SanDisk Extreme PRO 128GB SDXC Memory Card up to 170MB/s, UHS-1, Class 10, U3, V30

Product Information

Taiwanese company Transcend is another long-term player in the memory card market – and still makes many low-capacity cards, meaning they’re accessible to those on a tight budget.

The SD card comes in 32GB, 64GB, 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB storage capacities. These capacities should be big enough for any sized photo or movie collection you may record on it. The storage capacity also means you may store operating systems, games, and other large media on the SD card. This SD card can even be used in Single Board Computers that might require a lot of storage. Switching to record Fine* Jpegs boosted the burst depth significantly to 65 images, but that’s someway behind what was possible with the Lexar Professional 2000x SDHC/SDXC UHS-II, Kingston Canvas React Plus SDHC/SDXC UHS-II and PNY X-Pro 90 SDXC UHS-II cards. Shooting Fine-quality Jpegs increases the burst depth again, but at 78, it’s still behind the other cards I’ve tested recently, only beating the Manfrotto Professional SDXC UHS-II card. There are three main types of SD card: SD, SDHC (high capacity) or SDXC (extended capacity). SD cards typically offer 128MB to 2GB in storage capacity, too small for today’s modern cameras with higher resolutions. SDHC bumps this up from 4GB to 32GB, useful for most photographers and videographers. SDXC cards, meanwhile, range from 64GB to 2TB and are aimed at professional-level users who require more memory. Sandisk is a ubiquitous SD card brand that has made a name for itself by creating top-of-the-line SD cards at competitive prices. The SanDisk Extreme PRO SD card is one of their flagship cards that can be used by consumers and professionals alike. The SanDisk Extreme PRO SDHC/SDXC UHS-I card builds on prior Extreme PRO cards with improved performance, up to 200MB/s from 170MB/s previously.

SanDisk Extreme PRO SDHC/SDXC UHS-I Speed Test

ProGrade Digital also has a 160GB Type A card you can buy, but it's not as readily available as this Sony equivalent, and is only marginally cheaper. Delkin has Type A cards coming soon though, so hopefully prices will start to fall further. XQD The cards are different colors depending on the capacity - so red with a Nintendo Mushroom icon for 128GB, yellow with a Super Star for the 256GB, and teal green for the 512GB card. You don't need these customized cards, as any microSD card will work in your Switch – but you will earn kudos points for brand loyalty. Overall the card delivered on its spec sheet, which isn’t always the case in this market segment. And paired with the durable build and price point, the SanDisk Extreme PRO SD card will find its way into many cameras, computers, and other gadgets that can leverage the SD form factor. SD cards are flash memory, which means they have no moving parts and instead rely on electronic chips to store data. While they don’t require power to store data, they can be damaged via water, fire and physical pressure. Some companies offer bespoke 'tough' versions that can withstand these elements, even remaining safe in extreme temperatures, so it's worth looking for those if you're going on an adventure. The Transcend SDXC UHS-II U3 is a belter that delivers whether you're shooting raw files or high-resolution video. While the 64GB maximum capacity (the alternative being 32GB) may appear a little modest at first compared with other options here, the performance is anything but, with blisteringly swift read and write times of 285MB/s and 180 MB/s respectively.

Rated UHS Speed Class 3 (U3) and Video Speed Class 30 (V30) 2, the SanDisk Extreme PRO SD UHS-I card lets you capture sequential burst mode shots without missing a beat. For my first test of the 64GB SanDisk Extreme PRO 300MB/s SDXC UHS-II, I popped it into the 45.7MP Nikon Z 7II and set the camera to shoot at its fastest rate (10fps) with the focusing set to manual to rule out any focusing delays. When the camera was set to record 14-bit uncompressed raw files I was able to capture 38 images in a continuous sequence - putting it on par with the PNY X-Pro 90 SDXC UHS-II card and ahead of the Manfrotto Professional SDXC UHS-II card. Our SanDisk Extreme SD UHS-I V3 tests saw write speeds live up to its claims, matching them almost exactly at 71.6MB/s. But as with most other cards on this list, the read speeds leave a bit to be desired, coming in at almost half the claimed speed, 71.6MB/s. All can be forgiven, though, bearing in mind the extremely low cost of these cards, especially while still offering such high capacity to users at up to 256GB sizes. While the higher capacity cards increase in price exponentially, the 633x appears in sizes as small as 16GB, making it suitable for a wide range of photographers and videographers alike who require all kinds of capacities for casual or professional use. We found its write speed to be a little slow compared to other UHS-I cards in this class range, but it’s good value for money and the V30/U3 class listing means it’s still suitable for up to 4K UHD video recording. One of the most obvious ways to differentiate between memory cards is how much storage they have. A 16GB card might be fine for an afternoon wandering around your local wildlife reserve, but videographers looking to shoot all day could get frustrated with having to constantly swap over cards.As an upgrade to the standard SD card, SDHC (Secure Digital Extended Capacity) cards offer memory capacities between 4GB and 32GB. This makes them great for everyday use and entry-level users who don't have large storage capacity needs. Our stand-out best SD card is the Transcend SDXC UHS-II U3. With a Class 10, V90, U3 and UHS-II rating, we thought it would be fast enough to capture almost anything modern devices could throw at it, but we weren’t expecting the speed results we got. Sometimes speed is what you need. The SanDisk Extreme PRO SD UHS-I card delivers the performance to capture stunning, uninterrupted 4K UHD video 1. Also, despite chalking up impressive read and write speeds of 252MB/s and 207MB/s respectively, the SanDisk Extreme PRO 300MB/s SDXC UHS-II proved to be one of the slower cards when it comes to moving files onto a computer. The shortest time I was able to transfer 100 Fine* Jpegs and 100 14-bit uncompressed raw files from the Nikon Z 7II (adding up to 9.7GB), was 2 minutes 37 seconds - that’s minute slower than the Lexar Professional 2000x SDHC/SDXC UHS-II.