Samsung Introduces SD Express MicroSD Cards with Up to 800 MB/s Speeds

Samsung has recently announced the introduction of the first microSD cards to support SD Express technology. This allows the microSD cards to achieve sequential read speeds up to 800 MB/s, a significant leap from the current UHS-II SD card speeds and surpassing even SATA SSD speeds. This advancement is attributed to the integration of PCI Express and NVMe interfaces with SD card technology, enabling SSD-like speeds on a removable format.

The SD Express standard, which was established in 2018, promised theoretical speeds up to 985 MB/s but has seen slow adoption till now. Until Samsung’s announcement, the market saw limited availability of SD Express cards, with ADATA offering the only full-sized SD Express cards with read/write speeds up to 800 MB/s and 700 MB/s, respectively, albeit at a premium price.

Samsung’s new SD Express microSD cards, starting with a 256GB model, are expected to hit the market later this year, though pricing details remain undisclosed. A notable feature of these cards includes Samsung’s Dynamic Thermal Guard (DTG) technology, designed to maintain optimal temperature during extended use, addressing the performance and thermal management challenges posed by SD Express technology.

However, the adoption of these high-speed microSD cards faces challenges, primarily due to the lack of devices currently supporting the SD Express standard. While they are backward compatible with older SD card readers, their speeds will be limited to 104 MB/s with UHS-I card readers, underlining the need for updated devices to fully leverage the potential of SD Express technology.

Samsung hints at ongoing collaborations aimed at developing custom products that support these advanced microSD cards, indicating potential future devices capable of harnessing their full speed capabilities, thus paving the way for a new era in mobile computing and on-device AI with high-performance, high-capacity storage solutions.

Source: Liliputing.