The technology of storage is improving year by year, we can store terabytes of data in a tiny chip. Also, those digital gadgets are using TF card and SD card for keeping data. For instance, the devices like tablets, 3D printers, DSLR cameras, Drones, dash cam and the other types all adopt memory cards as their storage option. TF card vs SD card, how can we make right selection for the equipment? Researching into the difference and similarity between them is helpful for making correct purchase.

What is TF card?

TF card stands for trans-flash card. This is a small, removable, and portable storage media for expanding the capacity of various electronic devices. The first launch of it was in 2004, which was invented by Motorola and SanDisk. The presentence of TF card was to replace SD cards at that time. Meanwhile, it got a new name of Micro SD card due to its compact design. With one Micro SD card, user can upload and download data among various devices.

As small as a fingernail is the most amazing part of TF card, which only occupy limited space in the devices. Therefore, especially smartphones adopt it as storage accessory. No matter storing photos, music, movies, files, or applications this tiny media is a better choice.

What is SD card?

SD Card has an official name Secure digital and is one member of bulk memory card group. It consists of controller and non-volatile flash memory inside, therefore, the main function of it is storing data. As if the electronic devices need additional storage, SD card can be a nice option. What’s more, SD card has a unique technology of data security and protection. There is an extra lock button on the shell, it can protect the data from loss in case any mistake formatting. Also, SD cards use non-volatile memory technology, it means the data will not disappear when the power is off.

Due to the reliable technology and portable design, SD card is used for storing important files, photos, documents, and movies. In addition, there are various sizes and formats for SD cards, which are workable with different devices and applications.

The difference of TF card VS SD card

To make a right selection on TF card and SD card, there are numbers of key parameters to consider. Such as dimension, Format, speed, capacity, application range, and cost, all of these are linking to the decision on purchase.

1.Dimension – This is the most obvious difference between TF and SD cards. TF card is much smaller than SD card, therefore, it is a perfect choice for smaller devices such as smartphones, toys, Bluetooth speakers, and the other equipment. While SD cards will be used in cameras or larger devices, the storage space has enough room for it.

• SD Card: 32mm*24mm*2.1mm
• TF Card (Micro SD Card): 15*11*1mm

2.Capacity – The development of flash memory is at a leading and speedy step, which has scaled into sub-32nm nodes and 3D layering. This technology drives memory card to support high capacity. Therefore, both TF and SD cards are available for a wide range of capacities. However, TF card has a bit advantage.

• SD Card: from 128MB to 1TB
• TF Card (Micro SD): from 64MB to 2TB

3.Cost – since the launch of SD card and TF card, the price of SD card is more. Viewing from the physical structure, SD card has extra components. Furthermore, Micro SD cards are mostly applied in consumer devices, the cost will cater to the public. Let’s taking 16GB as an example.

• SDHC Card 16GB Class 10: It is USD 2.85/pc
• Micro SDHC 16GB Class 10: It is USD 2.55/pc

The similarity of TF card VS SD card

Both of TF card and SD are belonging to non-volatile memory card. They are used for storing and transferring data in portable devices. Thus, they can deliver in same format and speed. Although they are in different size, manufacturer has developed SD card adapter for Micro SD. With one adapter, Micro SD can be turned into SD card in one second. Even the device just has SD slot, Micro SD can be compatible as if it is using with SD adapter.

1.File system – memory card basically uses FAT32 by default, as it is a general system workable with most devices. Besides it, it also has exFAT and NTFS due to the different capacities.

• SD Card: Support FAT, FAT32, EXFAT and NTFS
• TF Card: display same file system as SD card

2.Speed – both use speed class ratings, which indicates the minimum writing speed. Thus, the standard of defining the speed is same

• SD Card and TF Card: use class 2, 4, 6, 10, UHS-1, UHS-3, V60 and V90 to tell the speed rate.

3.Application – the function of them is to store data and run applications, consequently they can apply to same devices on some occasions.

• SD Card: Normally users adopt it for DSLR cameras, gaming consoles, tablets, GPS and drones.
• TF Card: People use it in smartphones, dash cam and raspberry pi, but it also can be used in cameras with SD adapter.

Conclusion

With a deep tour of TF card and SD card, you may have a vivid notion of them. No one can image that such a tiny card can support up to 2TB, it gathers human innovation and creativity. TF card leads a compact design and versatile function, SD card offers high safety and great performance. Reviewing your needs or budget, you can make a good selection immediately. SD card is a larger type and compatible with devices with big space, while TF card is suitable for compact devices. In other words, each has its own advantages.
Hope people can gain meaningful information from this resourceful guide. When you make decision on purchasing TF and SD cards, you will know how to make choice and how to maximize its usage.

Selecting the right SD card helps to save cost and improve your devices’ performance. Especially when using a camera or camcorder to take videos or continuous shooting, a good SD card really matters. As SD card has been an essential storage for your digital devices by storing data, it is a necessary to know the standard of SD card classes.

How is the type of SD card classes?

