As you know, memory cards (flash cards) are used to store information and significantly expand the capabilities of the phone. In general, a mobile phone itself in its pure form does not need additional memory; the minimum provided by the built-in memory is enough for it. The first phones had an address book and the ability to receive or send messages, and kept a log of recent calls and messages. Even modern models are sometimes limited to built-in memory, while having an additional, extensive set of new functions. The point is that in Lately The mobile phone is no longer just a means of communication. New functions are increasingly being added to it, such as built-in MP3 players, cameras, and the situation has begun to change radically. Many new tasks require more memory to run. And now you already want to increase the memory capacity of your phone.
Often a memory card is not supplied with the phone, but it is usually not large enough, or maybe you just want to exchange the old one for a more capacious one. It is worth noting that not every flash card will be compatible with your phone model. There are a huge number of types of memory cards and adapters for them: CompactFlash, xD-picture and Memory Stick SD/MMC and others. Look in the manual or on the manufacturer's website for this information. Sometimes it happens that the old phone firmware (the program inside it) does not support cards larger than a certain size. Sometimes a simple flashing helps - and now the phone happily accepts the new card and you can safely use it.
When choosing a card, it is a good idea to pay attention to the manufacturer of this card. Exists whole line manufacturers that have proven themselves very well: such as Transcend, Apacer, Kingston, Kingmax, SanDisk, Sony. They usually have the following guarantee:
- Transcend – 2 years;
- Apacer – 3 years;
- Kingston – 3 years;
- Kingmax – 2 years;
- SanDisk – 5 years;
- Sony – 1 year (a warranty of up to 5 years can be found abroad).
It should be noted that when purchasing a card, for example, with a capacity of 1GB, you will only get 900-950 MB available for work, since part of the card is occupied by information to protect the card from failures, file data, file system markup and other service information.
One of important parameters map is information about the speed of the map. It is easy to translate the mysterious designation, for example, 20x, it means 3 MB per second. That is the average size mp3 file. How is this calculated? Elementary: “1x” is approximately equal to 150 kb per second. Well, then the multiplication table works.
Well, the card has been purchased. You can stop here and start using it, but there are some nuances here too. Of course, there are Bluetooth, IrDA, GPRS and other options for data transfer. But to connect your phone with your home computer (or laptop), you will need either the same Bluetooth adapter, or a Card-Reader (a card reader is a device for connecting a flash card). The card reader will provide higher data transfer speeds and is quite universal, that is, you can easily use it for memory cards different types, and not only for mobile phones. Therefore, you should not save 10-15 USD. on purchasing a mid-range card reader. note that modern model must support USB 2.0 or FireWire interface.
Let's look at some common problems. If your phone does not “see” the memory card or gives an error like “Memory card access denied”, this is not yet a reason to run to the store or service center not to replace it. Initially, you should check whether it is inserted well. Oddly enough, the “remove and insert” procedure helps in half of the cases. Well, if that doesn't help, you can format the card. If the phone simply does not see it, then you will definitely need a card reader, otherwise formatting can be done from the phone. How to do this is usually described in the phone manual.
It's another matter if you use a card reader. We connect to the computer and if the OS is Windows, then right-click on the icon of your card in My Computer, and Properties->Tools->Check Disk [Run a scan, correcting damaged sectors]. Most often, this will fix file system errors and allow your memory card to work normally. Well, if that doesn’t help, then right-click on the icon -> formatting. If this does not help, then perhaps your phone does not support FAT32 and repeat the formatting by selecting the FAT file system. Sometimes it happens that after formatting in the card reader, the memory card needs to be formatted in the phone.
ATTENTION: formatting will completely destroy the information on the media, so before doing this, if possible, save all data from the card.
In order for your memory card to properly serve you throughout its entire resource (about 5 years of use), follow several rules:
Physical damage is contraindicated (the card cannot be bent, thrown, etc...);
Do not keep the card near heat sources, direct sunlight, or humidity;
the card is sensitive to electrostatic discharges (be careful with it when you pick it up);
Never disconnect the card while transferring information (you may lose both the information and the card).
