Samsung Sampling 256GB SD Express microSD Card with Up to 800MB/s Read Speed

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. announced that it has started sampling its 256GB ^[1] SD Express ^[2] microSD card with sequential read speed of up to 800MB/s and has commenced mass production of its 1TB ^[3] UHS-1 microSD card.

With the introduction of its next-gen microSD card line-up, it aims to provide differentiated memory solutions required for tomorrow’s mobile computing and on-device AI applications.

“With our 2 new microSD cards, Samsung has provided effective solutions to address the growing demands of mobile computing and on-device AI,” said Hangu Sohn, VP, memory brand product biz team. “Despite their tiny size, these memory cards deliver powerful SSD-like performance and capacity to help users get more out of demanding modern and future applications.”

Industry-first SD Express microSD card offers maximum speeds of 800MB/s
For the first time in the industry, the firm introduced a microSD card based on the SD Express interface. The development was the result of a successful collaboration with a customer to create a custom product.

Thanks to its low-power design as well as firmware technology optimized for high-performance and thermal management, the company’s SD Express microSD card offers performance equivalent to SSDs in a small form factor. While read speeds for traditional microSD cards based on the UHS-1 interface were limited to 104MB/s, SD Express was able to boost it to 985MB/s, although commercial availability of the latter were not viable in microSD cards until now.

The sequential read speed of the firm’s SD Express microSD card reaches up to 800MB/s — 1.4x faster than SATA SSDs (up to 560MB/s) and more than 4x faster compared to traditional UHS-1 memory cards (up to 200MB/s), allowing improved computing experiences in various applications, including PCs and mobile devices. To ensure stable performance and reliability for the small form factor, Dynamic Thermal Guard (DTG) technology maintains the optimum temperature for the SD Express microSD card, even during long usage sessions.

1TB UHS-1 microSD card with 1Tb V-NAND

The 1TB microSD card stacks 8 layers of the company’s 8th-gen 1Tb V-NAND within a microSD form factor, realizing the high-capacity package that used to be possible only in SSDs. It passes the industry’s test settings and offers reliable usage even in challenging environments, with features such as water protection, extreme temperature, drop-proof design, wear-out protection, as well as X-ray and magnetic protection ^[4].

The 256GB SD Express microSD card will be made available for purchase later this year, and the 1TB UHS-1 microSD card is set to launch within the 3Q24.

[1] 1GB = 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 SD 7.1 spec released in Feb. 2019), the theoretical transfer speed of an SD Express card is 985MB/s
[3] 1TB = 1,000,000,000,000 bytes (1 trillion bytes). Actual usable capacity may vary
[4] Samsung is not liable for any damages and/or loss of data or expenses incurred from memory card data recovery. The six proofs claimed is only applicable for 1TB UHS¬-1 microSD Card, not for 256GB SD Express microSD Card. 1M depth, salt water, 72hrs. Operating temperatures of -25℃ to 85℃ (-13°F to 185°F), non-operating temperatures of -40℃ to 85℃ (-40°F to 185°F). Withstands standard airport x-ray machines (Up to 100mGy). Magnetic field equivalent of a high-field MRI scanner (Up to 15,000 gauss). Withstand drops up to 5 meters (16.4 feet). Up to 10,000 swipes.