reader and test within those limits to ascertain whether your card is genuine or not. Counterfeit cards have the most trouble with write performance and consistency, thus longer write tests are most important.
For further testing, I used the card in my android smartphone, and it performed very well. Since Android is designed around limiting micro SD card use to tasks which have a lower IOPS demand by default. The vast majority of use cases will be for bulk storage, and saving larger files such as when you record 4K video.
The card had no problem keeping up with raw files being captured, as well as 4K video at 100Mbps (well within the write speed limit of the card (which in terms of Mbps, would be in the 700Mbps range)
Due to the performance and verification of it being genuine, I rate it 5 stars.
The SanDisk Extreme Pro is rated at a 95MB/s read and a 90MB/s write speed. However, I've consistently seen speeds above this. Attached is a screenshot of one test achieving ~173MB/s read and ~103MB/s write speeds. I use the SanDisk MobileMate USB 3.0 microSD Card Reader (SDDR-B531-GN6NN) to quickly move files from my memory cards to my laptop. It's been a great combination that works better than expected.
The SanDisk Extreme Pro is one of the best microSD cards you can currently buy. If you want to either upgrade your existing memory cards or are looking to pair it with new gear, the SanDisk Extreme Pro is the way to go.
**UPDATE**
It's been working perfectly with my GoPro Hero9 Black just as I mentioned in my initial review. However, six months after I purchased my SanDisk Extreme Pro I began to have issues. While using my GoPro it kept locking up. The only way I was able to shut it off was by removing the battery.
The GoPro displayed an SD Error and that it needed to be formatted. I attempted to format it several times, but it didn't clear the error or correct the problem.
I contacted SanDisk support directly and explained the situation. The representative confirmed that the card was not functioning properly and it needed to be replaced. A replacement was promptly shipped which I received in less than a week. Excellent customer support!
Reviewed in the United States on January 23, 2021
The SanDisk Extreme Pro is rated at a 95MB/s read and a 90MB/s write speed. However, I've consistently seen speeds above this. Attached is a screenshot of one test achieving ~173MB/s read and ~103MB/s write speeds. I use the SanDisk MobileMate USB 3.0 microSD Card Reader (SDDR-B531-GN6NN) to quickly move files from my memory cards to my laptop. It's been a great combination that works better than expected.
The SanDisk Extreme Pro is one of the best microSD cards you can currently buy. If you want to either upgrade your existing memory cards or are looking to pair it with new gear, the SanDisk Extreme Pro is the way to go.
**UPDATE**
It's been working perfectly with my GoPro Hero9 Black just as I mentioned in my initial review. However, six months after I purchased my SanDisk Extreme Pro I began to have issues. While using my GoPro it kept locking up. The only way I was able to shut it off was by removing the battery.
The GoPro displayed an SD Error and that it needed to be formatted. I attempted to format it several times, but it didn't clear the error or correct the problem.
I contacted SanDisk support directly and explained the situation. The representative confirmed that the card was not functioning properly and it needed to be replaced. A replacement was promptly shipped which I received in less than a week. Excellent customer support!
After purchasing this card, I looked online for ways to test its performance and I highly recommend that you do the same. There are plenty of fake SD cards being sold including from large online retailers such as this one. This is often and likely not the seller trying to scam buyers, but rather their vendor that opted for a sub-par product.
My pursuit to find out if this indeed was a good purchase was not only driven by my curiosity, but by the mere fact that I find it difficult to justify paying $27 for something so small that you can smuggle it into a prison ..even with a full body cavity search. How did nobody think of this when Epstein allegedly offed himself?
After watching a number of youtube videos, I downloaded several testing tools and ran my tests.
Before I get into the testing, let me point to some of the more obvious physical aspects of a fake microSD card vs. a genuine one.
1) On the outside of the package, look for misspelled words and generally things that stand out as low quality: print, images, and packaging seal.
2) After you open the package, make sure the card and reader in the plastic form are sealed with a thin plastic on the back of it.
3) The back of the reader should have a date and below that it should say, “Made is China.” The back of the microSD card should have a serial number and “Made is China” below that. Both are printed onto the plastic and are not stickers.
4) On the back exterior of the package, in the top right corner, is a round icon that says, “Includes RescuePRO DELUXE 2-YEAR SOFTWARE DOWNLOAD OFFER.” When you open the package, you will see the sticker for this offer on the inside of the front of the package. If this sticker is missing or is instead “printed” onto the inside of that package, your SD is fake.
