How to Choose the Right MicroSD Card for your Android?

| Updated on March 1, 2024

Nowadays, the fashion of using a MicroSD card is fading away. Yet, not many people can afford the flagship smartphones with substantial internal memory, so for them, choosing the best and right MicroSD card becomes an important decision to take. Everyone needs extra storage space to store their memories, apps, music, and documents, so the cheapest way is to buy a MicroSD card. But, the performance of your MicroSD card depends on many factors. So, we have specially created a guide for you so you can be more informed before purchasing your next SD card.

Capacity

Nowadays, most of the time, you will find two types of Micro SD cards (SDHC and SDXC). The difference between SDHC and SDXC is how much capacity/storage they provide. SDHC is Secure Digital High Capacity, while the SDXC is Secure Digital Extended.

SDHC cards have the capacity from  2GB to 32GB, while an SDXC card goes from 32GB up to 2TB. From the name also we get to know that SDXC is more powerful or has more capacity than the SDHC. Now, you may think that it’s better to buy an SDXC card for your device but wait, first check your device storage capacity. The storage capacity varies from device to device as many older devices aren’t compatible with higher-capacity SD cards. So make sure you do your research before buying one.

Speed

After you have finally figured out the maximum capacity your smartphone is compatible with now is the time to research upon the maximum write speed your MicroSD can attain for that just keep on reading the post.

The class determines the speed of the card; it means how quickly it can write data. Most of the latest mobile devices support three classes of primary speed (Class 10, UHS-1 Class 1, and UHS-1 Class 3).

UHS is a short form of Ultra High Speed that currently has two types of bus (I and II) for determining the maximum speed of the card. UHS-2 Cards are being manufactured, but only some smartphones support them. Always make sure that the capacity and speed of SD cards are compatible with your device before buying one.

As we know that the speed and capacity are not directly related, so any of the microSDHC and microSDXC cards can be compatible with these classes. You can even find the maximum write speed on the package, but only some manufacturers provide this kind of information.

Here are the minimum set of data/speed and for each class to help you choose the right MicroSD card:

ClassMinimum SpeedUsage
Class 1010MB/s1080p Images, and 720p Video Recordings.
UHS-1 Class 110MB/s1080p Video Recordings, 1080p Images.
UHS-1 Class 330MB/s4K Video Recordings.

Apart from these also there are other classes of SD cards available in the market which are listed below:

ClassMinimum Speed
22MB/s
44MB/s
66MB/s
88MB/s
1010MB/s

Recover Data from MicroSD Card

Though, if you have a MicroSD card but due to some unforeseeable reasons your data has been deleted, and you want to recover it, then you can follow the below-mentioned methods:

There are many free programs available on the internet that claim Micro SD card data recovery.

But there is a drawback too that when using this software, there is no guarantee that you will get your data recovered. Generally, it happens that you lose the original file name, which could be a problem for some people. Still, you can always rename them back again though yes it is time-consuming at least you are recovering your deleted data!

Some free recovery programs are limited to the number of files or amount of data that they can recover, so look for limits before downloading.

 

Some options that can be used to recover the deleted files are mentioned below:

  • Recuva
  • Disk Digger
  • ZAR(Zero Assumption Recovery)

Most programs work similarly, but these instructions will give you an overview of how to use them. We have provided a guide on how to use ZAR (Zero Assumption Recovery).

  • Install ZAR and insert the damaged SD card in the card reader of your PC.
  •  Launch ZAR.
  • When prompted, click the Image Recovery option (Available on the Free version). This will help you recover photos from your MicroSD card.
  • ZAR will now search for devices that are installed, and you must select the SD card.
  • Select the correct disk and click Next. ZAR will now scan your SD card. It will take a few minutes.
  • Once this is complete, you will see a list of recovered files. 

Click Next, and you can then select the folder where recovered files will be placed. By default, this will be the same as the folder you have chosen to save.

 

It will take several minutes for the files to copy. Once this is complete browse to the destination folder selected. You should find most if not all of the files you had lost.

They may have lost their file names, so you may have additional work to rename – this could include adding a file extension so that Windows appropriately recognizes them.

Verdict

Choosing the right MicroSD card that is compatible with your phone and is best according to your needs is quite tricky, but we have tried our best to make these life decisions easier for you with our guide. You can always buy MicroSD cards from your nearest digital stores or online. Though, if you have a MicroSD card and want to recover data then also we have added the guide in this post itself with the full tutorial of the software which might be helpful for you to recover your essential data.


Chitra Joshi

Content Writer & Marketer


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