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We put several microSD cards through a range of tests to figure out which offer the best value for your storage needs.
Most microSD cards are fast enough for boosting storage space and making simple file transfers, but some provide a little more value than others. If you’ve got a device that still accepts microSD cards — whether it’s a gaming handheld, a dash cam, a drone or an Android tablet — we’ve scoured the market and put more than a dozen top contenders through a number of benchmark tests. You can find our top recommendations below, alongside some general shopping advice before you grab one.
Table of contents
Best microSD cards of 2025
Lexar Best microSD card for most people Lexar Professional Silver Plus Storage capacity: 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB | Speed classes: U3, V30, A2, Class 10 | Warranty: Lifetime limited A good UHS-I card is quick enough for most people’s needs, and the Lexar Professional Silver Plus is the best value of the ones we’ve tested. Paired with Lexar’s USB card reader, it consistently delivered faster sequential reads and writes than any other UHS-I model across our benchmark tests. It’s rated for read speeds up to 205 MB/s and write speeds up to 150 MB/s, both of which are relatively high to begin with, but we found the latter to reach into the 180-190 MB/s range in synthetic benchmarks like CrystalDiskMark, ATTO and AJA. Our 12GB test folder wrote to the card in 76 seconds on average, which was roughly 30 seconds quicker than the Samsung Pro Plus and Samsung Pro Ultimate, our two previous top picks. It effectively tied the Pro Ultimate to lead all UHS-I cards we’ve tried in reading that test file back to our PC. (That one averaged about 67 seconds, if you’re keeping score at home.) Both Samsung cards and a few others beat the Silver Plus in some random performance benchmarks, though it was still plenty competitive in that regard. Either way, it has all the requisite ratings — U3, V30, A2 — and it’s more than speedy enough for working with 4K videos or moving files between devices without major delays (so long as you have a reader and/or host device that can enable those max speeds). The card itself is waterproof with an IPX7 rating, and Lexar backs it with a lifetime warranty. Sizes range from 128GB to a spacious 1TB. The optional reader — which you can buy separately or as part of a bundle — is a bit large, but it conveniently includes both USB-A and USB-C ports, so you shouldn’t need any dongles to connect it to a phone or PC. What puts the Silver Plus over the top is its price. At the time of our latest update, a 128GB model was available for $14, while the 256GB, 512GB and 1TB variants were going for about $25, $40 and $85, respectively. Those aren’t the cheapest prices we’ve ever seen, and the math will change a bit if you need to factor in a card reader, but they either undercut or match competitors like the Pro Plus, Pro Ultimate or SanDisk Extreme despite the Silver Plus being the more performant card overall. So, to recap: It’s fast, it’s durable and it’s reasonably affordable. That’s the recipe for an easy recommendation. Pros Fastest sequential read/write performance of any UHS-I card we've tested
Cheaper than many slower alternatives
Has a 1TB option
Lifetime limited warranty Cons Needs USB reader to reach maximum speeds (as expected) $15 at Adorama Explore More Buying Options $15 at Amazon
Photo by Jeff Dunn / Engadget Another good option Samsung Pro Plus Storage capacity: 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB | Speed classes: U3, V30, A2, Class 10 | Warranty: 10-year limited Storage prices tend to fluctuate, however, and the Samsung Pro Plus — our former “best for most” pick — is still worth considering if you see it available for several dollars less than the Silver Plus in the capacity you want. Its sequential read and (especially) write performance was slower than Lexar’s card across the board but still on par with or better than every other UHS-I card we’ve tested. Random reads and writes were generally second to the pricier Samsung Pro Ultimate, so it’s well-suited for a portable game console or any other setup where it’d be asked to access tiny bits of data scattered throughout a device. It’s held up perfectly fine in our long-term testing as well. That said, the Silver Plus is the better card when it’s in the same price range, plus Samsung’s has a shorter 10-year warranty. If you do end up grabbing one, though, make sure you get the newest model with read speeds rated at 180MB/s. An older-generation model with slower sequential reads and random performance is still hanging around at some online retailers as of our latest update. Pros Quick sequential and random speeds
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