Another feature is that SD and MMC cards, as well as adapters for these standards, can be blocked for rewriting or deleting. This is done manually on the memory card/adapter itself. So if you suddenly can’t write something to the card, check to see if it’s just blocked.
And finally. If your memory card begins to require a password, but you do not know it, then there are specialized programs for restoring it. N So you don’t have to rush to the service center. Leave this in case you were unable to restore it yourself.
Any modern gadget - a smartphone, tablet, player or camera - has one common feature. They all work with digital data that requires storage space. It is for this reason that when choosing a new device, one of the criteria is the amount of free memory it has. Most devices have the ability to use external memory cards in hardware. This is convenient - you can change and increase the volume if necessary. In addition, this method reduces the cost of a mobile device, since it allows the manufacturer to reduce the size of the built-in memory.
Almost immediately after purchasing a new smartphone or tablet, you also purchase a card to expand the memory. At the same time, users often do not pay enough attention to the issue of choice. And completely in vain. The performance of your device will depend on how reliable the memory card is and the speed at which it can exchange information. To understand which memory card for a smartphone will work better, let’s look at the types and types of chips on the market.
The most common memory cards on the market are SD type memory cards. There are several varieties of them (differing in size). The SDHC memory card type already has a larger capacity. And the most modern media, the volume of which can be more than a terabyte, are SDXC cards.
At the same time, in mobile devices It is common to use smaller cards (but not volume). These are miniSD and microSD cards, which, due to their miniature dimensions, take up virtually no space in the device. In addition to various formats, types and sizes, memory cards are also divided into data transfer speed classes.
Speed classes
The most important characteristic for a memory card is the speed at which it can record and transfer data. The high speed of data exchange with the device allows you to quickly save and open photos, videos, and listen to music without noticeable slowdowns or application crashes. To make it easier for users to understand, the speed classes (SD Class) are divided as follows:
- 2 - recording speed from 2 Mb/s;
- 4 - recording speed from 4 Mb/s;
- 6, 10, 12, 16 and higher - respectively, the class indicates the minimum speed at which the memory card writes data.
It is the speed class, in addition to the volume itself, that you need to pay attention to when choosing a memory card for a mobile gadget.
Now let's put this information into practice. So, to expand the memory of your smartphone, you decide to purchase an additional memory card. First you need to decide on the format that your model supports. It is preferable to buy a memory card of the exact format recommended by the smartphone manufacturer. Despite the fact that there are numerous adapters and adapters on the market, their use is undesirable, since they may negatively affect the speed and stability of the chip.
After choosing the format, find out what speed class is needed for your smartphone. This is necessary to ensure optimal operation when exchanging data between the device itself and the memory card. The fact is that for large cards this is a fairly important and critical parameter. At the same time, manufacturers of external memory cards, in order to reduce the cost of their product, may underestimate the speed. The cost of a flash drive directly depends on its volume and speed class. For this reason, you should not save on purchasing it. Especially if you plan to save photos and videos on the memory card and listen to music from it.
When choosing a card, you also need to remember about such a parameter as “lifetime”. Reliable manufacturers guarantee the operation of their products for up to five years. Practice shows that if the card is not physically damaged or demagnetized, it will work much longer. Often users focus on the number of recording cycles. Depending on the brand, you can find a guarantee for a million write operations with the card.
Note that everyday use (recording music files for playback, photos and videos, installing applications) makes it possible to use a memory card for decades. Given this life expectancy, we would recommend purchasing a memory card from a well-known brand (flash cards from Kingston, SanDisk, Transcend or Toshiba have proven themselves to be excellent), choosing a higher speed class, so that over time you can use it in a new smartphone or tablet.
Powerful, productive and inexpensive
In addition to a fast memory card with a large capacity, to confidently work with photos, videos, music and various applications, you need a powerful smartphone. Despite the fact that today there is a fairly large assortment of mobile gadgets on the market, making right choice not so easy. Especially if you have a limited budget allocated for the purchase. In this case, you have to refuse to purchase flagship models famous brands. What to choose - a device from a “fashionable” brand of the second, or even third line? Or prefer a top-end model from a lesser-known manufacturer? Let's reason.
