The fastest and most reliable microSD storage for your tablet
Amazon's Fire tablet series offers one of the most streamlined experiences of any tablet, especially if you consume a lot of content like audiobooks and TV shows. One of its few downsides is that even the best configurations aren't exactly loaded with internal storage.
The highest-capacity Amazon Fire tablet sports only 64 gigabytes of storage space. That's plenty if all you're doing is reading e-books, but a few TV shows, games, and graphic novels can fill that space up with surprising quickness.
Luckily for data hoarders, the latest round of Fire tablets supports microSD cards up to 1 terabyte in size. For that matter, Fire tablets could accommodate at least 200 gigabytes of microSD card storage starting seven years ago.
The size you need depends on what you plan to store on it, although the biggest ones are pretty expensive. One good thing, though, you don't need to spend a fortune on the most technically high-end microSD card. Chances are that a reliable and relatively recent midrange option will satisfy most users' needs.
While it's widely known for advanced devices, including smartphones and TVs, Samsung also produces some of the world's fastest and most reliable flash memory. That's what the Evo Select microSD card lineup uses. Since it's engineered and manufactured entirely in-house, you can rest assured that it's as dependable as persistent solid-state memory gets. Even better, the Amazon-specific Evo Select family costs less than most others while delivering essentially the best performance possible in midrange devices such as tablets. In other words, Samsung's microSD cards offer the best combination of value and performance for the Amazon Fire Tablet series.
If you're on a tight budget, this 128GB option from Silicon Power can help provide extra storage without putting a big dent in your bank account. In fact, it's even cheaper than some 64GB microSD cards from more well-known brands. If you opt to save money by going with this one, you will be compromising somewhat in terms of reliability and speed, especially if you plan to store apps on it. But, assuming you aren't using your Fire tablet to archive personal documents and other sensitive data, a slightly higher chance of errors might not make a difference. And while it might not win any races while transferring large files you've already downloaded or firing up apps on demand, it's easily fast enough to accommodate most tablets' download speeds, so it won't bottleneck your everyday usage.
The SanDisk Extreme has been one of the fastest and most reliable microSD card families for some time now, and it just got better with a May 2022 refresh. The new model implements a novel, proprietary technology called QuickFlow that smashes the former UHS-1 limitation of 104MBps. The updated Extreme claims write speeds of up to 140MBps and a whopping 200MBps on the reading side. You do need a SanDisk-branded SD card reader with explicit QuickFlow to utilize the advanced technology, which Fire tablets don't have. However, the promise of such high speeds also ensures that the new SanDisk Extreme will take full advantage of any microSD card reader, including the one in your tablet.
The A2 designation means that microSD cards like the Lexar Professional 1066x meet or exceed a certain (high) number of input/output operations (IOPS) per second. The big benefit of the A2 specification (and, to a point, its predecessor A1) is that it's evidence that a particular microSD card can read and write many small, random files or data blocks at essentially the same time. In real-world terms, the A2 specification indicates that a microSD card will be better than a non-A2 model at loading apps from storage into RAM. In hands-on testing, it maintains a consistent 90 megabytes per second when reading large files, which is what most downloaded audio and video consists of.
Let's say you have multiple tablets, none of which have enough internal storage space to accommodate your entire family's varied tastes in movies, music, audiobooks, and games. To equip all of them with a workable amount of storage, consider a multipack like this one, which consists of three PNY Elite-X microSD cards at a rock-bottom price. And it's not like you're sacrificing a ton of performance to save money, either. Despite its reasonable cost, the Elite-X boasts sequential read and write speeds of roughly 90MBps and 75MBps, respectively, according to actual benchmarks (as opposed to the manufacturer's claims).
In real-world benchmarks, the Silicon Power Superior can read at nearly 100 megabytes per second, which is noticeably faster than even some of our most recommended choices. On the other side of the coin, its large file write speeds are actually a bit subpar, landing at or below 70MBPS despite a claimed 80MBPS write speed. The moderate price, however, mostly makes up for the less-than-ideal write speed. If you only need 128GB of extra storage, the smallest Silicon Power Superior microSD card is also one of the most affordable.
