"Best" microSD card for the Lumia 950 XL

[Citizen X]

Just wanted to start a thread where people could post knowledge and experience. As we all know the 950 XL will work with the largest capacity cards available today. The problem though is those high capacity cards tend to be relatively slow to write to. I know with cameras this can present problems when recording 4k movies or doing burst mode photography. Having said that the write speed of the card is not the only factor. The other major concern is how fast the device itself can output the data to be written. It is not at all clear that the 950 XL is capable of taking advantage of the super fast cards. I have a Sandisk Extreme 64 GB microSD card in my 1520. Does the extra write speed capacity help? I don't know. There is no way to directly measure the phone's write speed.

If anyone has any light to shed on this issue please post.

 

[tale 85]

I've been looking into faster SD cards for a while. From SanDisk it would be the Extreme or Extreme Pro. The Pro has write/read speeds in the 90's. And they do have a 200G out now.
My other choice would be the PNY Turbo Performance, again speeds in the 90's
Can't give you any experience with either but the higher speeds just make sense.

Edit: This article might help both of us.
http://mobile.pcmag.com/reviews/502...hc-slash-sdxc-uhs-i-64gb-memory-card?origref=

 

[imnotevenhererightnow]

My only reasoning was that I have zero intention of recording in 4K. As such, I bought a 64GB Samsung EVO+ (the new one). It's plenty fast enough for write speeds and considering I'm mainly putting music and movies on the SD card, I'll be fine. I expect that for video/photos/apps, it'll mostly be on the internal storage.

 

[PepperdotNet]

Since the last phone I had that took SDcards was a flip phone, I imagine I'll get by with whatever is lying around until you guys come up with a recommendation. I've never filled up my previous 32GB devices so it's not a big hurry.

 

[Jonnny4]

You will only need it if you are recording 4k video, which I was, and I bought a Lexar performance 633x card.

 

[batab]

if you want a good 128gb microsd you can get lexar 633x while if you want an even faster card switch for a 64gb sandisk extreme pro or sandisk extreme plus. These cards still afford good sequential speed and in particular for the two sandisk i mentioned they also reach nice random speeds.

If you want Lumia 950 XL to be extremely responsive, the best cards are for sure the two aforementioned Sandisk because of the high speed they offer in every scenario. Be aware though, that even Lexar 633x and the Samsung EVO+ are very fast compared to lower quality microSDs.

TLDR: if you want the best go for sandisk extreme pro or plus, if you want a fast card with better value for money go for lexar 633x or Samsung EVO+. Also Samsung and Lexar have a 128gb version while sandisk extreme stops at 64gb.

PS: unfortunately i have no review to link (didn't save the link and have no time to search) but i based these considerations on benchmarks i found via google

 

[dmmontal]

I was wondering about Micro SD's myself ever since I read WC's article on the subject yesterday - glad I found this thread, and thanks for posting. In my case I'm looking to upgrade from the 64GB SanDisk Extreme Plus I use in my Lumia 1520 to something with at least 128GB+ of storage (I have a lot of music and take lots of photos/videos). I'm currently trying to decide between:

SanDisk Ultra SD - 200GB
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00V62XBQ...ag=hawk-future-20&ascsubtag=UUwpUvbUpU3297128

Lexar 633x 128GB (I believe this is the one batab mentions above)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00O1M21H...ag=hawk-future-20&ascsubtag=UUwpUvbUpU3297128

I'm trying to consider various factors such as cost (the SanDisk is considerably more expensive, though not prohibitively so), as well as write-speed (I do plan on shooting a bit of 4K video hopefully and would like to avoid recording stutter). I'm not really experienced enough to clearly see some of the more technical differences between the two cards, and it's made trickier in that both listings do not state expected write-speeds (I've looked in the reviews and see a lot of varying results). Any advice here? Suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[CaptainLumia]

I do a lot of high end photography and HD video shooting, so I've got a few tidbits of advice:

1. Only buy from reputable retailers, the marketplace is full of counterfeit cards. If buying from Amazon, make sure you are not buying from a third party selling through Amazon.

2. Only buy name brand media, even from reputable retailers. I bought some 'Amazon Basics' branded cards that were just absolute garbage.

3. After buying your media go on the media manufacturer's website and double check the serial to ensure it's authentic and register for warranty.

4. Benchmark your media using something like CrystalDiskMark to ensure you're getting full speeds. Even the best manufacturers will have an occasional bad batch or a lemon.