What is attractive about flagships, regardless of the company name? First of all, this is the implementation in the model modern technologies, the use of high-quality and reliable modules, wide functionality and powerful equipment. And if first-line brands charge exorbitant prices for such models, then companies that do not include multimillion-dollar advertising and marketing budgets in the cost of their products to promote a big brand name can offer consumers a much more interesting pricing solution. As a result, we get an excellent opportunity to become the owner of a powerful modern smartphone on a fairly limited budget. An excellent demonstration of this statement is the line of mobile devices from the young British brand Wileyfox.
Wileyfox entered the market in October 2015. Behind short term The brand's products began to be in high demand among users. This success is explained by the fact that each smartphone in the Wileyfox family has received the qualities and properties most in demand on the market. First, all models have a stylish modern design. Secondly, each device supports working with two SIM cards and 4G LTE data networks. Third, each smartphone has excellent technical specifications. And the most important thing - price policy The company makes the devices as accessible as possible on the market. A striking example of this is the brand’s flagship model, the smartphone.
The smartphone received 3 GB random access memory and has 32 GB of internal memory. This volume is quite enough to install and run the most resource-intensive applications. The device supports work with microSDXC memory cards up to 128 GB. This means you won’t have problems with running out of space to store photos, videos, music and other data. If desired, you can also use the device as a navigator - the appropriate modules are installed in it, and a high-speed memory card can accommodate a huge number of maps downloaded for the application along the entire route.
The model received a high-quality 5.2-inch Full HD IPS display. Originality of style and attractive design model is emphasized by slightly rounded 2.5D edges of the screen. The smartphone demonstrates high performance, which is provided by the powerful modern Cortex A53 MPcore chipset. Also worth noting high quality photos and videos that can be taken with a 16-megapixel camera. Selfie lovers and users who prefer to communicate via video calls will appreciate the 8-megapixel front camera.
It is worth dwelling on such advantages of Wileyfox Swift 2 X as the ability to work with two SIM cards. Considering that you can use any slot to connect to high-speed 4G Internet, this is very convenient. In one slot there is a SIM card for voice services, in the other - for mobile internet. This will allow you to choose the optimal tariffs from mobile operators and save while getting quality services. At the same time, you can use any SIM card to access the Internet by simply assigning the desired slot in the menu. We also note support for such modern technologies as the fingerprint method of unlocking the device and NFC support (this technology is used for synchronization with accessories and payments using a smartphone).
And most big advantage- price. The cost of Wileyfox Swift 2 X when ordering on the official website is only 12,990 rubles.
Conclusion
Now you know the differences between memory cards used in mobile gadgets. In addition, you can now choose the right memory card for your smartphone so as not to reduce the performance and speed of the device. And most importantly, we told you that today on the market you can buy a powerful, modern, productive smartphone at an extremely attractive price.
MicroSD memory cards are the simplest and most convenient way add additional space for your files on your Android smartphone or tablet. You can easily upload photos, videos and music to external card, thereby freeing precious inner space for important applications.
Some phones even allow you to use memory cards to install applications on the SD drive. The microSD standard has been around longer than Android, and not all memory cards work equally well with smartphones. This selection contains only the best microSD cards for your phone, which will not slow down or cause lag on the device.
One of the coolest microSD cards from Samsung. In fact, this is the most expensive memory in our ranking. True, for the price of $150 you get the highest possible performance, speed and capacity. The write speed of the Samsung EVO (256 GB) is 90 MB/s, and the read speed of information is 95 MB/s.
These power figures will last you a long time, and this card will be especially useful if you shoot a lot of 4K video on your smartphone. This memory is also protected from moisture, magnetic and other types of radiation.
If you are looking for a good and productive microSD memory card for your Android smartphone, but you don’t want to spend more than $100 on such a purchase, pay attention to the Samsung EVO Select 128 GB.
This card offers quite a lot of memory with excellent performance and speed: 100 Mbps and 90 Mbps for writing and reading information. EVO Select costs approximately $50-60, depending on the store, and is the most balanced additional memory for a smartphone or tablet.
