SD cards

[Korth]

Assuming this thread belongs here because these cards are "phone hardware" ... SD, SDHC, SDXC, SDUC, etc ...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SD_card

I've just had another one fail. Full data loss, corrupt file system, unrepairable, irrecoverable (full failure, forensic data recovery softwares didn't work.).

That's about ten of these cards now, across three phones and four years. SanDisk, Lexar, Samsung, PNY, Transcend, Crucial - every brand I've tried has failed, and failed unreasonably soon.

I realize these things are just like USB sticks, they pair lowest-cost nvram with lowest-cost flash controllers, they're not really intended to last. And they're fairly inexpensive to replace. But the rapid unreliability is annoying. Especially since I rarely (re)write the data on them. I can't believe they'd all be designed as disposable temporary-use consumer junk. And it seems that reliability-certified enterprise-grade versions either don't exist are aren't available.

Any opinions on brands, especially for 32GB or 64GB capacities? Performance isn't terribly important since I need them for stuff like media playback and reference data, not for stuff like realtime video capture. Cost isn't terribly important, as long as it's not ridiculously inflated, since you do get what you pay for. But reliability is important, I need them to have reliability and longevity, I need some confidence that anything I store on them will stay intact for a few years.

Just thought I'd check out some opinions before buying yet another card with a pathetically short lifespan.

[Korth]

@darlicious 

These cards are still just portable flash. They should outlive other versions. But they're still destined to fail at some point. Disposable.

Phone manufactures are always tugging emphasis away from local storage and towards cloud storage, that "bulky" SD slot is an unwanted inconvenience (like the headphone jack) which is gradually going to disappear forever.

[darlicious]

@Korth 

Cool! Since learning about failure rates etc.... and being a little fanatical about my photography  having lost the previously mentioned cybershot (my first foray into digital cameras) and 4 memory cards i had stupidly stored in the case. I like to back up my back up so i like the idea of an industrial sdcard  where any kind of loss is solely due to human error and/or excessive alcohol intake.

[Korth]

@darlicious 

Thanks, but I wasn't going for cheapest, I was going for most reliable.

I talked to somebody I know through work. I learned that flashcards have high failure rates in mobile devices because of poor power supply or regulation (fluctuating vdrop from low battery) during cache/write operations. Cheap components in the cards and cheap components in the phones, they generally include nothing more than the bare minimum needed to meet SD specs. It's all mature technology so it's been stripped down to the absolute cheapest and simplest it can be.

He hooked me up with some of these $30 64GB SDXC cards (plus plastic form factor adapters). They have better flash bins, better controller chips (with better wear-levelling, monitoring, and capacity partitioning), shielded and grounded substrates, built-in ECC to maintain long-storage data integrity, built-in surge protection, and built-in capacitors to sustain ongoing write operations during power loss events. In short, a whole pile of nerdspecs I find rather comforting.

They're already extremely robust so I didn't opt to pay more and wait longer to get the radiation-hardened version that NASA prefers. I'll just have to remember not to bring my SD cards along on any excursions beyond low-earth orbit.

[darlicious]

@Korth 

Too good of deal to pass up......

https://www.visions.ca/product-detail/54697/kingston_canvas_select_microsd_card_32_gb?categoryId=0&s...

[darlicious]

@Korth 

On clearance at sportchek : Kingston 64gb micro sd card w/adapter $19.88 additional 10% off with email coupon. Free shipping over $99. 0r free shipping with CT/mc+4% back in canadian tire money. Rakuten 4% rebate.b Not a member? Get referred and spend $25+ and recieve a bonus $5.

Buy 2=$40-$4=$36+$4.31(tax)=$40.31 Rakuten $1.44+$1.44(cdn tire)=$2.88 +$5=$7.88(rebates) $40.31-$7.88=$32.43÷2=$16.22 each

https://www.sportchek.ca/categories/electronics/cameras/product/kingston-64gb-uhs-1-class-10-micro-s...

[Nezgar]

Yeah memory cards from ebay (especially China) are rife with counterfeits. If the price is too good to be true it probably is. I have at least 3 cards that I bought fully expecting to be fakes and they were. At least PayPal is good about refunding for counterfeit claims. Using a test utility determined a 1GB card was only 128MB, a 32GB card was only 1GB, etc. They rewrite the firmware to make the device think it's bigger, but any data written past "the end" will be read back as 0's. There's utilities to test cards for this and based on the findings I was able to partition them to prevent usage past the "good" area but still wouldn't trust them for anything important...

[LurganIeUk]

---

@Korth wrote:

Assuming this thread belongs here because these cards are "phone hardware" ... SD, SDHC, SDXC, SDUC, etc ...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SD_card

I've just had another one fail. Full data loss, corrupt file system, unrepairable, irrecoverable (full failure, forensic data recovery softwares didn't work.).

