For most people, microSD is just a form factor, but in reality it is not. You can easily insert any microSD card into a standard slot, but not all of them will work, since the cards differ in many ways.
Format
There are three different SD formats, available in two form factors (SD and microSD):
- SD (microSD) - drives up to 2 GB, work with any equipment;
- SDHC (microSDHC) - drives from 2 to 32 GB, work on devices supporting SDHC and SDXC;
- SDXC (microSDXC) - drives from 32 GB to 2 TB (currently maximum 512 GB), work only on devices with SDXC support.
As you can see, they are not backward compatible. Memory cards of the new format will not work on old equipment.
Volume
Support for microSDXC declared by the manufacturer does not mean support for cards of this format with any capacity and depends on the specific device. For example, the HTC One M9 works with microSDXC, but officially only supports cards up to 128 GB inclusive.
Another important point is related to the storage capacity. All microSDXC cards use the exFAT file system by default. Windows has supported it for more than 10 years, it appeared in OS X starting with version 10.6.5 (Snow Leopard), Linux distributions support exFAT, but it does not work out of the box everywhere.
High speed UHS interface
An I or II is added to the UHS card logo depending on the version SDHC and SDXC cards can support the Ultra High Speed interface, which, with hardware support on the device, provides higher speeds (UHS-I up to 104 MB/s and UHS-II up to 312 MB/s). UHS is backward compatible with earlier interfaces and can work with devices that do not support it, but at standard speeds (up to 25 MB/s).
2. Speed
Luca Lorenzelli/shutterstock.com Classifying the write and read speeds of microSD cards is as complex as their formats and compatibility. The specifications allow you to describe the speed of cards in four ways, and since manufacturers use them all, there is a lot of confusion.
Speed class
The speed class macro for regular cards is a number inscribed in the Latin letter C The Speed Class is associated with the minimum write speed to a memory card in megabytes per second. There are four in total:
- Class 2- from 2 MB/s;
- Class 4- from 4 MB/s;
- Class 6- from 6 MB/s;
- Class 10- from 10 MB/s.
By analogy with the marking of regular cards, the speed class of UHS cards fits into the Latin letter U Cards running on the high-speed UHS bus currently have only two speed classes:
- Class 1 (U1)- from 10 MB/s;
- Class 3 (U3)- from 30 MB/s.
Since the speed class designation uses the minimum entry value, theoretically a card of the second class may well be faster than a card of the fourth. Although, if this is the case, the manufacturer will most likely prefer to indicate this fact more explicitly.
Maximum speed
The speed class is quite enough for comparing cards when choosing, but some manufacturers, in addition to it, use the maximum speed in MB/s in the description, and more often than not even the write speed (which is always lower), but the read speed.
Typically these are the results of synthetic tests in ideal conditions, which are unattainable in normal use. In practice, speed depends on many factors, so you should not rely on this characteristic.
Speed multiplier
Another classification option is the speed multiplier, similar to the one used to indicate the read and write speed of optical discs. There are more than ten of them, from 6x to 633x.
The 1x multiplier is 150 KB/s, that is, the simplest 6x cards have a speed of 900 KB/s. The fastest cards can have a multiplier of 633x, which is 95 MB/s.
3. Objectives
StepanPopov/shutterstock.com Choose the right card taking into account specific tasks. The biggest and fastest is not always the best. In certain use cases, the volume and speed may be excessive.
When buying a card for a smartphone, capacity plays a bigger role than speed. The advantages of a large drive are obvious, but the advantages of high transfer speeds on a smartphone are practically not felt, since large files are rarely written and read there (unless you have a smartphone with 4K video support).
Cameras that shoot HD and 4K video are a completely different matter: both speed and volume are equally important here. For 4K video, camera manufacturers recommend using UHS U3 cards, for HD - regular Class 10 or at least Class 6.
For photos, many professionals prefer to use several smaller cards to minimize the risk of losing all the images in force majeure circumstances. As for speed, it all depends on the photo format. If you shoot in RAW, it makes sense to invest in microSDHC or microSDXC class UHS U1 and U3 - in this case they will reveal themselves fully.
4. Fakes
jcjgphotography/shutterstock.com No matter how trivial it may sound, it is now easier than ever to buy a fake under the guise of original cards. Several years ago, SanDisk claimed that a third of SanDisk memory cards on the market were counterfeit. It is unlikely that the situation has changed much since then.