Like the companies behind some of our other top recommendations, PNY manufactures its very own flash memory for components like its Pro Elite microSD card. With that said, PNY isn't exactly known for blazing-fast performance, but you can put a good deal of faith in it for long-term data storage. And since Fire tablets aren't equipped with ultra-premium SD card readers anyway, you probably don't have any issues with the middle-of-the-pack speed. Plus, it's relatively affordable, even at the highest possible 1TB capacity.
It's been around for a while, comes from one of the most reliable TF card manufacturers, and gets rave long-term reviews from users. Those are three great reasons to consider the SanDisk Ultra microSD card. If you plan on storing a considerable amount of high-definition content on your Fire tablet, the 512GB version is an excellent value. SanDisk's naming conventions aren't exactly straightforward, though, so note that the Ultra is not quite as fast as the Extreme, especially when you take into account the updated Extreme's proprietary QuickFlow technology. Nonetheless, the Ultra is as reliable as they get and will work wonders in any tablet and many smartphones.
Since it's not exactly on the cutting edge of microSD card reader technology, the Fire tablet family won't be able to take advantage of the most advanced standards like, for example, a premium digital camera would. Nonetheless, it's worth getting something that makes good on its read and write speed promises while offering long-term reliability. Tablets don't use the fastest microSD card readers, so don't worry about getting an 8K-ready card meant for videographers. Be on the lookout for sales among the top brands we've highlighted, including Samsung, SanDisk, and PNY.
Also, make sure to verify any SD or microSD card as soon as you receive it from any vendor. Depending on where you buy it, there's a chance it could have been binned with convincing fakes from other sellers. In those cases, any quality online retailer will happily swap it out for an authentic one.
That said, the most stringent microSD card classifications, such as V90 speeds and UHS-II pin configuration, don't matter in midrange tablets like Amazon's. Instead, consider specifications such as the A2 rating, indicating that an SD card quickly performs small, random reading and writing tasks. That specific advantage helps if you use a variety of apps and have to load some onto the expanded storage.
It all comes down to use case. Our Editor's Choice comes from Samsung (renowned for its reliable flash memory) and offers A2-rated IOPS performance. So does the Silicon Power Premium, which you can sometimes find at a lower price than the Samsung.
The newly refreshed SanDisk Extreme also deserves special mention. Part of why you can trust it to max out your tablet's SD card capabilities is that it's the first UHS-I card (with a single row of pins, as opposed to the two rows on UHS-II cards) to exceed the former limit of 104MBps. It does this courtesy of Western Digital's proprietary QuickFlow technology. Even the newest Amazon Fire tablet can't take full advantage of that protocol, but it is reassuring to know that the Extreme offers the best performance of any UHS-I microSD card.
Finally, if you like Fire tablets, you probably also place a lot of importance on cost-effectiveness. The Silicon Power 128GB may be the most affordable, and it performs admirably despite its price. On the other hand, 128GB is still more than many people need. If you want the storage in multiple tablets, check out the PNY Elite-X three-pack, which contains three dependable, 64GB microSD cards in the neighborhood of $20.
Chris’s first foray into electronics included fixing and destroying early PCs in his dad’s basement while testing the overclocking capabilities of an Intel 486 CPU. Since then, he’s melted considerably fewer processors while pushing increasingly powerful gaming hardware to its limits. He’s spent the last several years writing for numerous online tech magazines, of which Android Police is the latest and most fun. Chris has been a freelancer with Android Police since early 2022 and is honored to contribute alongside its team of experts. His focus lies on straightforward, helpful buying guides that make it easy for the average electronics user to make informed decisions on the most cost-effective devices. In particular, he loves recommending affordable wireless headphones that outperform far more expensive brands. One of his biggest goals is to find a high-quality yet truly compact Android smartphone that doesn’t cost a fortune, something the market hasn’t seen in several years (RIP Sony XZ1 Compact).