If speed is more important to you than memory, then take a look at the Lexar Professional card. The stated reading speed from this microSD card is 150 Mbit/s, and the built-in storage capacity is 32 GB. This flash drive also supports UHS-II for writing and reading and costs approximately $30-35 in popular stores. Another nice bonus of this memory card is the included USB adapter for PC. With it, transferring data to a computer will be much faster and more convenient.
This memory card won't break your budget too much and is priced around $40-$50. At the same time, SanDisk Extreme Pro offers 64 GB of memory, which is enough in most cases and has good performance. For example, the write speed is 90 Mbit/s, and the read speed is 95 Mbit/s.
This memory card comes with a complete full SD adapter, so it can be used not only with your smartphone, but also with a camera.
Please be aware that the latest memory card formats may not work with older devices. For example, if a mobile phone supports the microSD format, then high-speed microSDXC may not work with it (to clarify the issue, you need to look at the phone’s documentation).
In a device with a slot for a large SD card, if necessary, you can also use microSD with a special adapter. Most manufacturers offer such an adapter bundled with the card.
Memory
The capacity of the memory card determines how many photos, music, videos and other information the user can record and store. For example, an 8GB card can hold approximately 1,400 6MP photos or 21 minutes of Full HD video or 1,000 songs.
Recording speed
The most important characteristic memory cards - the speed at which the card is capable of receiving and recording information. You won't be able to record Full HD video or burst photos on a slow card. The video recording will be cut off and slow down, and the camera will not be able to quickly record all the frames. So, for HD video you will need a memory card with a recording speed of 4 MB/s, for Full HD - or 10 MB/s. For burst shooting, 3D video, shooting and saving photos in RAW format, the card's write speed must be at least 10 MB/s. For 2K and 4K video you need a card with a speed of 30 Mb/s.
MicroSD cards have a standard classification of recording speed classes - from Class 4 (speed 4 Mb/s) to Class 10 (10 Mb/s). Higher-speed cards are labeled UHS with a different speed classification; in this case, it is better to focus not on the class, but on the speed indicator, which is usually indicated on the card itself or packaging. CF format cards also use their own speed markings. The recording speed can be measured in hundreds of MB. For example, a card with a data transfer speed of 1000x can have a write speed of up to 150 MB/s (1x is taken to be 150 kb/s).
Other characteristics
Information on a memory card is stored in cells that “wear out” during repeated rewriting and formatting. On average, modern maps memory resource ranges from 10,000 to 1,000,000 rewrite cycles. But in real world this figure may be significantly less - it depends on the operating conditions and many other factors, for example, on the card’s resistance to impact external environment. Therefore, when choosing a card, it would be useful to pay attention to such characteristics as moisture resistance, heat resistance, shock resistance, etc.
A reference article based on the author's expertise.
The internal storage of modern smartphones has grown significantly in volume, but the option of expanding memory using microSD cards is still in demand. There are a great variety of memory cards on the market, and choosing the right one is more difficult than it seems at first glance. Let's figure out which ones are best suited for a smartphone.
To choose the right memory card, you should focus on the following characteristics:
- Manufacturer;
- Volume;
- Standard;
- Class.
In addition, the technologies that your smartphone supports are also important: not every device will be able to recognize and use a microSD with a capacity of 64 GB or higher. Let's take a closer look at these features.
Memory card manufacturers
The rule “expensive does not always mean high quality” also applies to memory cards. However, as practice shows, purchasing an SD card from a reputable brand reduces the likelihood of running into defects or various kinds of compatibility problems. The main players in this market are Samsung, SanDisk, Kingston and Transcend. Let's briefly look at their features.
Samsung
Korean corporation produces different types consumer electronics, including memory cards. It can be called a newcomer to this market (it has been producing SD cards since 2014), but despite this, its products are famous for their reliability and quality.
MicroSD from Samsung are available in series Standard, Evo And Pro(the last two have improved options with the index «+» ), for the convenience of users are marked different colors. It goes without saying that options are available in different classes, capacities and standards. The characteristics can be found on the official website.