Now, on to performance testing… You need to do this! And, be sure to do your testing before adding any data to the card. Though, you need to format the card first and if you’re formatting it via your phone, ONLY format it as an EXTERNAL STORAGE device. If you format it as internal storage, it will get encrypted and you will not be able to test it on any other device, other than the phone, nor will you be able to reverse this formatting choice. External Storage is also the recommendation from SanDisk.
There are a bunch of free tools you can download and run on your PC for testing an SD card. And, there are some you can run on your smartphone. I’m not going to cover all of these, but I will touch base on the three I used. These tools are not great, though they will confirm if you got a genuine card and, they will set “real” expectations for your card’s Read and Write capabilities.
First and foremost, back-up your computer and scan any & all software you download, before you install it. DO NOT skip this step!
ChipGenius – this is a simple program that reads the manufacturer information on the card and displays it. This did not work for me on any level. Why? Because I do not have a slot for the SD card reader to insert into the laptop. Instead, I initially had to use a USB 3.0 adapter as an intermediary and ChipGenius came back giving me information on the USB flash drive as opposed to the reader and card plugged into it.
And, a similar result when using the intermediary SanDisk USB reader (more on this below). Regardless, the manufacturer’s info can be altered using a disassembler app, so this tool is not great for affirming a fake, though it could be of value when used in conjunction with other tools.
H2testw – this is an older program that still works and is popular. It is designed for XP and Vista, though it worked fine on my Win10. The program writes to and reads from the card. Unfortunately, this takes about 49 minutes for each test of Read & Write. I ran the test twice and got similar results. And, I ran it again using the SanDisk USB reader and the results on the Read were significantly better, though still not close to SanDisk claims.
CrystalDiskMark – I called SanDisk and this is the tool their tech support recommended. It is a bit nicer layout and much faster than the H2testw, though I could not find a Win10 version. The 64bit XP version I downloaded worked well. I ran the tool several times.
The results for H2testw were somewhat different from those of CrystalDiskMark, especially on the Read of the card. However, these results were all fairly consistent with those of the different performance-testing youtube videos I watched for this same card. In other words, 86 to 95 Mb/s on Read and 81 to 87 Mb/s on Write.
Those numbers, and specifically the Read stats, are a far, FAR.. reach for the claims of what SanDisk says they are! The Read stats are HALF of what SanDisk says they should be. I know that the package says, “up to” those speeds, but that is what they should be when testing an empty card on a relatively new & fast laptop/PC. If you apply the same percentage for the Write results to the Read stats, they should be 153 to 164 Mb/s.
I was somewhat surprised and a bit disappointed at the actual test results vs. the SanDisk claim. I started wondering if a different testing tool would produce different results and/or if perhaps this has something to do with my testing set-up. So, I contacted SanDisk and they sent me a new microSD card that performed the same on all these tests. After that, they sent me a SanDisk USB reader.
I ran all of the performance tests using this SanDisk USB reader this time and the test results using CrystalDiskMark software exceeded the SanDisk claims for Read & Write speeds. See all of the attached photos.
Now, as I see it, the real issue here is that SanDisk includes a cheap, flat card reader, which is not compatible with any device made today. In other words, you need an intermediary USB reader/adapter to actually test the card. And!, if you do not have one like the one SanDisk sent me (their own brand), your test results will not accurately reflect the Read & Write speeds of the card you bought.
I’m giving this microSD card a 4 out of 5 stars because the thin, flat reader included with the card is basically a half-measure and of little value without that SanDisk USB reader. And, because I had to contact SanDisk to get this performance issue resolved, which took almost three months.
Though despite the loss of time and related aggravation, this is a good card and worth the price. If you’ve read thus far, I thank you for your time and hope that my review is of value to you.
Reviewed in the United States on March 25, 2021
After purchasing this card, I looked online for ways to test its performance and I highly recommend that you do the same. There are plenty of fake SD cards being sold including from large online retailers such as this one. This is often and likely not the seller trying to scam buyers, but rather their vendor that opted for a sub-par product.
My pursuit to find out if this indeed was a good purchase was not only driven by my curiosity, but by the mere fact that I find it difficult to justify paying $27 for something so small that you can smuggle it into a prison ..even with a full body cavity search. How did nobody think of this when Epstein allegedly offed himself?
After watching a number of youtube videos, I downloaded several testing tools and ran my tests.
Before I get into the testing, let me point to some of the more obvious physical aspects of a fake microSD card vs. a genuine one.
1) On the outside of the package, look for misspelled words and generally things that stand out as low quality: print, images, and packaging seal.
