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We’ve tested the latest microSD cards, and at the top of our list of recommendations are the Kingston Canvas Go Plus and SanDisk microSDXC card for Nintendo Switch.
Most genuine, brand-name microSD cards are fine most of the time, and there won’t be a problem if you don’t want to overthink making your choice. But for about the same price, some cards are a bit faster or offer a tad more reliability, which can make them more versatile and a better long-term value. After evaluating over 20 microSD cards, we’ve found that the Kingston Canvas Go Plus and SanDisk MicroSDXC card for Nintendo Switch are the best microSD cards for the majority of phones, tablets, and, yes, Nintendo Switches. The tricky part might be finding a real one—the online marketplaces have their share of counterfeits.
This microSD card is fast, consistent, and reasonably priced, and good for phones, tablets, game consoles, and more. It’s found at the expected online retailers like Amazon or Newegg and major chain stores like Best Buy, but Kingston also lists Kroger grocery stores and FedEx Office Centers as official retailers.
*At the time of publishing, the price was $22.
This microSD card is fast, consistent, reasonably priced, and is good for phones, tablets, game consoles, and more. The card we tested is labeled with the Apex Legends game logo, though it will work with other games, too. It can be found at major online stores, but SanDisk also lists many smaller camera shops as official retailers.
*At the time of publishing, the price was $26.
The Kingston Canvas Go Plus and SanDisk MicroSDXC card for Nintendo Switch are the fastest cards we tested in this group of moderately priced microSDXC cards and are our picks for most people. Both cards are easy to find online and in traditional stores. Both will be quick enough for 1080p, 4K, and up to 5K video in action cameras and drones, plus the cards will add storage to smartphones, game systems, and tablets, and can function as the boot drive or storage for a kit PC like the Raspberry Pi. Pick whichever is on sale when you need one, or whichever is easier to get.
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If our main picks are out of stock, or if this card is significantly less expensive, consider this Lexar a worthy pick—it should still be fast enough for an action camera, a game system, or a tablet. Lexar lists Office Depot, Staples, and Micro Center among its official retail partners for in-store purchases, in addition to online shops like Amazon, BH Photo, and Newegg.
*At the time of publishing, the price was $22.
This is a worthy choice, particularly if our main picks are out of stock, or if this is significantly less expensive. The Elite-X is rated slightly slower than the Pro Elite for loading Android apps, but our tests show they are about equivalent for other uses. PNY cards are available at most major online retailers, but they may also be available in Target, Walmart, and Office Depot stores.
*At the time of publishing, the price was $23.
If our picks are out of stock, or if these alternates are significantly less expensive, this is an option. This is the better PNY card if you’re using it for Android app storage.
May be out of stock
*At the time of publishing, the price was $20.
The Kingston Canvas Go Plus and SanDisk Switch cards are the best if you’re looking for the fastest cards available for the price. However, if our first picks are out of stock or the prices have spiked, then consider the Lexar Professional 1066x, PNY Elite-X, or PNY Pro Elite. These three cards don’t have the raw speed of our picks, but they will read and write data fast enough for 4K videos, as all of them meet the criteria for GoPro’s compatibility list.
This microSD card is fast, consistent, and reasonably priced, and good for phones, tablets, game consoles, and more. It’s found at the expected online retailers like Amazon or Newegg and major chain stores like Best Buy, but Kingston also lists Kroger grocery stores and FedEx Office Centers as official retailers.
*At the time of publishing, the price was $22.
This microSD card is fast, consistent, reasonably priced, and is good for phones, tablets, game consoles, and more. The card we tested is labeled with the Apex Legends game logo, though it will work with other games, too. It can be found at major online stores, but SanDisk also lists many smaller camera shops as official retailers.
*At the time of publishing, the price was $26.
If our main picks are out of stock, or if this card is significantly less expensive, consider this Lexar a worthy pick—it should still be fast enough for an action camera, a game system, or a tablet. Lexar lists Office Depot, Staples, and Micro Center among its official retail partners for in-store purchases, in addition to online shops like Amazon, BH Photo, and Newegg.
*At the time of publishing, the price was $22.
This is a worthy choice, particularly if our main picks are out of stock, or if this is significantly less expensive. The Elite-X is rated slightly slower than the Pro Elite for loading Android apps, but our tests show they are about equivalent for other uses. PNY cards are available at most major online retailers, but they may also be available in Target, Walmart, and Office Depot stores.
