A microSD card lets you easily move your files, photos, and music from device to device without having to rely on steady Wi-Fi or costly data. It also helps if you like to load your phone up with apps. These are the best microSD cards you can buy.
All-around winner
Samsung EVO Select
Our pick
Samsung’s high-performance Evo Select is the perfect blend of fast read and write speeds (100MB/s and 90MB/s, respectively) and affordability, with the 256GB card costing only $45 on Amazon. This card comes with a full-size SD adapter, and its high class means it can handle all types of media, including 4K video.
$45 at Amazon
Speed demon
Lexar Professional 1000x
If speed is of utmost importance to you because you’re constantly shooting high-def video or whatever, then this is the card you want. It has transfer speeds of up to 150MB/s, meaning it can hand 4K and even 3D video, as well as all the high-res images and music you can throw at it. It’s pricey, but worth it for performance alone.
$69 at Amazon
Solid performance
SanDisk Extreme
The SanDisk Extreme has blazing fast read speeds of up to 160MB/s (in certain scenarios) and write speeds of up to 90MB/s, capable of handling 4K video, high-res photos, and large files without issue. For $150, you can even get a 400GB version if you need performance and all the storage.
$30 at Amazon
Budget pick
Silicon Power Elite
If simple storage is what you need and price is your biggest motivator, then the Silicon Power Elite card should be enough. It’s still a Class 10 card, so it can handle HD video (albeit somewhat slowly), but the best thing about it is that you can get a 128GB version for $17.
$17 at Amazon
SanDisk silver medal
SanDisk Ultra
SanDisk’s Ultra series isn’t as high-performance as the Extreme, but its 100MB/s transfer speeds are still adequate, and you can get a 200GB card for only $40. Since this is a U1 class card, it can’t really handle 4K video expediently, but 1080p is more than fine.
$40 at Amazon
Also great
Samsung EVO
Affordable and with solid performance, the Samsung EVO card is perfect for the casual users who just want to store their physical music and some files. It has read speeds of up to 100MB/s and write speeds of up to 60MB/s, with Samsung’s 10-year warranty in case anything goes wrong.
$15 at Amazon
Your Android phone’s onboard storage may be enough for you, but if you want to easily take music, photos, videos, and files from phone to phone with you, then a microSD card is a great option. And if you regularly fill up your phone’s storage with apps, a card can help take some of that weight. For all intents and purposes, the Samsung EVO Select is the best microSD card for most people.
