SanDisk Excessive Endurance evaluate: 20,000 hours of testing later, it is the microSD card to beat

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On Valentine’s Day, 2023, I obtained it into my head to check the long-term sturdiness of microSD playing cards. This concept got here to me after encountering failures in a number of Raspberry Pi tasks that concerned writing massive quantities of information to storage playing cards over prolonged intervals. 

I had a handful of SanDisk Excessive Endurance microSDXC playing cards, particularly designed for heavy use in sprint cams, physique cams, and residential safety cameras, so I made a decision to place them to the check.

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I grabbed three sprint cams I had mendacity round (yeah, that is the kind of stuff I’ve mendacity round my place), set them as much as level out a window into my backyard, related them to battery backups, and allow them to roll. 

And roll they did. Day and night time… spring, summer season, autumn, winter… for 3 years. 

SanDisk manufactures two strains of microSD playing cards particularly designed for intensive utilization in gadgets like sprint cams and safety cameras: the Excessive Endurance and Max Endurance playing cards. Because the title suggests, the Max Endurance playing cards are the last word alternative, promising a staggering 120,000 hours — roughly 13 years! — of steady recording. 

Testing these to their restrict was clearly out of the query, as I’d very properly be a ghost earlier than these playing cards put on out. However the Excessive Endurance playing cards, which the specs declare are good for as much as 40,000 hours for the most important 512GB card, posed a way more achievable problem. And since endurance scales linearly, the 256GB playing cards I examined are rated for less than 20,000 hours.

In spite of everything, 20,000 hours is simply — give me a second whereas I scribble some math on the again of a handy envelope — about two and 1 / 4 years.

So, my plan was easy: run the playing cards till they died. However here is the factor — they did not.

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The SanDisk Excessive Endurance playing cards turned out to be fairly spectacular. They’re rated Class 10, U3, and V30, which means they’ll deal with 4K video and boast sequential learn and write speeds of 100 MB/s and 40 MB/s, respectively. Whereas pace is not probably the most vital issue for looped video recording in cameras, it is nonetheless good to know these playing cards stay as much as their claims. 

These playing cards are additionally constructed to outlive rather a lot. They’re proof against drops, water immersion, and even X-rays. On high of that, they’re designed for excessive temperature swings, rated to deal with -13°F (-25°C) to 185°F (85°C) even throughout operation. Whether or not baking on a automotive dashboard or mounted on the aspect of a home, these playing cards can take it.

That is on high of their excessive endurance, made doable by SanDisk’s use of high-quality 3D TLC (Triple-Stage Cell) flash, which gives for much longer life (however slower learn/write speeds) than the usual TLC flash utilized in extra mainstream storage playing cards. 

Aspect be aware: Each time I discuss storage playing cards for cameras and point out that they are X-ray proof, somebody at all times asks why producers make such an oddly particular declare. The curiosity stems from the times of photographic movie, which was inclined to fogging or overexposure when handed by X-ray machines at airport safety. 

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Fortunately, trendy storage media like microSD playing cards are fully unaffected by X-rays, so there isn’t any want to fret about that anymore.

Anyway, the opposite day, I made a decision to drag the plug on the experiment. I estimate the playing cards have run for about 26,500 hours, all of them surpassing the rated 20,000 hours.

How is that doable?

It seems this was because of the cameras I used. Whereas they have been set to report HD video, I hadn’t accounted for his or her use of variable bit price expertise, which conserves space for storing on the expense of some high quality. Since my cameras have been pointed at a backyard with minimal motion (particularly at night time), they recorded much less information to take care of the identical degree of high quality in comparison with if that they had been capturing a busy metropolis with fixed movement. Because of this, much less information was written to the playing cards.

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However nonetheless, these playing cards lasted three years of steady use, writing an estimated 24 TB of information to that 256GB card over that point (one other back-of-the-envelope calculation, assuming a low bit price of round 2 Mbps). That is spectacular endurance, and blasting previous the 2-year restricted guarantee these playing cards include. 

However in actuality, these playing cards may very properly have a number of extra years left in them. I’ve run assessments on these playing cards, and even after three years of use, efficiency is precisely the identical as after they have been new, and a scan of the playing cards does not present any errors. Not dangerous for a microSD card you should purchase for $60.

ZDNET’s shopping for recommendation

The SanDisk Excessive Endurance vary of microSD playing cards will get two thumbs up from me. Even if you happen to go for the 512GB card, which boosts lifespan out to 40,000 hours of HD video recording, that also solely prices a really cheap $110. 

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If this is not sufficient for you, go for Max Endurance, the place costs vary from $37 for a 32GB card with a 15,000-hour HD recording lifespan, to $99 for a 256GB card providing the complete 120,000 hours (13 years) of recording lifespan. 

Positive, you would throw a daily card into your sprint cam, physique cam, or safety digicam system and take an opportunity, but when at some point you want that footage for one thing and it isn’t there as a result of your card failed, do not blame me.