This guy tested 200 microSD cards, destroying 51 in the process - but I don't understand why he didn't test more 1TB memory cards

Date:
Fri, 04 Jul 2025 18:32:00 +0000

Description:
Massive microSD card test exposes fake storage claims, performance lies, and major endurance gaps across 200 models from various sellers.

FULL STORY ======================================================================MicroSD card survey tested 200 models to uncover fakes, performance gaps, and endurance failures Fake flash was common in cheap high-capacity cards, discarding data past true limits Name-brand cards generally outperformed off-brand models in speed, reliability, and total write endurance

One man has taken the task of testing microSD cards to a level most users would never entertain.

Over the course of a year, tech enthusiast Matt Cole bought and tested 200 different models, ranging from 8GB to 1TB, with a particular focus on identifying fakes, testing performance, and measuring durability.

Fifty-one of those cards failed during testing. Writing over 100TB of data
per day

Cole is the creator of The Great microSD Card Survey , a deep, evolving benchmark report (and a serious labor of love), that began in July 2023.

He built a testing rig with eight machines and nearly 70 card readers running continuously, writing over 100TB of data per day.

To date, the setup has written more than 18 petabytes of data to the cards under test conditions. Impressively, his entire effort is self-funded, although he does have an Amazon wishlist should anyone wish to buy him
further cards to test.

Coles goal was to understand how these tiny storage devices differ across brand, price, and origin.

One of his main goals is to identify fake flash, where a card tells the host device it has more storage than it really does.

A 1TB card might really only store 8GB. Once that real limit is reached, new data is silently lost. He also highlights skimpy flash, where a card is technically real, but provides less usable space than advertised, a common issue even among name-brand cards.

His survey doesnt stop at capacity. Cole also tested whether cards live up to their advertised speed class ratings, such as U1, U3, or V30.

He ran sequential and random I/O tests, then tracked endurance through repeated write and read cycles.

Some cards survived over 20,000 cycles, while others failed before reaching 500. Temperature monitoring was also part of the process, though its still unclear how much heat affects long-term performance.

Among the best microSD cards were the Kingston Canvas Go! Plus 64GB, PNY PRO Elite Prime 64GB, SanDisk Extreme 64GB, Delkin Devices HYPERSPEED 128GB, and Samsung EVO Plus 64GB.

These models performed well across multiple metrics and came close to advertised specs.

Coles blog includes charts and summaries to help buyers quickly find reliable options and its frankly a stunning piece of work. Hes not done yet either. Testing continues unabated, with more cards in queue, hopefully including
some of the largest capacity models. (Image credit: Matt Cole) More from TechRadar Pro We've rounded up the best microSD cards around And these are
the largest microSD cards First 2TB MicroSD card is now on sale and no, it is not expensive at all



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/pro/this-guy-tested-200-microsd-cards-destroying-51- in-the-process-but-i-dont-understand-why-he-didnt-test-more-1tb-memory-cards


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