*At the time of publishing, the price was $23.
If our picks are out of stock, or if these alternates are significantly less expensive, this is an option. This is the better PNY card if you’re using it for Android app storage.
May be out of stock
*At the time of publishing, the price was $20.
You’ll find microSD cards being used for expanded storage in some smartphones, tablets, and laptop computers; as the main video and photo storage for action cameras like a GoPro or security cameras like the Wyze Cam; and to hold downloaded games in portable consoles like the Nintendo Switch. Some small computers, especially kit computers like the Raspberry Pi, use them as their main storage for the operating system and programs. Installing a 128 GB microSDXC card will effectively double or triple the photo and video storage of some Android smartphones.
Make sure your device has a microSD card slot before you buy. And if the device is a few years old, make sure 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 products that only support 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 buy a microSD card with an adapter (like the Kingston Canvas Go Plus (128 GB)). Full-size SD cards used to be significantly faster than microSD cards, but that’s not really the case anymore.
After extensive research and testing, we think the 64 GB SanDisk Extreme Pro is the best SD card for use in digital cameras or other devices.
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 like Best Buy or Adorama. This is an instance in which buying in person from a big-box store is a good idea; you’ll almost always 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 (not Amazon’s “Frustration-free” packaging, for example).
Some Amazon customers have reported receiving fake cards directly from Amazon. If you suspect your card is a fake, contact Amazon customer support for an exchange. (You can look for strange packaging and test the card with CrystalDiskMark or another disk transfer test to check its speeds. Other downloadable tools can be used to make sure you receive the capacity you paid for.)
These days, microSD cards are mostly used for expanding media storage (in phones and tablets), serving as drives in single board computers like the Raspberry Pi, recording video (in action cameras, drones, or security cameras), and storing downloaded games (in consoles like the Nintendo Switch).
This is what you should look for in a microSD card, regardless of how you plan to use it:
This microSD card is fast, consistent, and reasonably priced, and good for phones, tablets, game consoles, and more. It’s found at the expected online retailers like Amazon or Newegg and major chain stores like Best Buy, but Kingston also lists Kroger grocery stores and FedEx Office Centers as official retailers.
*At the time of publishing, the price was $22.
This microSD card is fast, consistent, reasonably priced, and is good for phones, tablets, game consoles, and more. The card we tested is labeled with the Apex Legends game logo, though it will work with other games, too. It can be found at major online stores, but SanDisk also lists many smaller camera shops as official retailers.
*At the time of publishing, the price was $26.
The Kingston Canvas Go Plus 128 GB microSD card is the best match for phones, tablets, game systems like the Nintendo Switch, drones, and action cameras. The Canvas Go Plus ticks all the boxes—it is relatively inexpensive, available from multiple online retailers and big-box stores, and has all three of the speed certifications we look for: U3, V30, and A2. A lifetime warranty protects you against defects, but make sure to back up your data often.
The Kingston card was slightly faster than the SanDisk card below, but overall, both cards performed well. Both are priced competitively. The Kingston’s faster write speeds topped 150 MB/s, but both cards read data at similar speeds, just over 160 MB/s.
We also continue to recommend the SanDisk MicroSDXC card for Nintendo Switch as one of the best microSD cards for phones, tablets, action cameras, and the Nintendo Switch. The card transfers data quickly when reading random files and is fast when reading and writing sequential files. SanDisk also offers a lifetime warranty on this card.
The Nintendo Switch card is a U3 card, which means its sequential write speeds stay above 30 MB/s, enough to record 4K video. In our tests, it far exceeded those numbers, with sequential write speeds greater than 112 MB/s on a computer (see more test results below). While the Sandisk card was slower than the Kingston Canvas Go Plus, both cards read and write sequential data (like videos) faster than 100 MB/s, sufficient for 1080p, 4K, and 5K video.
While both the Kinsgston and SanDisk cards topped our performance charts, they are not on GoPro’s list of officially recommended microSD cards. Both cards tested faster than some of the listed cards. If you must have one of GoPro’s recommended cards, see our also-great selections below.
If our main picks are out of stock, or if this card is significantly less expensive, consider this Lexar a worthy pick—it should still be fast enough for an action camera, a game system, or a tablet. Lexar lists Office Depot, Staples, and Micro Center among its official retail partners for in-store purchases, in addition to online shops like Amazon, BH Photo, and Newegg.
*At the time of publishing, the price was $22.
