Looks like the price has come down even further on this one. Looking to use it for my recently purchased Surface Pro 7+.
CamelCamelCamel.
I just want the USB thingy, it's tiny and very smart looking. Anyone know if they can be purchased separately?
I have this and it intermittently disconnects when writing files, not recommended.
Seems to be a common issue with this model, some reviews mention this too.
@fastnet: Not here, I have been using one for about 14 months now. Everything (both with and without the USB adapter) works fine without missing a beat. Using it for 4K Ultra HD video files which can give these ssd's a bit of a hammering. Fit for purpose. They are overkill for web-cams, dash-cams etc. Better off with the Sammy Endurance range and save your bucks.
Nice price this. I purchased mine via Amazon for A$132.30 (with USB adapter). This model can be purchased without adapter for about $5.00 less (not currently available) but at this price, it's still $50.00 less than what I paid for mine.
jay car has an even smaller one for less than $5.
https://www.jaycar.com.au/usb-micro-sd-card-reader/p/XC4740
You slot the microSD card onto the USB header. Very compact but a little annoying as you have to unplug the whole USB out every time you want take sd card
Downside of this one is USB 2.0 only so the read/write speeds won't be too great.
I've searched a lot for the thingy. I didn't find any to buy by itself. Sandisk has a small one just like this (on eBay), but it's finicky and doesn't always read the card. The only other alternative on amazon is this, if you're OK with USB-C.
Pretty sure the included card reader is required to achieve advertised speeds.
(Or a modern MicroSD slot)
Nope, it requires proprietary technology that only works with specific USB card readers. UHS-I slots won't support the higher speeds and the faster UHS-II standard is also incompatible with the technology used to achieve these speeds, bottlenecking these Pro/Extreme Samsung/Sandisk cards at UHS-I speeds (104MB/s). MicroSD slots in a device (e.g. camera, Switch, Steam Deck etc.) will not utilise the faster speeds of these cards.
Samsung themselves limit their claims regarding speed to their own readers:
Stated performance is achieved by using PRO Plus microSD cards with Samsung readers.
https://www.samsung.com/au/memory-storage/memory-card/pro-pl…
As do Sandisk:
engineered with proprietary technology to reach speeds beyond UHS-I 104MB/s, require compatible devices capable of reaching such speeds.
https://www.westerndigital.com/en-au/products/memory-cards/s…
Any UHS-I card promising higher speeds than the actual limit of UHS-I only works under very specific circumstances and even faster devices or readers such as UHS-II readers or cameras will be bottlenecked.
@eecan: Funny you said that. I just received my Samsung Pro Plus 128GB SD card (not microSD card) from Amazon US today. Just ran Crystal Disk Mark tests using the included Samsung SD card reader that came with this card comparing to my other Lexar 3-in-1 UHSII card reader.
Samsung card reader:
Sequential read speed - 160.44MB/s
Sequential write speed - 122.72MB/s
Lexar card reader:
Sequential read speed - 158.62MB/s
Sequential write speed - 122.15MB/s
Well not much difference in speed here. Looks like I don't really need the Samsung card reader to achieve the claimed maximum 160MB/s read speed and 120MB/s write speed :)
@edfoo: What card reader are you using? Would be interested to test if it works with the Sandisk Extreme cards as well.
Here's some tests I did the other day after I bought a Sandisk Extreme Pro microSD card the other day (advertised at 200MB/s read + 140MB/s write).
Card reader: SanDisk Extreme Pro UHS-II SD Card USB Type-C Reader (SDDR-409-G46)
MicroSD cards tested using supplied microSD > SD adapters. Have included V90 SD card tests to show that the card reader is not bottlenecking the cards.
PC - File transfer test - 200GB transfer of 50MB photos from SSD to card via USB card reader
2021 Samsung EVO Plus 256GB 42 minutes 50 seconds
2021 Samsung PRO Plus 512GB 42 minutes 37 seconds
2022 Sandisk Extreme Pro 256GB 42 minutes 56 seconds
Prograde V90 256GB 16 minutes 52 seconds
PC - Large file transfer - 100GB transfer of 20GB videos from SSD to card via USB card reader
2021 Samsung EVO Plus 256GB 21 minutes 39 seconds
2021 Samsung PRO Plus 512GB 21 minutes 39 seconds
2022 Sandisk Extreme Pro 256GB 21 minutes 39 seconds
Prograde V90 256GB 7 minutes 58 seconds
Sony A1 camera - continuous shooting test - take photos continuously until buffer is full and camera slows down
2021 Samsung EVO Plus 256GB ~7 seconds
2021 Samsung PRO Plus 512GB ~7 seconds
2022 Sandisk Extreme Pro 256GB ~7 seconds
Prograde V90 256GB ~8 seconds
Sony A1 camera - buffer clearing test - how long it takes for the cards to write to the microSD card (~129 photos in buffer)
2021 Samsung EVO Plus 256GB 90 seconds
2021 Samsung PRO Plus 512GB 89 seconds
2022 Sandisk Extreme Pro 256GB 90 seconds
Prograde V90 256GB 28 seconds
Like your card reader, there could be scenarios or devices out there that differ from the results I've seen. But you definitely cannot count on any random modern card reader or device supporting it. Both card reader/device tested well exceed the maximum speeds (120-140MB/s) of the Pro/Extreme microSD maximum write speeds supporting ~250MB/s on the V90 Prograde SD card.
@eecan: This is the Samsung Pro Plus 128GB SD card with its card reader:
https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B09HXV9K7C?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_…
This is the Lexar multi-card reader:
https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B088KTMDG4?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_…
@eecan: I have tested a small 32GB Sandisk Extreme Plus (not the Pro) microSD card in the Lexar card reader, I only got 95.19MB/s read and 55.34MB/s write.
