SanDisk Ultra 64GB SDXC Memory Card, Up to 120 MB/s, Class 10, UHS-I, V10

Product Information

My basic intent was to load bulk movies from my laptop into it and watch it over my TV or mobile, However when I was transferring 6 movies of a total size 8.1 GB , it started showing 15 minutes which kept on getting higher & it felt like waiting forever for it to happen. FIT & FINISH: Being equipped with a retractable mechanism & being too small, the drive is not so smooth to use & slide-in or out in a single shot and needs some getting used to but then most of the OTG drives are designed small and hence have some or the other odd way of conserving size.

CONSTRUCTION: The device has a plastic body & the overall construction of the drive is just average. The retractable plastic column seems to the weakest link of all and would surely break if you accidentally step over it. However the actual drive storage portion is built of a rigid plastic and won’t give up so easily. Both the USB ports are built of metal which again is quite a relief. BEWARE that if the pen drive has NTFS File System then it won't work with mobile phones, tablets, laptops which don't have Windows Operating System. Same way, if you format the pen drive for Linux OS File System, it won't be recognised on Windows laptops, Android phones, tablets, etc. It takes Forever - to transfer anything. Maybe I - misunderstood "Ultra" or somebody missed "Ultra-Slow" in the model tag line. Finally with every passing minute it became all the more unbearable and annoying. Even in NTFS format speeds were the same.FILE SYSTEM FORMATTING THE PEN DRIVE: Unless you are sure you won't use your pen drive on a particular device, don't format the pen drive to change its FAT32 File System. STORAGE : Out of the total name plate rating of 64 GB , the actual allocated space for usage is around 57 GB which is ok enough. SanDisk is an Israeli-American manufacturer of flash memory products, including memory cards and readers, USB flash drives, and solid state drives. As of February 2015, it is the third-largest manufacturer of flash memory. WARRANTY : The product comes with a 5 year limited warranty which is one of the segment best offers.

Rated A1 3, the SanDisk Ultra® microSD™ card is optimized for apps usage. It delivers faster app launch and overall app usage performance that in turn provides a better smartphone experience. HEATING: Even with just 10 minutes of use, you can touch and feel that the metal part of the pen drive is getting heated. But the performance of the drive has not got affected by the heat. This heating does not happen in WD external hard-disks and seems to be unique to small pen drives of various brands. STORAGE SPACE: Just as in external hard-disk drives, the actual usable storage space will be less than what is mentioned on the product. STORAGE FORMAT: Since the previous FAT32 version had a limitation of file transfer size of a maximum of 4 GB for a single file & NTFS was not compatible with mac OS so with increasing file sizes ex FAT format was devised which doesn’t have a size limitation like FAT yet is compatible with Mac as well. So our drive has only ex FAT & NTFS formats to choose & comes in ex FAT by default with 128 KB file allocation size. Increasing the file allocation size may increase the transfer speeds a little but will affect the storage capacity little too. Changing it from 128 to 256 KB increased my write speeds from 13 MB/s to 15 MB/s if that’s a relief to anyone.See Western Digital White Paper- Flash 101 and Flash Management. A detailed overview of flash and flash management (August 2018): documents.westerndigital.com/content/dam/doc-library/en_us/assets/public/western-digital/collateral/white-paper/white-paper-sandisk-flash101-management.pdf SanDisk Ultra is a brand of Western Digital which is the same company that sells external hard-disk storage devices under the brand WD Elements and WD Portable. COVERAGE: The plan covers all defects & malfunctions under the original manufacturer’s warranty. The plan starts the day after the manufacturer’s warranty ends. It does not cover physical or liquid damage, accessories, consumables or parts that are not covered under the standard manufacturer’s warranty. if like most people you will be using this pen drive on laptops or other devices of friends or co-workers, then leave the existing FAT32 File System as it is.

GB : This capacity seemed to offer a decent compromise between storage, price & future proofing as with modern mobile cameras photos and videos shot are mostly of high resolution and larger size.64 GB ensures that you won’t have to empty it out any sooner or on a regular basis. A Note : Speed enthusiasts though should refrain from this version & should try its designated speedier extreme versions or other brands like transcend, Samsung.Benchmark Crystal Disk mark scores for a file transfer of 500 MB size were 34 MB/s -Read & 19 MB/s – write which looked like a mere consolation. Transfer between my Samsung S7 mobile & S2 tablet too was not fast. But For Example, If you have decided that you won't use it on mobile phones or tablets because the fitting is too tight and you don't want to risk damage to this point which is primarily used for charging - then go ahead and format the pen drive for your laptop. MOBILE PHONES: The pen drive works with Android OS of Mi phones such as Redmi Note running Android including old Android Version 9 as well. The device comes with the title “SanDisk Ultra - Dual Drive m3.0” and is the newer 2017 version of its previous iteration. Here I need to quote that the term “Ultra” came quite as a surprise to me as I found nothing in lines with a common understanding of Ultra. We will discuss it in detail in upcoming columns of speed. TOO TIGHT FOR PHONES: The pen drive is a tight fit on mobile phones & tablets - so be careful when pulling it out so as to not damage your phone - because this is also the charging point for your phone. If you feel that your phone is too tight for this pen drive, then it is best not to use it for phone data storage management.