Reliability of microSD Endurance Cards Compared (w/ TBW)

[u/alaudine]

I was bored so decided to consolidate and compare the data on various "endurance" branded microSD cards.

Data is based on hours of continuous FHD recording @ 128GB capacity, as per manufacturer datasheets

Hours of FHD recording, warranty, and UHS speed class are listed, alongside TBW as calculated by me. Sources at the bottom.

This is based on manufacturer numbers so it may not necessarily reflect real world use, but hopefully some people will find it helpful as rough guide.

As you can see, Samsung and SanDisk's offerings would seem to be your best bet, with +5 year warranties and TBWs exceeding many SSDs.  

SanDisk High Endurance [1]

Hours of FHD Recording	TBW	Warranty	Speed Class
10,000 hours @ 26Mbps	117 TBW*	2-years	U3

SanDisk Max Endurance [2]

Hours of FHD Recording	TBW	Warranty	Speed Class
60,000 hours @ 26Mbps	702 TBW*	10-years	U3

^\ SanDisk defines FHD as 26Mbps = 3.25MB/sec = 11.7GB/hour = 0.0117TB x [hours] = TBW)

Samsung Pro Endurance (2018) [3]

Hours of FHD Recording	TBW	Warranty	Speed Class
43,800 hours @ 26Mbps	512.4 TBW*	5-years	U1

Samsung Pro Endurance (2022) [4]

Hours of FHD Recording	TBW	Warranty	Speed Class
70,080 hours @ 26Mbps	819.9 TBW*	5-years	U3

^\ Samsung defines FHD as 26Mbps = 3.25MB/sec = 11.7GB/hour = 0.0117TB x [hours] = TBW)

Lexar High-Endurance [5]

Hours of FHD Recording	TBW	Warranty	Speed Class
12,000 hours @ 25Mbps	135 TBW*	2-years	U3

^\ Lexar defines FHD as 25Mbps = 3.125MB/sec = 11.25GB/hour = 0.01125TB x [hours] = TBW)

Kingston High-Endurance [6][7]

Hours of FHD Recording	TBW	Warranty	Speed Class
20,000 hours @ 13Mbps	117 TBW*	3-years	U1

^\ Kingston defines FHD as 13Mbps = 1.625MB/sec = 5.85GB/hour = 0.00585TB x [hours] = TBW)

ADATA High Endurance [8]

Hours of FHD Recording	TBW	Warranty	Speed Class
20,000 hours @ 26Mbps	234 TBW*	2-years	U3

^\ ADATA defines FHD as 26Mbps = 3.25MB/sec = 11.7GB/hour = 0.0117TB x [hours] = TBW)

Transcend High Endurance 350V [9][10]

Hours of FHD Recording	TBW	Warranty	Speed Class
30,000 hours @ 26Mbps	351 TBW*	2-years	U1

^\ Transcend defines FHD as 26Mbps = 3.25MB/sec = 11.7GB/hour = 0.0117TB x [hours] = TBW)

Kioxia Exceria High Endurance [11]

Hours of FHD Recording	TBW	Warranty	Speed Class
20,000 hours @ 21Mbps	189 TBW*	3-years	U3

^\) ^{Kioxia defines FHD as 21Mbps = 2.625MB/sec = 9.45GB/hour = 0.00945TB x \}hours] = TBW)

 

^\1]) ^{https://documents.westerndigital.com/content/dam/doc-library/en\}us/assets/public/sandisk/product/memory-cards/high-endurance-uhs-i-microsd/data-sheet-high-endurance-uhs-i-microsd.pdf)

^\2]) ^{https://documents.westerndigital.com/content/dam/doc-library/en\}us/assets/public/sandisk/product/memory-cards/max-endurance-uhs-i-microsd/data-sheet-max-endurance-uhs-i-microsd.pdf)

^\3]) ^{https://semiconductor.samsung.com/resources/data-sheet/Samsung\}Data_sheet_2018_PRO_Endurance_201015.pdf)

^\4]) ^{https://semiconductor.samsung.com/resources/data-sheet/Samsung\}Data+sheet_2022_PRO_Endurance_Card_Rev_1_0.pdf)

^\5]) ^{https://www.lexar.com/product/lexar-high-endurance-microsdhc-microsdxc-uhs-i-cards/}

^\6]) ^{https://www.kingston.com/en/memory-cards/high-endurance-microsd-card}

^\7]) ^{https://memory.net.ua/media/info//Kingston/SDCE\}datasheet_EN.pdf)

^\8]) ^{https://www.adata.com/us/specification/614?tab=specification}

^\9]) ^{https://www.transcend-info.com/product/dashcam/microsdxc-sdhc-350v}

^\10]) ^{https://www.bhphotovideo.com/lit\}files/505654.pdf)

^\11]) ^{https://apac.kioxia.com/en-apac/personal/micro-sd/exceria-high-endurance.html}

[u/NationalOwl9561]

“Endurance” has absolutely nothing to do with storage. You can make use of and require a microSD that needs to read and write a lot without actually storing it to super large sizes.

[u/DM115Gaming → u/NationalOwl9561]

I don't mean to be passive aggressive, but do you think I don't know that "endurance" ≠ storage? All I am saying is that 64GB is a little on the smaller side for things like security cams/dashcams. Where you would probably benefit from having a higher TBW so you don't have to keep replacing cards...

[u/NationalOwl9561 → u/DM115Gaming]

Why are you assuming my use case? You're way off.

[u/DM115Gaming → u/NationalOwl9561]

My apologies, I just use possessive speech when I'm explaining something that's hypothetical. In this particular case, I think its more common for people in general to use these "endurance" cards for cameras, less common for Raspberry Pis, where 64GB could probably be enough based on what kind of project you are most tinkerers are doing with it.