Samsung introduces the first 256GB SD Express micro SD card with a read speed of up to 800 megabytes per second (MB/s). There is also news about the 1TB UHS-1 micro SD card.
Samsung introduces its 256GB [1] SD Express [2] micro SD card with a read speed of up to 800 megabytes per second (MB/s). In addition, the company has begun mass production of its 1 terabyte (TB) [3] UHS-1 micro SD card. With this new generation of micro SD cards, Samsung aims to provide the memory solutions for future mobile computing and on-device AI applications.
SD Express micro SD card with speeds up to 800 MB/s
With the introduction of a micro SD card based on the SD Express interface, Samsung has achieved an industry first. Thanks to an energy-efficient design and optimized firmware for high performance and thermal management, the card delivers SSD-worthy performance in a compact size. While read speeds for traditional micro SD cards with a UHS-1 interface were limited to 104 MB/s, SD Express allows up to 985 MB/s. These speeds have not been commercially available for micro SD cards until now.
Samsung’s SD Express micro SD card has a sequential read speed of up to 800 MB/s or 1.4 times faster than SATA SSDs (up to 560 MB/s) and more than four times faster than traditional UHS-1 memory cards ( up to 200 MB/s). To ensure performance in the small size, the Dynamic Thermal Guard (DTG) ensures the optimal temperature even during long use sessions.
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1TB UHS-1 micro SD card with advanced 1TB V-NAND
Samsung’s new 1TB micro SD card uses eight layers of 8th generation 1-terabit (Tb) V-NAND, achieving capacity previously only available in SSDs. The new 1TB micro SD card passes the most stringent tests and is highly reliable even in challenging environments, with protection against water, extreme temperatures, drops, abrasion, X-rays and magnetic fields [4].
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“With these two new micro SD cards we meet the growing demands of mobile computing and on-device AI,” says Roderick Niehorster, Marketing Manager Digital Storage at Samsung Benelux. “Despite their small size, these memory cards offer SSD-worthy performance and capabilities, making them suitable for both modern and future applications.”
Price and availability
The 256GB SD Express micro SD card will be available later this year and the 1TB UHS-1 micro SD card will be available in the third quarter of this year. Prices are not yet known.
[1] 1 gigabyte (GB) = 1,000,000,000 bytes (1 billion bytes). Actual usable capacity may vary.
[2] SD Express: the new SD card interface with PCIe Gen3x1 (based on the SD 7.1 specification released in February 2019), with a theoretical transfer speed of 985 MB/s.
[3] 1 terabyte (TB) = 1,000,000,000,000 bytes (1 trillion bytes). Actual usable capacity may vary.
[4] Samsung is not liable for any damage and/or loss of data or costs arising from recovering data from the memory card. The six types of protection mentioned only apply to a 1TB UHS¬-1 micro SD card, not to a 256GB SD Express micro SD card. 1M depth, salt water, 72 hours. Operating temperatures from -25℃ to 85℃ (-13°F to 185°F), non-operating temperatures from -40℃ to 85℃ (-40°F to 185°F). Resistant to standard airport X-ray equipment (up to 100mGy). Magnetic field equivalent of a high-field MRI scanner (up to 15,000 gauss). Withstands drops up to 5 meters (16.4 feet). Up to 10,000 swipes.