Class is a guidance of speed for memory cards launched by SD Association. To distinguish SD cards among different writing or reading speed, there are various types linking to the speed ratings.

Speed Class	UHS Speed Class	Video Speed Class
“Speed Class“ Mark C10	“UHS Speed Class” Mark u3	“Video Speed Class” Mark v90

1. Speed Class – this is an older generation of speed family, the market used it in last decades. Normally number with a circular “C” symbol is telling minimum write speed.
   • Class 2 (C2): The minimum write speed is 2MB/s. This is the slowest version for this type, most SD cards in low capacity offers this speed.
   • Class 4 (C4): 4MB/s by write
   • Class 6 (C6): minimum write speed of 6MB/S
   • Class 10 (C10): minimum write speed of 10MB/S. C10 is the main demands for present devices, users prefer fast reaction.
2. UHS Speed class – It is an updated version of speed; the full name is Ultra-high speed. There is “U” symbol together with number to tell different types. Two main ratings within the UHS speed class are as follows.
   • UHS-1 (U1): The minimum write speed reaches 10MB/s. Comparing with class 10, many dash cams and DSLR cameras prefers U1 type. As the UHS bus interface provides a sustained write performance, it is perfect for 1080P or 4K video recording.
   • UHS-3 (U3): minimum write speed at 30MB/s. High-end cameras or drones always take a U3 rated SD card. Regardless of a high write speed, its read can hit up to 104MB/s
3. Video Speed class – This is the latest feature to support higher video resolution. They are displaying in “V” symbol.
   • V30: minimum write speed at 30MB/s
   • V60: lowest writing speed of 60MB/s
   • V90: minimum write speed at 90MB/s

The importance of SD card classes

When purchasing SD cards, users firstly will check the speed, and then it is the capacity. With a faster writing or reading, a camera can shoot a larger number of photos per minute. Even you purchase a 128GB or 512GB SD card, the recoding time is slow if you ignore the speed. In addition, the parameter of devices must be checked prior to order SD card. As you need to confirm the speed range of your equipment, it will make sure a good performance.

1. High SD speed classes enhance your devices’ performance
   • Action photography normally shoots photo in RAW format, each image displays in 41 MP and occupies over 25MB. To avoid any delays on photo loading, U1 and U3 class are the best option.
2. Speed version tells the cost
   • Normally we can know the cost range of SD card by capacity and speed. However, high capacity not always deliver high cost if the speed is slow. For example, one 128GB SD card class 10 is much cheaper than U1 or U3 version. Therefore, the lowest price is hard to guarantee high speed.
3. Speed backward compatibility
   • Bulk memory cards are able to be backward compatible within its generation. For instance, you can use one SDHC card in SD version slot. The only difference is that the device will work at the slowest speed of memory card. Thus, if you use one U3 SD card in U1 slot, the fastest speed will be same as U1 standard.

SD speed classes for host device

In order to bring users convenience, devices suppliers will mark class symbol on their hosts. It indicates a minimum speed request; the equipment cannot work properly if you use lower speed.

1. Host device requests for Class 4 SD card: You can use SD speed at Class 4, 6 and class 10
2. Host device asks for UHS-1 SDHC Card: It means it supports UHS-1 or UHS-3 memory cards.

Device with Video speed class has the same rule request as above. Therefore, it is wiser to check these details prior to order any bulk SD cards.

Benefits from fast SD Cards

As if the devices can support high speed type, SD cards in fast speed offer a good performance. Let’s research into these benefits from different devices.

1. Game console such as Nintendo Switch: A good game experience is guaranteed if you use a faster card, which is helpful for games loading.
2. Cameras: Photographers prefer continuous shooting modes. As speedy cards can catch up with an efficient storing, it means numbers of photos can be shoot at once. Especially, when you use camera to take photo in 4K or 8K, a U3 SD or CFexpress card can record extreme high-resolution images.
3. 3D printer and Raspberry Pi: You can save lots of time if you get fast SD card using there.

Notes on purchasing SD memory cards

Obviously, the cost is more if you choose a large capacity and high speed card. However, the purchase instruction should follow up the requests of devices. For example, your GPS device tells class 4 workable for data recording, then class 4 SD card is good and cheap enough for supporting its performance. Likewise, if you are engaging in photography business, a large amount of data transfer is a must for daily job. In this way, you ‘d better consider SD cards in higher speed and larger capacity.

Conclusion

SD speed rating is a key parameter for measuring speed of writing and reading, normally it is expressed as megabytes per second. Class speed on cards is telling minimum speed of recording, as if users know well of these specificat

The new mobile phones in 2022 supporting external storage were few, such as the Sony Xperia 1 IV and Huawei Mate Xs 2. These new models support to use bulk Micro SD card. I’m not sure when mobile phones started progressively losing the ability to support such expansion. Ordinary consumers can only purchase phones with higher capacity if they wish to increase their memory space. Is it true that we don’t require bulk Micro SD cards expansion? A questionnaire study on memory card expansion for mobile phones gets start recently.