2) After you open the package, make sure the card and reader in the plastic form are sealed with a thin plastic on the back of it.
3) The back of the reader should have a date and below that it should say, “Made is China.” The back of the microSD card should have a serial number and “Made is China” below that. Both are printed onto the plastic and are not stickers.
4) On the back exterior of the package, in the top right corner, is a round icon that says, “Includes RescuePRO DELUXE 2-YEAR SOFTWARE DOWNLOAD OFFER.” When you open the package, you will see the sticker for this offer on the inside of the front of the package. If this sticker is missing or is instead “printed” onto the inside of that package, your SD is fake.
Now, on to performance testing… You need to do this! And, be sure to do your testing before adding any data to the card. Though, you need to format the card first and if you’re formatting it via your phone, ONLY format it as an EXTERNAL STORAGE device. If you format it as internal storage, it will get encrypted and you will not be able to test it on any other device, other than the phone, nor will you be able to reverse this formatting choice. External Storage is also the recommendation from SanDisk.
There are a bunch of free tools you can download and run on your PC for testing an SD card. And, there are some you can run on your smartphone. I’m not going to cover all of these, but I will touch base on the three I used. These tools are not great, though they will confirm if you got a genuine card and, they will set “real” expectations for your card’s Read and Write capabilities.
First and foremost, back-up your computer and scan any & all software you download, before you install it. DO NOT skip this step!
ChipGenius – this is a simple program that reads the manufacturer information on the card and displays it. This did not work for me on any level. Why? Because I do not have a slot for the SD card reader to insert into the laptop. Instead, I initially had to use a USB 3.0 adapter as an intermediary and ChipGenius came back giving me information on the USB flash drive as opposed to the reader and card plugged into it.
And, a similar result when using the intermediary SanDisk USB reader (more on this below). Regardless, the manufacturer’s info can be altered using a disassembler app, so this tool is not great for affirming a fake, though it could be of value when used in conjunction with other tools.
H2testw – this is an older program that still works and is popular. It is designed for XP and Vista, though it worked fine on my Win10. The program writes to and reads from the card. Unfortunately, this takes about 49 minutes for each test of Read & Write. I ran the test twice and got similar results. And, I ran it again using the SanDisk USB reader and the results on the Read were significantly better, though still not close to SanDisk claims.
CrystalDiskMark – I called SanDisk and this is the tool their tech support recommended. It is a bit nicer layout and much faster than the H2testw, though I could not find a Win10 version. The 64bit XP version I downloaded worked well. I ran the tool several times.
The results for H2testw were somewhat different from those of CrystalDiskMark, especially on the Read of the card. However, these results were all fairly consistent with those of the different performance-testing youtube videos I watched for this same card. In other words, 86 to 95 Mb/s on Read and 81 to 87 Mb/s on Write.
Those numbers, and specifically the Read stats, are a far, FAR.. reach for the claims of what SanDisk says they are! The Read stats are HALF of what SanDisk says they should be. I know that the package says, “up to” those speeds, but that is what they should be when testing an empty card on a relatively new & fast laptop/PC. If you apply the same percentage for the Write results to the Read stats, they should be 153 to 164 Mb/s.
I was somewhat surprised and a bit disappointed at the actual test results vs. the SanDisk claim. I started wondering if a different testing tool would produce different results and/or if perhaps this has something to do with my testing set-up. So, I contacted SanDisk and they sent me a new microSD card that performed the same on all these tests. After that, they sent me a SanDisk USB reader.
I ran all of the performance tests using this SanDisk USB reader this time and the test results using CrystalDiskMark software exceeded the SanDisk claims for Read & Write speeds. See all of the attached photos.
Now, as I see it, the real issue here is that SanDisk includes a cheap, flat card reader, which is not compatible with any device made today. In other words, you need an intermediary USB reader/adapter to actually test the card. And!, if you do not have one like the one SanDisk sent me (their own brand), your test results will not accurately reflect the Read & Write speeds of the card you bought.
I’m giving this microSD card a 4 out of 5 stars because the thin, flat reader included with the card is basically a half-measure and of little value without that SanDisk USB reader. And, because I had to contact SanDisk to get this performance issue resolved, which took almost three months.
Though despite the loss of time and related aggravation, this is a good card and worth the price. If you’ve read thus far, I thank you for your time and hope that my review is of value to you.
Top reviews from other countries
"Temos o gosto de informar que, com base nas informações providenciadas, seu cartão de memória é um produto original SanDisk! Para além disso, ele dispõe de garantia vitalícia."
O produto é excelente, estou utilizando em meu drone.