Types of Memory Cards and Sizes

Types of Memory Cards and Sizes

Memory cards are used to store digital media on images and video clips. As someone who owns a mobile device, drone, or camcorder, you can’t make the most of your gadget without using a high-quality memory card. 

There are two types of memory cards widely used in digital cameras and smartphones: SD and microSD. 

What Is the Right SD Standard and Capacity?

If you want to buy a memory card, the first thing to look into is to consider the compatibility of the card with your device. For this purpose, you can visit the device manufacturer’s website or go through the device’s instruction manual. It specifies the device’s SD standard. Both microSD and SD cards offer the same standards: 

  • Secure Digital (SD), Secure Digital High-Capacity (SDHC), Secure Digital eXtended-Capacity (SDXC), and Secure Digital Ultra-Capacity (SDUC)
  • MicroSD, microSDHC, microSDXC, and microSDUC

These days, SDHC and SDXC are used frequently. The primary difference between SD standards is storage capacity. For example, if you shoot high-quality videos (e.g., 4K), an SDXC card storing data up to 512GB will easily meet your video recording needs. 

In addition, SDXC cards rely on the exFAT file system. This is an important point because this file system can extend support to large files. On the contrary, cards that use the FAT32 file system cannot handle files more than 4GB in size.

Average users will be happy with a 64GB or 512GB card. It is good enough to capture thousands of photos and videos.

SDUC is a relatively new form of SD card – it was introduced in mid-2018, and it will take some time before it gains mainstream adoption. However, you would be pleased to know that newer hardware devices with memory card support are backward compatible. This means that new devices that are compatible with SDXC, SDUC, or other newer standards will also support older standard memory cards. However, new standards will not be compatible with older hardware devices that support older standards. 

Card Type Card Capacity 
SD16GB to 512GB
SDHC16GB to 32GB
SDXC64GB to 512GB
SDUC2TB to 128TB 
MicroSD8GB to 512GB
MicroSDHC8GB to 32GB
MicroSDXC64GB to 512GB
MicroSDUC2TB to 128TB

What do you do when you can’t capture more photos due to low memory? Get a new microSD card.

MicroSD cards are the same as SD cards, albeit in a smaller size. Due to their size, they offer a wider number of use cases. For instance, you can use them with an SD adapter to connect with devices that only accept SD cards. The primary use of microSD cards is to increase the storage of cameras, gaming devices, drones, and smartphones. In terms of compatibility, microSD cards work similarly to SD cards. 

Adding more memory to your electronic gadget offers you the resources to use multiple applications faster and have greater storage capacity. However, don’t settle for just any memory – Buy Kingston offers you quality, reliability, and ultimate service with a 100 percent money-back guarantee! Take a look at our SD card and Kingston memory cards.