Bulk Micro SD Cards

In the first, users were asked how important SD memory card expansion is to them, and we can see that 45% of the respondents said it was “very good but not very significant”. And nearly 40% said: “I will not buy a mobile phone without SD memory card expansion.” About 15% of the respondents selected “I don’t need it”

How important is SD memory card expansion to you?

In the second poll question, “How much storage is in use on your mobile phone right now?” , 128GB to 256GB accounts for up to 35.58% of the respondents, and 64GB to 128GB is the second-largest group. Those who have more than 256GB make up the third group, and the remainder is in smaller proportions.

What is your phone’s storage capacity like?

Manufacturers of mobile phones are gradually discontinuing SD memory card expansion. On the one hand, each additional hardware on phone will raise its price and weight due to the cost. On the other hand, supporting SD memory card expansion will restrict sales of versions in high capacity. Another reason is that the read and write speeds of SD memory cards are very slow. Even the fastest SD memory cards in the market only have one-tenth of those of today’s mobile phones. Comparing to some latest phones, the speed of storage cards is even slower than that. The user experience will suffer in such a circumstance. As a result, manufacturers of mobile phones have every right to control the weight issue. The solution is not to use SD memory card as expansion.

The following are some of the user comments:

Comment 1

The speed of the mobile phone is not the reason for missing SD card slot. It is entirely a matter of price! When a domestic mobile phone increases to 128G, the price gets extra 300 yuan. While buying a 160MB/S 128G SD card, it costs only a few dozen yuan. It is clear that including a SD card slot, the net profit will get 200 yuan less. It all depends on the pricing, mobile phone suppliers will not care if customers desire high capacity or not. Invest less money with a phone with less memory. People expect additional phone storage when take pictures and videos. Also, WeChat images and videos take up a lot of memory. The 128G smartphone is insufficient! Therefore, internet users should avoid from the tricks and not purchase a mobile phone with a large capacity.

Comment 2

Mobile phone memory is expanding. Furthermore, chip updates and replacements are taking longer, and users save more content in mobile phones than ever before. When you switch phones, it takes hours for transferring more than 100 GB of content to the new phone. Then you need to spend hours on uploading and downloading data. That is just a phone of around 100 GB. How will you manage a smartphone that has larger storage than 500 GB and 1 TB in the future? The data in mobile phone is not 100% safe, you may accidently lose it or suffer damage. Therefore, it is necessary to get a backup on memory. In fact, memory cards work quite fine. You can complete this process in a minute when you replace the memory card.

Comment 3

I enjoy listening to songs, and I need to download music tracks. I never make a phone purchase if there is no memory card, as the space is not enough.

Comment 4

The availability of a memory card is practical. The data may be disappearing if the mobile device gets breaks. Some people say that you can store your data in online disk. However, there is a download speed limit of the network if you are not a member.

Comment 5

Type-c connector is gradually replacing old USB port. Also, the detachable battery has altered to an integrated battery. You may barely find headphone jack in new phones, and only the charging port is available. In this way, it is convenient for selling blue tooth headphones. Additionally, the universal charger is no longer available, while the power banks are getting popular. It is a revolution of phones, why we still need keep micro-SD slot for storage?

Comment 6

Using an SD card has two main advantages. 1. Typically, the data will not get damage if you store it in card, it is a great protection in case the phone develops a problem. Moreover, you won’t be hesitant to reinstall the operating system after simply taking out the card. Second, you can simply change the card if you swift to another machine. Otherwise, how can you transfer anything 120G from the old phone to the new phone?

Comment 7

The bulk Micro SD card is in perfect working order. People love storing all important pictures and videos in the phone’s memory. While all unimportant music videos, TV shows and movies are stored on the SD card. If there isn’t an SD card, your phone is insufficient. And you’ll have to get a new one. This is how producers of mobile phones might generate revenue.

Comment 8

I like to take pictures, therefore I consider whether a bulk Micro SD card is available for a mobile phone. The storage of a mobile phone itself may not have enough room for the thousands of images, memory cards are the best solution. I was wondering if the SD card of the mobile phone can be exit and load with one key.

Given usb flash drive now serves as an indispensable tool for transferring files, this passage introduce details of usb flash drive as exquisite as possible, which cover the introduction of performance, testing software, usb flash drive solution type, usb flash drive master, flash memory, stability and simplified description.

The good news is that your camera user manual will tell you the memory card format and the minimum speed level you need to buy. You need to figure out the capacity and choose your price range. Finally, you must be sure to use one card reader compatible with your card. Otherwise, you may find that the transmission speed is much slower than you want.

Mobile phone USB Flash Drive is every convenient and can help you expand the capacity of your mobile phones. As our storage demands get high each days, it probably would be our best choice in the future.

MLC has more capacity and low price

SD cards are widely used in many devices, from camera tablets to mobile phones. There are various of SD cards in the market. The author here recommends you 10 of the SD cards with the best performance, feel free to choose the card you need.