@eecan: The Lexar reader is good. From my limited usage I were also able to get good speeds (>100 MB/s) with Sandisk and Lexar cards.
I also used the SDDR-A631 but that reader is only fast with Sandisk cards.
@BadBargain: FYI ended up getting a Lexar CFExpress TypeA/SD reader: https://www.digidirect.com.au/lexar-professional-cfexpress-t…
Interesting results on CrystalDiskMark.
Samsung EVO 2021 256GB (Both the white EVO Select and blue EVO Plus) test for approx 136MB/s read and 125MB/s write.
Samsung Pro Plus 2021 512GB tested for approx 160MB/s read and 124MB/s write. So faster read but equivalent write (actually slightly slower but no one will be able to tell the difference anyway).
Prograde V90 256GB SD card tests for approx 300MB/s read and ~250MB/s write so the card reader is not being bottlenecked.
No sustained write/real world testing yet because that takes hours to run, will do that later.
@eecan: Was there much difference in random small file read and write speed between the EVO and the PRO Plus cards?
@edfoo: Album of benchmarks here: https://imgur.com/a/35oku6V
Seemed more consistent on the compatible card readers but about the same on an unsupported reader.
In terms of speed performance
read/write speeds up to 160/120MB/s
Seems better than the Samsung Type C flash drive which read/write speeds is (400/30MB/s)
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/750684
I've got that Samsung Type-C USB drive and just ran a speed test. I got 402 MB/s Read and 116 MB/s Write.
See test results - 1 GB file size, repeated 2x using CrystalDiskMark
Not sure if your bigger 256GB memory makes any difference comparing to smaller capacity flash drives.
My 128GB version "only" achieved ~400MB/s read and ~60MB/s write.
Great pickup for all those who nabbed a steam deck over the past few weeks. U3/A2 is what you want :-)
wasnt there something about SD only being able to support 100mb/s ?
i went the 1tb sandisk ultra, running quite well over weekend.
correct, no need to get these high read and write SD cards.
Im not an expert but I did a some research when pickup up my card and every single result suggested U3/A2. Guess it depends on ur internet speeds as its not just about read speeds but write as well
https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/comments/x1wasq/psa_a_mic…
Yea, SD max read speed is 100mbps. That's the bottleneck. Not the SD card.
Write speed is the only diff between U1/A1 and U3/A2. But with gaming, write speed is not a big concern
Sandisk Ultra write speed is only ~30MB/s.
Been using this on the Deck since August, works fantastic and load times are no different if the game is stored on the default 512GB internal memory that comes with the Deck or this.
I got a price match from JB Hifi for 79
how you get $79?
Not the same product
People using this for gaming devices like Nintendo? All my devices only support 64gb…and my galaxy and macbook doesn't even have sd card slot
Feels weird seeing a microSD deal without any "Does this work on switch?" comments
not pro plus
Correct me if I'm wrong, but the only difference seems to be +30MB/s read speed for the Pro
Different card ;-) As discussed above, really depends on if the device you are buying for can take advantage
what devices can take advantage?
No idea….maybe like 4k cameras or that sorta thing??
@britta: Nothing except specific USB card readers that are specifically advertised to be compatible with the proprietary microSD card protocols.
Cameras will see no difference between the Samsung EVO or PRO (or Sandisk Extreme 200MB/s) cards, they are all bottlenecked at like ~80MB/s on UHS-I and have the same V30 rating.
From my own testing…
Sony camera - continuous shooting test - take photos continuously until buffer is full and camera slows down
2021 Samsung EVO Plus 256GB ~7 seconds
2021 Samsung PRO Plus 512GB ~7 seconds
2022 Sandisk Extreme Pro 256GB ~7 seconds
Prograde V90 256GB ~8 seconds
Sony camera - buffer clearing test - how long it takes for the cards to write to the microSD card (~129 photos in buffer)
2021 Samsung EVO Plus 256GB 90 seconds
2021 Samsung PRO Plus 512GB 89 seconds
2022 Sandisk Extreme Pro 256GB 90 seconds
Prograde V90 256GB 28 seconds
Yes, the Pro can read +30MB/s, otherwise, they are pretty much the same
Anyone in Melborne CBD who's buying this and doesn't need the reader, I'm happy to buy it at a reasonable price.
which one is better for steam deck?
Samsung EVO Plus or Samsung PRO Plus?
thnx
Real world testing shows minimal difference between 'fast' cards and higher quality standard cards like the EVO.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWfQKqEZUqE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNX4SFMftEY
Steam Deck is limited to UHS-I so even for write speeds as long as you are choosing a card like the EVO (~80MB/s) and not a slow card like the Sandisk Ultra (~30MB/s) you should be fine.
That being said… if you need something right now the Pro isn't really that far off the EVO pricing at the moment so is worth considering… unless you want to wait for a better sale on the EVO.
I'm very skeptical of buying SD cards on Amazon, with prices so cheap fearing that it might be dupes/fakes. What do u guys think?
I've bought a few from Amazon and they're all fine. I've also bought a couple from eBay and they're fine as well (IMO as long as you don't find one that is $20 for 512gb, you'll be fine).
are they actually fine like have you tested them to make sure the capacity is what it says it is?
some fakes will falsely report their size to your OS on whatever you put the card into… like it might be 2gb but will say 512 or whatever.. show as 512 gb free to your OS… then when you try to put more than 2gb on it it'll just start throwing errors
there's apps you can get that will test the card to determine whether it is the size it claims to be.
Nah, I've been using them at full capacity for ages.
I think as long as you stick to buying from Amazon AU and not a third party you should have no problems.
Shame. I could do without the USB thingy if it brings the price down a bit more.