To avoid disappointment when purchasing, just follow common sense. Refrain from buying from untrustworthy sellers, and beware of offers of “original” cards that are significantly lower than the official price.
Attackers have learned to fake packaging so well that sometimes it can be very difficult to distinguish it from the original. You can judge with complete confidence the authenticity of a particular card only after checking using special utilities:
- H2testw- for Windows;
If you have already experienced the loss of important data due to a memory card failure for one reason or another, then when it comes to choosing, you will most likely prefer a more expensive card from a well-known brand than an affordable “no-name” one.
In addition to greater reliability and safety of your data, with a branded card you will receive high speed and a guarantee (in some cases even lifetime).
Now you know everything you need to know about SD cards. As you can see, there are many questions that you will have to answer before purchasing a card. Perhaps, best idea will have different cards for various needs. This way you can take full advantage of the equipment without exposing your budget to unnecessary expenses.
If your device does not have enough capacity internal memory, can use SD card as internal storage for your Android phone. This feature, called Adoptable Storage, allows the Android OS to format external storage media as permanent internal storage. The information on the installed SD card is encrypted and cannot be subsequently used on another device.
SD Card is very convenient option for storing photos, songs and videos. Even if you have a large amount of internal memory on your Android smartphone, you may always need a large chunk of memory to store long videos captured by your phone's high-definition camera.
Important to know
There is one drawback, the SD chip can lag when recording high-definition video.
Android by default in the internal memory and only occasionally uploads data to the SD card. This way, you are prevented from installing any additional applications if your phone is running low on internal storage space, for example, in the case of budget Android One devices.
What is storage storage?
Storage storage is the main memory of your smartphone, but if necessary, it can be expanded using an SD card. This on Android it is called Adoptable Storage. This will allow you to use a removable microSD card installed on Android phone,as the main storage. This way, you can easily solve the problem of how to make an SD card the main memory on Android and overcome the lack of space if the phone has a small internal volume.
Features of using the card as the main storage
There are a number of some important features that should be taken into account during this procedure.
Will be useful
When using a storage device, be it an SD flash drive or a USB drive, it is important to remember what format the device is in and whether the Android operating system supports it, and there are four main file formats: FAT32 or exFAT, ext4 or f2fs.
How to change phone memory to android memory card? The question is not entirely correct, it is impossible to completely replace it, you can only “increase” additional volume.
Using your SD card as your main storage can be great solution for music lovers and those who like to watch TV series on the way to work or on a long trip. But, as often happens, memory expansion always depends on the cost of the required device, after all, they differ both in speed and in volume, as well as in the adaptable information storage function. Here are some nuances that can be considered from different angles - as in negative side, and in the positive:
How to use SD card as internal memory on Android?
How to replace the phone's internal memory with an external SD card on Android? Configuring your SD card to act as internal storage on Android is essentially a fairly simple process. There is nothing complicated about this and you will see for yourself later.
It is possible that the Adoptable Storage function is not supported by your device, even if the smartphone runs Android 6.0 or higher (this can happen, it all depends on the model and brand of the smartphone). The device manufacturer may have disabled this feature. However, there are command line methods that allow you to force the use of a flash drive to store data.
Below are the basic formatting steps.
On the next screen you have one last chance to decide for yourself if you want to change your mind
Important to know
Don't forget to back up your data; after formatting, the information will disappear without a trace!
After the formatting process is completed, you can use the removable SD card as a “temporary” or “removable” permanent place. But keep in mind that hot swapping and ejecting will no longer be available as you may have previously done. That's why Do not remove the flash drive without using the Eject parameter. In addition, you can practically delete the place accepted by the operating system, which, accordingly, is not recommended, since this can cause certain errors in the operation of the device. Now you know how to make a memory card the main memory on Android.
The amount of information required for work and entertainment is increasing every day. The quality of photographs and video files increases, and along with it their “weight” also increases. As a result, the built-in memory of our gadgets, especially those from the budget segment, is sorely lacking. This problem can be easily solved, especially in phones with a removable battery. Why in them, how to choose a memory card for a phone for any budget and many other issues will be discussed in this article.
Memory card. What is this?
As a rule, the memory card is a small black rectangle, but sometimes appearance different. Depending on the model, it has a different amount of memory. IN modern models Various gadgets use only one type of memory card - microSD, although there are quite a large number of them.
