Samsung's upcoming microSD card will offer a dramatic speed increase. The company's 256GB SD Express microSD, Samsung's first SD Express card, can read data at up to 800MB/s, significantly faster than microSDs you can buy today. However, we don't yet know how much it will cost and the card won't be available until later this year.
The 256GB SD Express microSD will have (theoretical) sequential read speeds of up to 800 MB/s, which is more than 2.5 times faster than the read speeds of UHS-II microSD cards and 1.4 times faster Faster than SATA SSDs. So, in theory at least, Samsung's new card should be noticeably faster than cheaper solid-state drives.
Samsung added heat management capabilities to help keep temperatures under control. “To ensure stable performance and reliability for the small form factor, Dynamic Thermal Guard (DTG) technology maintains the optimal temperature for the SD Express microSD card, even during extended usage sessions,” the company said. ai” rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank” data-ylk=”slk:wrote;elm:context_link;elmt:doNotAffiliate;cpos:5;pos:1;itc:0;sec:content-canvas”>wrote in a press release announcing the new card.
Samsung is (perhaps unsurprisingly) introducing the almighty buzzword “ai” to the card's fastest speeds. “With our two new microSD cards, Samsung has provided effective solutions to address the growing demands of mobile computing and ai on devices,” wrote Samsung Vice President Hangu Sohn.
The company's Galaxy S24 series is banking on ai, but Samsung hasn't included a microSD slot on its flagship phones for the past four generations. (Neither has most of the rest of the smartphone playing field.) So while future ai-powered devices could benefit from the extra speeds, Samsung's current batch of high-end phones aren't on that list. Additionally, although SD Express is backward compatible, not many devices (yet) support SD Express, requiring an additional row of pins on the host device. In other words, the card's full potential won't be realized until we have new equipment to support it.
Although not related to the speedy SD Express card, Samsung also introduced a new 1TB microSD with UHS-1 speeds. “Samsung's new 1TB microSD card stacks eight layers of the company's 8th-generation 1 terabit (Tb) V-NAND within a microSD form factor, achieving the high-capacity package previously only possible in SSDs.” “the company wrote. The 1TB card includes protection against water, extreme temperatures, drops, X-rays and magnets.
Samsung's fast 256GB SD Express microSD card will launch “later this year,” while the 1TB UHS-1 microSD will arrive in the third quarter of 2024. The company hasn't said how much either will cost. .