This is a worthy choice, particularly if our main picks are out of stock, or if this is significantly less expensive. The Elite-X is rated slightly slower than the Pro Elite for loading Android apps, but our tests show they are about equivalent for other uses. PNY cards are available at most major online retailers, but they may also be available in Target, Walmart, and Office Depot stores.
*At the time of publishing, the price was $23.
If our picks are out of stock, or if these alternates are significantly less expensive, this is an option. This is the better PNY card if you’re using it for Android app storage.
May be out of stock
*At the time of publishing, the price was $20.
If our picks are priced above $30 or are out of stock, consider the Lexar Professional 1066x, the PNY Elite-X, or the PNY Pro Elite. These three microSD cards are strong performers that are priced lower than our picks most of the time. All three pass the same performance tests as the Kingston and SanDisk, but they are a few MB/s slower, particularly at the write tests.
That is to say that the Lexar and two PNY cards will be just as fast when you’re playing back files like photos and videos, but they will be a half step behind when you’re recording memories, whether they’re visual memories like photos, or a save point in a game. They’re sure to be faster than the five cards we dismissed in the competition below, so they’re worth choosing, particularly if you find one on sale.
We researched 20 microSD cards that are new or have been updated since the last batch of eight cards we tested in 2019. We tested the 128 GB versions of the 10 cards that best fit our criteria.
Using a Kingston USB-C Workflow card Reader connected to a desktop PC’s Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) port, 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.
Our picks
Also great picks
The competition
Sequential read speed indicates how fast long swathes 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 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 had sequential read speeds between 95 to 165 MB/s in our CrystalDiskMark testing. Sequential writes were a bit more varied; about half of the cards did fine, with results between 80 and 150 MB/s. Notably, about half of the cards couldn’t reach 80 MB/s, and one couldn’t break 20 MB/s. Cards with higher write speeds will be able to keep up with 4K video at 60 fps or shooting high-resolution pictures in burst mode.
Since microSD cards are mostly used for 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. Most Android devices no longer let you run apps from external storage, but if your operating system and programs live on the card (as in a Raspberry Pi) or you’re playing a game downloaded to it (as on a Nintendo Switch), it’s important that your random read and write speeds don’t hold you back. Again, all the cards passed the read tests, but two cards were slower than the others.
Class rating: While older cards had speed classes of 2, 4, and 6, all new microSD cards are rated at Class 10, capable of transferring at least 10 MB/s.
U rating, also known as UHS speed class: U1 refers to a card capable of 10 MB/s, and U3 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 will always be faster, and it may be a moot point soon—top Android phones like the Google Pixel 4a and the Samsung Galaxy S21 lack microSD card slots.
As we were preparing to publish this guide, Samsung announced that it was updating its Evo Plus, Pro Plus, and Evo Select microSDXC lines. The Evo Select was a longtime pick, and a runner-up during our last guide update. We’ll likely test the Evo Plus or Evo Select in the near future. Evo Select is the Amazon-exclusive version of the Evo Plus card.
The new versions of the Samsung Evo Pro card add V30 and A2 ratings for 128 GB capacity cards and higher, which were missing on the last iteration.
Most of the cards we tested work well enough, but fell short of our picks in price, speed, or availability, so they’re not the first you should consider.
These cards failed one or more write speed test(s), but may be fine if you’re writing data to the card occasionally then reading that data many times, such as if you’re loading a tablet with videos for your kids to watch on a road trip: Kingston Canvas Select Plus, Lexar Play, Lexar 633x, Silicon Power Superior Pro (3D NAND), or PNY Premier-X
We looked at the Kingston Canvas React Plus, but this is a UHS-II and V90-rated card made for professional cameras and is about four times as expensive as our picks.
These cards were evaluated, but then dismissed because they were too expensive, had short warranties, or haven’t been updated with the latest V30 or A ratings:
SanDisk Ultra Plus, SanDisk Ultra (for Chromebooks), SanDisk High Endurance, Samsung Pro Endurance, and PNY Elite.
Michael Zhang, Beware: Amazon Still Sells Counterfeit Memory Cards, PetaPixel, May 31, 2018
How to check and spot fake microSD card, Happy Bison, April 10, 2015
Nasim Mansurov, How to Identify and Test Fake Memory Cards, Photography Life, January 21, 2020
SD Cards that work with GoPro Cameras, GoPro
SD Standard for Video Recording, SD Association
Joel Santo Domingo
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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