What SD card should I get?

A

auzzie1077

Lurker
Hi, First time posting here, so please bare with me.

I just got a Galaxy S4 and I am now looking to get a SD card for it but im not to sure which one to go for.

There are a few versions out there the SDHC and SDXC, which one of these should I get and what brand would you recommend?
I'm only looking for 8 or 16GB cards, nothing super fancy just enough for music, videos and photos.


Thanks
 
lotus49

lotus49

Android Expert
SDHC was the standard for cards up to 32GB. SDXC is essentially the same only for larger ie 64GB cards. I suspect you would almost instantly regret buying an 8GB card as you won't fit much on that but I don't know your needs.

Brand shouldn't make much difference but don't buy a suspiciously cheap one from eBay as it will be a fake (ie it will report that it is 16GB but will actually be 2GB so any data over 2GB you put on it will silently be lost). SanDisk used to have a good reputation but they have produced some duff 32GB and 64GB cards recently. You should be safe with Samsung.

Having said that, any card you buy from a reputable seller such as Amazon should probably be fine. You should probably go for one of the faster cards such as a class 10 card. If you are only buying a small card, it will still be fairly cheap.
 
S

snookie

Newbie
A lot of people are happy with this one. Different sizes are available.

Amazon.com: SanDisk Ultra 64 GB MicroSDXC Class 10 UHS-1 Memory Card with Adapter (SDSDQU-064G-AFFP-A): Electronics

auzzie1077 said:
Hi, First time posting here, so please bare with me.

I just got a Galaxy S4 and I am now looking to get a SD card for it but im not to sure which one to go for.

There are a few versions out there the SDHC and SDXC, which one of these should I get and what brand would you recommend?
I'm only looking for 8 or 16GB cards, nothing super fancy just enough for music, videos and photos.


Thanks
Click to expand...
 
W

Whtchdr

Lurker
Keeping in mind that you can now install apps to the SD card along with the need for faster write speeds for recording 1080p video and burst shots, it would be best to go with the fastest class of card you can afford. Class 10 is ideal but definitely no slower than class 6. The faster the card, the quicker all of these functions will operate.
 
Tsepz_GP

Tsepz_GP

Android Enthusiast
I'd be careful about getting a Class 10 32GB, Samsung phone's seem to have a habit of killing 32GB Class 10 cards no matter the brand. Maybe a 64GB MicroSDXC will be better otherwise a 32GB Class 6 is what I'd get.

My GS4 just tore through my 2nd SanDisk Ultra U1 Class10 32GB, my GS3 ruined the 1st one, it's a huge issue.
 
joesixpack

joesixpack

Android Enthusiast
Class 10! Class 10! Class 10! Class 10! Class 10! Class 10! Class 10! Class 10! Class 10! Class 10! Class 10! Class 10! Class 10! Class 10! Class 10! Class 10! Class 10! Class 10! Class 10! Class 10! Class 10! Class 10! Class 10! Class 10! Class 10! Class 10! Class 10! Class 10! Class 10! Class 10! Class 10! Class 10! Class 10! Class 10! Class 10!

Did I mention that I recommend getting a Class 10 card?
 
m3incorp

m3incorp

Well-Known Member
Tsepz_GP said:
I'd be careful about getting a Class 10 32GB, Samsung phone's seem to have a habit of killing 32GB Class 10 cards no matter the brand. Maybe a 64GB MicroSDXC will be better otherwise a 32GB Class 6 is what I'd get.

My GS4 just tore through my 2nd SanDisk Ultra U1 Class10 32GB, my GS3 ruined the 1st one, it's a huge issue.
Click to expand...

It could just be that your phone has issues or you bought one of the many FAKE SanDisk cards. Always buy SanDisk cards from reputable dealers. What makes you say Samsung phones vs your Samsung phone? You are the very first person I've heard of any phone having an issue just because of the Class of a memory card. I've used Class 10 cards in every device that I own that accepts an SD or MicroSD card and never had a card failure. I've had a SanDisk 32GB Utra in my Samsung Galaxy S4 from the day I bought it. I'd do a little research on exactly what the "class of cards mean".