5. Having said that: I highly recommend Transcend branded products. They have always met or exceeded the benchmark tests and their price point is right down the middle.

 

[Tempest790]

Is there a good way to test the SD card while it's in the phone? I found one app in the mobile store but it didn't seem to work on the 950.

I have the Lexar 1000x micro sd card 64GB.

 

[batab]

correct me if i'm wrong but that Lexar is UHS-II which shouldn't be supported by L950 and so it will be as fast as UHS-I cards.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

correct me if i'm wrong but that Lexar is UHS-II which shouldn't be supported by L950 and so it will be as fast as UHS-I cards.

I think that's right. But while there isn't anything going on in the phone that needs UHS-II, it might matter to some users when they pop the card out to copy things to and from another device.

 

[Citizen X]

Is there a good way to test the SD card while it's in the phone? I found one app in the mobile store but it didn't seem to work on the 950.

I have the Lexar 1000x micro sd card 64GB.

I don't know about the 950 XL but there was no way to test the phone write speed on the Lumia 1520. I think the problem is you couldn't bypass the buffers or some technospeak like that.

 

[Citizen X]

I do a lot of high end photography and HD video shooting, so I've got a few tidbits of advice:

1. Only buy from reputable retailers, the marketplace is full of counterfeit cards. If buying from Amazon, make sure you are not buying from a third party selling through Amazon.

2. Only buy name brand media, even from reputable retailers. I bought some 'Amazon Basics' branded cards that were just absolute garbage.

I 100% agree with this post. Do NOT buy used or refurbished memory cards. Do NOT buy cards from anyone but major trusted retailers. Card counterfeiting is big business. There are numerous reports of it on the internet. And research each brand of card before purchasing. Only the top tier manufactures consistently put out cards that hit their rated speeds in my experience.

And a correction I own a Sandisk Extreme Plus. I forget what it is rated at. When I pull it out of my phone it is pretty zippy to copy files off of it even on USB 2 so from that point of view it was worth it. I have no idea if it was worth it for picture and video recording and access. I would need to know more about the 1520s bus speeds.

 

[anon(8966963)]

Best Micro SD to use in the 950 XL

Can anyone recommend a fast 128GB micro SD to use in the 950XL?

 

[badMojo69]

Re: Best Micro SD to use in the 950 XL

If you go to the home page WC did an article on them a week or two ago.
I dont have the link in front of me, but just scroll down on the home page and you'll find it. If I find the link I'll post it.

Here it is:
http://www.windowscentral.com/lumia...=slider&utm_campaign=navigation&utm_source=wp

 

[Allen Rhodes]

Re: Best Micro SD to use in the 950 XL

"Fast" is relative. The differences are all seconds, just go buy one. And why not max the storage if you are going to get a 128?

 

[badMojo69]

Re: Best Micro SD to use in the 950 XL

Well it's all seconds until you try to transfer gigs of data. It took me over an hour to get all of my stuff moved from my PC to my phone. That sucked, so a new "fast" card was what I ordered.

The XL had issues with my card, so I had to move everything to my PC, format the card and then move it back. Something odd I noticed was that every time the I let the display go to the lock screen my file copy would fail.

 

[James Maliki]

Re: Best Micro SD to use in the 950 XL

I got the Sandisk Ultra Pro 128 gb MicroSD card from BestBuy for 69.99 instead of 179.99! That was on Monday, hopefully the sale extended to today.

 

[robertre]

Re: Best Micro SD to use in the 950 XL

I picked the Samsung Evo Pro for mine. I had issues with some early builds of Windows 10 on my 640, where it would often not recognize my micro SD with a Sandisk. I know there were lots of bugs in early builds that would cause that. but when I switched to a Samsung, I had less issues, and as builds improved, I never had any issues. The Pro is faster than the standard EVO cards. I think I paid $30 for mine on sale at Best Buy, a little more than the non pro version, but I wanted the fastest, just in case. I have most of my apps installed on the SD, and the phone is nice and snappy. I have uses Sandisk on other WIndows devices with no issues at all, so maybe it was just the buggy versions of the insider builds, but I have had great luck with Samsung micro SD's and SSD's.

 

[imnotevenhererightnow]

Re: Best Micro SD to use in the 950 XL

I'm using the 64GB version of the Samsung EVO+ (the newer red/white one) without any issues at all. Moved about 30GB of music onto it in 20 minutes or so? I should've timed it, but it has been perfectly fine so far.