Previously, when mobile phones just started to acquire additional memory, each manufacturer tried to invent own format, different from others. For example, the memory card of an LG phone could not be installed in a Nokia. Over time, this trend, as well as specific charging connectors, gradually faded away. This has its own advantage, because after changing your smartphone, you now don’t have to re-purchase this important accessory for it.
How much volume do I need?
When it comes to the required capacity of an SD Card, you should first ask yourself what files you work with most often. In order to get your bearings at least a little, you can look at the following list, showing the approximate size of the files we are used to:
- Melody or track - from 3 to 10 megabytes.
- Photo - from 1 to 5 megabytes.
- Film (depending on quality) from 700 megabytes to several gigabytes.
If you are used to using only high-quality content, then you will have to think about memory cards of 32 GB or more. If the card is needed only to store a small playlist and current photos, its volume can be easily calculated using the above information. We can definitely say that with large volumes of photos internal space not enough, and a memory card is required. A phone with 2 GB of memory is simply not capable of storing the number of videos and photos that modern youth are accustomed to taking.
Feature regarding the capacity of the new memory card
Probably everyone who has previously encountered memory cards or flash drives has noticed that there is a little less space on them than stated by the manufacturer. Why does this problem occur and can it be fixed?
In reality there is no problem. The reason lies in the principles of computing space by a computer or telephone. We are accustomed to multiplying all quantities by a thousand, as, for example, there are a thousand grams in one kilogram. However, in the computer world, calculations are done a little differently, and a number of 1024 is considered to be one. As a result, such an error arises on the missing 24 bytes for every thousand. Therefore, manufacturers should not be blamed for such a “shortage”, and an SD memory card with “cut down” memory is actually quite normal.
What is a memory card class
All memory cards are divided not only by capacity, but also by class. Therefore, when you decide how to choose a memory card for your phone, do not forget about this parameter. The class displays the speed at which any information is written to it. There are different classes of cards, but the most popular in our stores are 4, 10 and U1.
In fact, everything is clear with digital classes - a four is equal to a write speed of up to 4 MB/s, and a ten is equal to up to 10 MB/s, respectively. With the U1 class it is a little more interesting, since manufacturers promise speeds not up to, but from 10 MB/s, but what the maximum possible will be, you have to check on the spot. This class is considered a newer standard, and an SD memory card marked with it differs in better side from their predecessors.
In addition to the above, there are also digital classes SD Card 2 and 6, as well as the new generation class U3. Digital are no different from their predecessors, that is, they correspond in the same way maximum speed records. Class U3 is currently considered the highest and allows you to write information at speeds of over 30 MB/s. But despite high level development of smartphones, such a high speed is not yet needed by any of them, so we will not consider it in detail.
Which one do I need?
Let's look at what each class of memory card can be used for. This will be another step towards how to choose a memory card for your phone and not make a mistake.
- Class 2 memory cards are designed for data storage and are the slowest and most cheap option. You can record music and video files on them, but the recording process itself will be quite lengthy. Problems may occur when viewing high-definition videos.
- Class 4 memory cards are the most popular and common. Fully meet the speed needs of budget phones and smartphones related to multimedia files. Still, it’s better not to use it for games and programs.
- Class 6 memory cards can already be a replacement for the internal memory of some electronic devices and are designed for recording and storing any type of files.
- Class 10 memory cards are the fastest type of cards, the maximum capabilities of which can be used by any smartphone. Allows you to record video in high resolution and perform other tasks that require high-speed recording of information.
- U1 class memory cards are an improved class 10, slightly higher write speed and significantly faster reading, as a result of which they can be used for program files, since loading from them will be much faster.
- U3 class memory cards are used very rarely, since their characteristics are only needed when recording video in 4K resolution, and the cost is very high.
What is the maximum memory card capacity supported by the device?
Often, most manufacturers themselves indicate in the characteristics of a phone or smartphone what size memory card is recommended to be installed in the gadget. However, sometimes this information is not indicated directly, but using encoding different types kart. It's worth taking a look at the device specification and seeing which cards are supported. The following may be written there:
- microSD cards are an old standard that requires the installation of a phone micro memory card with a capacity of no more than 4 GB. Sometimes some Chinese manufacturers write that cards up to 8 GB are supported with the same marking, but no more.
- microSDHC cards are the most common format among budget phones and smartphones today. Provides the ability to expand memory with cards up to 32 GB, which is quite enough for most users.