There are also some drawbacks, and the main one is the price. Samsung memory cards cost 1.5 or even 2 times more than competitors. In addition, sometimes the cards of the Korean corporation are not recognized by some smartphones.
SanDisk
This company founded the SD and microSD standards, so all the latest developments in this area are the authorship of its employees. SanDisk is currently the leader in production volumes and available selection of cards.
SanDisk's range is truly extensive - from the now familiar memory cards with a capacity of 32 GB to the seemingly incredible cards of 400 GB. Naturally, there are different specifications for different needs.
As with Samsung, SanDisk cards may seem too expensive for the average user. However, this manufacturer has established itself as the most reliable of all existing ones.
Kingston
This American company (full name Kingston Technology) is the second in the world in the production of USB drives, and the third in memory cards. Kingston products are generally seen as a more affordable alternative to SanDisk solutions, and in some cases even superior to the latter.
The Kingston memory card lineup is constantly updated, offering new standards and capacities.
In terms of technology, however, Kingston is in a catching-up position, so this can be attributed to the disadvantages of this company’s cards.
Transcend
The Taiwanese giant produces a variety of digital storage solutions, and was one of the first Asian manufacturers to enter the memory card market. In addition, microSD from this manufacturer are very popular in the CIS due to their loyal pricing policy.
It’s interesting that Transcend provide a lifetime warranty on their products (with some caveats, of course). The choice of these products is very, very rich.
Alas, but main drawback memory cards from this manufacturer - low reliability in comparison with the brands mentioned above.
We also note that there are many other companies that produce microSDs on the market, however, when choosing their products, you should be careful: there is a risk of running into a product of dubious quality that will not last even a week.
Memory card capacity
The most common memory card sizes today are 16, 32 and 64 GB. Of course, cards of smaller capacity are also present, as well as the seemingly incredible 1 TB microSD, but the former are gradually losing relevance, and the latter are still too expensive and compatible only with some devices.
- A 16 GB card is suitable for users whose smartphones have a large capacity internal memory, and microSD is needed only as an addition for important files.
- A 32 GB memory card is enough for all needs: it can accommodate movies, a music library in lossy quality and photos, as well as cache from games or.
- MicroSD with a capacity of 64 GB and higher is worth choosing for those who like to listen to music in lossless formats or record wide-screen video.
Note! Large storage drives also require support from your smartphone, so be sure to re-read the device specifications before purchasing!
Memory card standard
Most modern memory cards operate according to the SDHC and SDXC standards, which stands for SD High Capacity and SD Extended Capacity, respectively. In the first standard, the maximum capacity of cards is 32 GB, in the second – 2 TB. Finding out what microSD standard is very simple - it is marked on its body. 
The SDHC standard has been and remains dominant on most smartphones. SDXC is now supported mainly by expensive flagship devices, although there is a tendency for this technology to appear on devices in the middle and lower price ranges.
As we have already mentioned, optimal for modern use are cards with a capacity of 32 GB, which corresponds to the upper limit of SDHC. If you want to purchase a larger capacity drive, make sure that your device is compatible with SDXC.
Memory card class
The available speed of reading and writing data depends on the class of the memory card. Like the standard, the class of the SD card is indicated on the case. 
Relevant today among them are:
- Class 4 (4 Mb/s);
- Class 6 (6 Mb/s);
- Class 10 (10 Mb/s);
- Class 16 (16 Mb/s).
They stand apart newest classes– UHS 1 and 3, but so far only a few smartphones support them, and we will not dwell on them in detail.
In practice, this parameter means that the memory card is suitable for quickly recording data - for example, when shooting video in FullHD resolution and higher. The class of the memory card is also important for those interested - Class 10 is preferred for this purpose.
conclusions
Summarizing the above, we can draw the following conclusion. The best option today for everyday use would be a microSD with a capacity of 16 or 32 GB of the SDHC Class 10 standard, preferably from a large manufacturer with a good reputation. For specific tasks, select drives of suitable capacity or data transfer speed.