Also many people are saying buy the fastest speed out there. The device you are using the card in determines just how much of that speed you can use. If a device can only transfer to or from the card at a particular speed, as is the case with all devices, then it does no good to buy a card faster than your device, just for the sake of buying a fast card. I'm a long time photographer and many people use to say the same about the memory cards you buy for your camera. You can now look up how fast your camera transfers, and base your card speed on that. Now with that having been said, I buy Class 10 cards, as the cost difference is not that much.
 
B

Bloomy6

Well-Known Member
m3incorp said:
It could just be that your phone has issues or you bought one of the many FAKE SanDisk cards. Always buy SanDisk cards from reputable dealers. What makes you say Samsung phones vs your Samsung phone? You are the very first person I've heard of any phone having an issue just because of the Class of a memory card. I've used Class 10 cards in every device that I own that accepts an SD or MicroSD card and never had a card failure. I've had a SanDisk 32GB Utra in my Samsung Galaxy S4 from the day I bought it. I'd do a little research on exactly what the "class of cards mean".

Also many people are saying buy the fastest speed out there. The device you are using the card in determines just how much of that speed you can use. If a device can only transfer to or from the card at a particular speed, as is the case with all devices, then it does no good to buy a card faster than your device, just for the sake of buying a fast card. I'm a long time photographer and many people use to say the same about the memory cards you buy for your camera. You can now look up how fast your camera transfers, and base your card speed on that. Now with that having been said, I buy Class 10 cards, as the cost difference is not that much.
Click to expand...


There is a quite exhaustive thread on the S3 forum, currently third page I believe, about SD cards being disabled by that phone. Different brands and speeds. His statement is not the first I've heard of that and in fact, I just got rid of my S3 and moved up to the S4 and was having some issues with the card in my S3 as well. Having said that, I don't think it was the card, but they phone having issues. Although, in reading through that thread, there were some statements regarding replacement cards from SanDisk I believe that were acknowledged as being in a bad batch of cards, specifically certain size and speed, if I'm not mistaken. My card is a Samsung 16 gig card that came with my old memorize. Lol. It is now housed in its 4th phone and luckily no longer in the S3 where I was becoming afraid it my die.
 
m3incorp

m3incorp

Well-Known Member
Bloomy6 said:
There is a quite exhaustive thread on the S3 forum, currently third page I believe, about SD cards being disabled by that phone. Different brands and speeds. His statement is not the first I've heard of that and in fact, I just got rid of my S3 and moved up to the S4 and was having some issues with the card in my S3 as well. Having said that, I don't think it was the card, but they phone having issues. Although, in reading through that thread, there were some statements regarding replacement cards from SanDisk I believe that were acknowledged as being in a bad batch of cards, specifically certain size and speed, if I'm not mistaken. My card is a Samsung 16 gig card that came with my old memorize. Lol. It is now housed in its 4th phone and luckily no longer in the S3 where I was becoming afraid it my die.
Click to expand...

Note I said "because of the Class" of the card...meaning typically there was either a problem with the phone or the card being defective.
 
B

Bloomy6

Well-Known Member
m3incorp said:
Note I said "because of the Class" of the card...meaning typically there was either a problem with the phone or the card being defective.
Click to expand...


Your statement was noted. I was simply directing your attention to some interesting statements regarding the class AND size of some (actually more than some) cards that are being fried. No harm no foul.
 
E

ej86

Newbie
Whatever you do is stay away from SanDisk 64GB cards, i spent 60 bucks on one and everytime i go into my s4's picture gallery i always get a "sd card has been unexpectedly removed" message.

Very annoying, what a waste of 60 dollars.
 
G

Goodspike

Android Expert
ej86 said:
Whatever you do is stay away from SanDisk 64GB cards, i spent 60 bucks on one and everytime i go into my s4's picture gallery i always get a "sd card has been unexpectedly removed" message.

Very annoying, what a waste of 60 dollars.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure how long you've had it, but part of the reason I buy from Amazon is returns are a breeze. I seldom hassle with returns other places.

Also, I think at Costco you still have a year to return on electronic devices.
 

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