- microSDXC cards are a new format that allows you to work with volumes up to 2 TB. Often cards of this volume can have a very high cost, but they are quite popular, inexpensive, and at the same time functional solution There will be an installation of additional memory of 64 or 128 GB.
How to decide on the manufacturer
In fact, there is not much difference between memory cards from different manufacturers. They are all quite reliable, so the final weighty argument when choosing can only be the price or attractive appearance. The speed of the card, as discussed above, depends only on its class.
Sometimes on older devices there is a situation where memory cards with the maximum capacity for the gadget do not work from all manufacturers. Even the developers of this or that gadget cannot answer what this is connected with. For example, a similar question was previously discussed on forums - I bought regular card memory, I didn’t see it point-blank, although it worked with other devices without problems. Therefore, when buying a memory card, it is best to take with you the device for which it is intended. This way you can avoid unnecessary stress associated with returning an unsuitable accessory.
Instructions for installing a memory card
How exactly and where to place the card itself is often written in the user instructions for the device. However, another important point is often missed. Some devices can easily read data written to a card with a file system of one of the common formats. But after prolonged use, malfunctions may occur, which can lead to loss important information.
To prevent this from happening, it is recommended that immediately after installation, while there is no data on the card, you format it directly using your phone or smartphone. Don’t be lazy to do this operation, because later it can protect you from unnecessary worries. This concludes the recommendations on how to choose a memory card for your phone. We hope you will not have any problems purchasing this accessory.
If your phone or tablet running Android 6.0, 7 Nougat, 8.0 Oreo or 9.0 Pie has a memory card slot, then you can use a MicroSD memory card as the internal memory of your device, this feature first appeared in Android 6.0 Marshmallow.
Note: When using a memory card in this way, it cannot be used in other devices - i.e. It will be possible to remove it and connect it via a card reader to the computer (more precisely, to read the data) only after complete formatting.
Using an SD memory card as internal memory
Before you start setting up, transfer all important data from your memory card somewhere: it will be completely formatted during the process.
Further actions will look like this (instead of the first two points, you can click on “Configure” in the notification that a new SD card has been detected, if you have just installed it and such a notification is displayed):
This completes the process: if you go to the “Storage and USB drives” parameters, you will see that the space occupied in the internal memory has decreased, on the memory card it has increased, and the total amount of memory has also increased.
However, there are some features in the function of using an SD card as internal memory in Android 6 and 7 that may make using this feature impractical.
Features of the memory card working as internal Android memory
It can be assumed that when a memory card size M is added to Android's internal memory of N, the total available internal memory should become N+M. Moreover, approximately this is also displayed in the device storage information, but in fact everything works somewhat differently:
As a result, after the moment when the SD memory card began to be used as internal memory, the user does not have access to the “real” internal memory, and if we assume that the device’s own internal memory was larger than the MicroSD memory, then the amount of available internal memory after of the described actions will not increase, but decrease.
Formatting a memory card for use as internal storage in ADB
For Android devices where the function is not available, for example, on Samsung Galaxy S7-S9, Galaxy Note, It is possible to format the SD card as internal memory using ADB Shell.
Since this method can potentially lead to problems with the phone (and may not work on every device), I will skip the details on installing ADB, enabling USB debugging and running the command line in the adb folder (If you don’t know how to do this, then , perhaps it’s better not to take it. And if you take it, it’s at your own peril and risk).
Themselves necessary commands will look like this (memory card must be connected):
- adb shell
- sm list-disks(as a result of executing this command, pay attention to the issued disk identifier of the form disk:NNN,NN - it will be needed in the next command)
- sm partition disk:NNN,NN private
When formatting is complete, exit the adb shell, and on your phone, in the storage options, open the “SD card” item, click on the menu button at the top right and click “Transfer data” (this is required, otherwise the phone’s internal memory will continue to be used). Once the transfer is complete, the process can be considered complete.
Another option for such devices, if you have root access, is to use the Root Essentials application and enable Adoptable Storage in this application (a potentially dangerous operation, do not perform at your own risk on older versions of Android).
How to restore normal functioning of a memory card
If you decide to disconnect the memory card from the internal memory, this is easy to do - transfer all important data from it, then go to the SD card settings, just like in the first method.
Select "Portable media" and follow the instructions to format the memory card.