That's about ten of these cards now, across three phones and four years. SanDisk, Lexar, Samsung, PNY, Transcend, Crucial - every brand I've tried has failed, and failed unreasonably soon.

I realize these things are just like USB sticks, they pair lowest-cost nvram with lowest-cost flash controllers, they're not really intended to last. And they're fairly inexpensive to replace. But the rapid unreliability is annoying. Especially since I rarely (re)write the data on them. I can't believe they'd all be designed as disposable temporary-use consumer junk. And it seems that reliability-certified enterprise-grade versions either don't exist are aren't available.

Any opinions on brands, especially for 32GB or 64GB capacities? Performance isn't terribly important since I need them for stuff like media playback and reference data, not for stuff like realtime video capture. Cost isn't terribly important, as long as it's not ridiculously inflated, since you do get what you pay for. But reliability is important, I need them to have reliability and longevity, I need some confidence that anything I store on them will stay intact for a few years.

Just thought I'd check out some opinions before buying yet another card with a pathetically short lifespan.

---

Wow not so lucky you. I had one go bad in a Garmin GPS. You should have heard her talk .... and the route was ridiculous. I upgraded the software and rebooted to no avail. I took all the trouble shooting tips on the Garmin site and emailed them. All to no avail. I bought a new Garmin. But was still puzzled. I put a name brand SD in it and reset it all and it worked! I sold it. Bottom line for me was no more no name brand from eBay. 

[Nezgar]

Due to the risk of data loss, and a few cards of my own go kaput I've basically decided going forward not to save photos on a memory card... too risky to lose if the card decides to die, and it's also also insecured data if your phone is lost or stolen.

I dunno, but the cards just seem to be less reliable and not last as long when used in a phone...

So pictures I now only save to the internal, encrypted memory, and the only data I store on a memory card is replacable and less "personal" data like offline Google maps, music, podcasts, etc...

I also make a point to move pictures off my phone at least monthly to my computer and cloud-backed up NAS to limit what might be lost if the phone is lost/stolen/dies....

[Korth]

I understand the balance of density vs capacity vs performance vs longevity vs cost, with longevity being the tradeoff parameter every manufacturer routinely ignores. Portable flash media (cards, sticks) just can't command the same prices as fixed flash storage (SSDs, SSGs).

I'll try these "endurance" or "surveillance" ratings. Twice as much cost isn't a bad deal if they last at least twice as long before total failure.

Hardware-based data recovery methods do exist, more effective than any software ever could be, but not worth the cost to recover the (mostly backed up, entirely replaceable) data I've lost.

[mitchnet12]

I have had the experience of a MicroSD card fail in a phone as well. It was used to store pictures because my 8GB phone had very little storage back in the day. Since that tough lesson, I have only used my MicroSD card in my phone for backup purposes and temporary storage.

I had seen this video a few years ago, which helped to explain the quality of flash media.

Flash Memory - MLC, TLC, and SLC explained, which shed some light on the quality of flash memory. Endurance or surveillance rated memory card intended for use in devices that continuously record to media, or operate in harsh environment conditions have become my choice for data storage. It is worth noting that the memory may not operate at high rates of speed, and capacities may be limited in comparison to other memory card model classes.

Memory card speed ratings:

SD card association memory speed ratings explained 

Here is supplier that I have shopped with, though they do not ship every product to Canada. They list the UPC and model numbers:

B&H Photo endurance memory

[will13am]

@Korth , I have been lucky to never experiencing a failure ever.  I am partial to Kingston and Samsung brands.  I have a few of these cards running 24/7 doing recording loops for years.  Recently I have gone to the Evo plus line exclusively for endurance and performance.  Performance matters as the size of the cards grow.   Samsung does sell an endurance pro model, but it's twice the price per GB.  I would rather get a bigger card which spreads out the wear more.  I suggest this seller on Amazon.  The source is genuine and no tax.  I must have purchased about half dozen over the years. They go on sale from time to time down to around $24.

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07528KWXT

[darlicious]

@Korth 

Interesting Ive never had a SDcard fail. Other than having one encrypted to a device and the device failing making the card unreadable but not anything i cant replace. Now mind you i have a whole crap load of SDcards with photos that i can only see on my camera because they are full size not micro sd cards and i no longer have a laptop or desktop. But i should check to see if the SDcards are still ok. I by no means buy expensive ones quite the opposite in fact i have lexar, coremicro, nextech, sandisk, kingston ( yet unused) sony pro duo mark 2(from a brief stint with a cybershot) and the latest ones ive been using that i got on clearance from sportchek for $10 (reg $40) that come with a lifetime warranty? If i remember correctly they were waterproof and were good from -40°c to +40°c or something like that.....

[Triguy]

https://www.lifewire.com/best-sd-cards-to-buy-4072362