Saturday, April 20, 2024

You don’t need a large amount of space for your Pi 3 B+

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The Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ is the final iteration of the Pi 3 series, and sports great features like 5GHz wireless, Gigabit ethernet, full-size HDMI, and 4 USB 2.0 ports. Plus, there is a microSD card slot that allows you to vastly expand the base storage that is included. For that, we have found the best SD cards that you can use with the Pi 3 B+ to get the most out of this awesome piece of technology.

Getting started

SanDisk Ultra 32GB microSDHC Card

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Staff Pick

This 32GB card is plenty for whatever OS you install on the Raspberry Pi, with some space left over for games, programming environments, and whatever else you want. If you intend to install a lot of games, though you may be better served with a higher capacity card.

$9 at Amazon

All the storage

Samsung EVO Select 512GB MicroSDXC Card

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This is the card you’ll want if you need to store a lot of movie files and more thanks to its 512GB capacity. The EVO Select comes with up to 100MB/s read speeds and 90MB/s write speeds and the card itself is shockproof, water-resistant, x-ray proof, and comes with a 10-year limited warranty.

$80 at Amazon

A step up

SanDisk Extreme PRO 32GB microSDHC Card

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If you want to use your Pi for a critical application or gaming, it’s worth getting the fastest card you can. This is the fastest card we could find with 32GB of storage, and it’ll be perfect for the rest of your projects.

$14 at Amazon

Even faster

Samsung EVO Select 64GB MicroSDXC Card

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If you’re going to use your Raspberry Pi for gaming or as a desktop computer, more space is always better. This 64GB card is more than fast enough to not slow your Raspberry Pi down, and it’s only a few dollars more than the 32GB version.

$12 at Amazon

Great speeds

Silicon Power 128GB Superior Pro MicroSD Card

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The Silicon Power Superior Pro card sports read and write speeds of 100/80 MB/s and is compatible with much more than just the Raspberry Pi. Plus, Silicon Power also includes a 5-year limited warranty on its memory cards.

$15 at Amazon

Smooth experience

PNY Elite Class 10 64GB MicroSDXC Card

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If you’re going to use the Raspberry Pi as a desktop computer or as a game console, you’ll need as much space as you can get for programs and games. This 64GB card is only a little more expensive than the 32GB option but offers twice as much storage. This card is a little faster to read from than the Samsung card above, so it may lead to a smoother experience.

$13 at Amazon

Solid and reliable

Patriot EP 128GB MicroSD Card

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Patriot Memory offers some of the more reliable microSD cards on the market, and the same sentiment rings true for the Patriot EP Card. This 128GB microSD card is more than capable of storing your OS and everything else for the Raspberry Pi.

$21 at Amazon

Step things up

Lexar 633X 256GB MicroSDXC Card

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When it comes to stepping up the storage, you can’t go wrong with the Lexar 633X microSD card. As for speeds, you’ll get transfer speeds of 95MB/s with this Class 10 card, and there is also a standard SD adapter if you need to transfer files from your PC.

$30 at Amazon

Solid starter

Kingston Canvas Select 64GB MicroSDHC Card

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Kingston’s Canvas Select offers a decent amount of space, depending on exactly what you’re using it for. This card is a good bit slower than the previous one from SanDisk, but if you want to spend as little as possible on your Pi build, it may work well enough for your project.

$8 at Amazon

Almost the biggest

SanDisk Ultra 400GB MicroSDXC Card

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SanDisk is helping to lead the industry of more storage in a compact form-factor, and the Ultra 400GB card is a great example. In addition to pushing the limits of storage capacity, this card offers up to 100MB/s transfer speeds, and there is a 10-year limited warranty included.

$57 at Retailer

Which should you buy?

A storage capacity of 32GB isn’t a lot for our phones, but it’s more than plentiful for the Raspberry Pi 3 B+. You’ll easily have enough space to use the Raspberry Pi as a print server, a VPN, media center, or even as a full desktop with the SanDisk Ultra 32GB card. At an incredibly affordable price, there’s really no reason to go any lower. You can get a bigger card — or a smaller one — but the 32GB card is a nice sweet spot.

But for those who really want the most amount of storage, then you’ll want to swing for Samsung’s EVO Select 512GB microSD card. The card offers fast read and write speeds, while also being shockproof, water-resistant, and even X-Ray proof. Plus, Samsung includes a 10-year limited warranty if something goes awry with your Raspberry Pi.

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