If you own a GoPro or a Nintendo Switch, then there’s no such thing as a MicroSD card too large. SanDisk and Micron are both stepping up to the plate with humungous 1 TB microSD cards.
Mobile World Congress is in full swing and taking a break from phones that fold, Sandisk and Micron have both stepped forward to announce microSD cards. But these aren’t just any old microSD cards; they’re 1 TB microSD cards. That’s handy because some systems like the Nintendo Switch need expanded storage. Zelda: Breath of the Wild started at 13 GBs before DLC, which means it used up 40% of the Switch’s internal storage.
Games are only growing more massive, and camera needs are growing too. Every update to an action camera or smartphone leads to ever-expanding picture sizes. More and more smartphones support raw storage for photos, which take up more space than jpegs but provides more information to work with for editing.
1 TB microSD cards should take of the problem, but it will come at a cost. Micron hasn’t announced pricing yet, but Sandisk’s card will cost an eye-watering $450, the same price as a Switch, Mario Oddysey, and Zelda: Breath of the Wild, plus one year of Nintendo Switch Online.
Which company you go with also depends on your preferences for read or write speeds. SanDisk is calling its card the “World’s fastest” and boats a read speed of 160 MB/s. Sandisk claims at that speed, you could theoretically “transfer 1000 high-resolution photos and 30 minutes of 4K video (24GB) in less than 3 minutes.”
Micron may not have the edge in read speeds, but it does bost a faster write speed, albeit just barely. Sandisk write speeds top out at 90 MB/S, while Micros boats 95 MB/S. It may be worth waiting to see Micron’s pricing as well. If it’s lower than $450, that could be a selling point worth considering.
If you can settle for a step-down, SanDisk also announced a 512 GB microSD card, for a more palatable $200. You’ll get the same read and write speeds, half the storage at less than half the cost.
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