Samsung's New microSD Cards Bring High Performance and Capacity, with Speeds of up to 800 MB/s and 1 TB in Size

[TheLostSwede]

Samsung Electronics, the world leader in advanced memory technology, today announced that it has started sampling its 256-gigabyte (GB) SD Express microSD card with sequential read speed of up to 800 megabytes per second (MB/s) and has commenced mass production of its 1-terabyte (TB) UHS-1 microSD card. With the introduction of its next-generation microSD card line-up, Samsung aims to provide differentiated memory solutions required for tomorrow's mobile computing and on-device AI applications.

"With our two new microSD cards, Samsung has provided effective solutions to address the growing demands of mobile computing and on-device AI," said Hangu Sohn, Vice President of the Memory Brand Product Biz Team at Samsung Electronics. "Despite their tiny size, these memory cards deliver powerful SSD-like performance and capacity to help users get more out of demanding modern and future applications."




Industry-First SD Express microSD Card Offers Maximum Speeds of 800 MB/s
For the first time in the industry, Samsung introduced a new high-performance microSD card based on the SD Express interface. The development was the result of a successful collaboration with a customer to create a custom product.

Thanks to its low-power design as well as firmware technology optimized for high-performance and thermal management, Samsung's SD Express microSD card offers performance equivalent to SSDs in a small form factor. While read speeds for traditional microSD cards based on the UHS-1 interface were limited to 104 MB/s, SD Express was able to boost it to 985 MB/s, although commercial availability of the latter were not viable in microSD cards until now.

The sequential read speed of Samsung's SD Express microSD card reaches up to 800 MB/s—1.4 times faster than SATA SSDs (up to 560 MB/s) and more than four times faster compared to traditional UHS-1 memory cards (up to 200 MB/s), allowing improved computing experiences in various applications, including PCs and mobile devices. To ensure stable performance and reliability for the small form factor, Dynamic Thermal Guard (DTG) technology maintains the optimum temperature for the SD Express microSD card, even during long usage sessions.

1 TB UHS-1 microSD Card With Cutting-Edge 1 Tb V-NAND
Samsung's new 1 TB microSD card stacks eight layers of the company's 8th generation 1-terabit (Tb) V-NAND within a microSD form factor, realizing the high-capacity package that used to be possible only in SSDs. The new 1 TB microSD card passes the industry's most rigorous test settings and offers reliable usage even in challenging environments, with features such as water protection, extreme temperature, drop-proof design, wear-out protection, as well as X-ray and magnetic protection.

Availability
The 256 GB SD Express microSD card will be made available for purchase later this year, and the 1 TB UHS-1 microSD card is set to launch within the third quarter of this year.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site | Source

 

[theouto]

That sounds ridiculous for a microSD card, I wonder how well they hold up under a sustained load.

 

[dgianstefani]

Neat, if I hadn't just bought a 256 GB Pro Ultimate card I'd be interested.

The capacity/form factor microSD has these days is amazing.

 

[Ferrum Master]

Anyone seen the pin side of the Express card?

 

[The Quim Reaper]

The development was the result of a successful collaboration with a customer to create a custom product.

...Nintendo?

The Switch successor desperately needs faster SD card storage. This could be it.

 

[Readlight]

Can photos survive 2000 years?

 

[AnarchoPrimitiv]

I'm interested to see what kind of $/GB these will have....obviously there'll be a markup.

 

[Chaitanya]

There are couple of readers and cards out already but there doesnt seem to be any adoption of these from industry and it feels like with advent of CFx-A, SD Express has ended up being a DOA. There are far too many limitations on this format with regards to backwards compatibility making them quite unapealing.

Anyone seen the pin side of the Express card?

Here is old article about SD Express announcement explaining pin-out, also have attached a white paper from 3 years back on these cards.

SD Association Announces SD 7.0 Spec & SD Express Interface: PCIe + NVMe, Up to 985 MB/s

www.anandtech.com

 

[kondamin]

There are couple of readers and cards out already but there doesnt seem to be any adoption of these from industry and it feels like with advent of CFx-A, SD Express has ended up being a DOA. There are far too many limitations on this format with regards to backwards compatibility making them quite unapealing.

Here is old article about SD Express announcement explaining pin-out, also have attached a white paper from 3 years back on these cards.

SD Association Announces SD 7.0 Spec & SD Express Interface: PCIe + NVMe, Up to 985 MB/s

www.anandtech.com

CFex a is as unappealing as a format can be, i don't understand why sony picked that over B

 

[Chaitanya]

CFex a is as unappealing as a format can be, i don't understand why sony picked that over B

Compact size and performance better than that of the best V90 rated SD Cards so it was understandable why Sony went with CFx-A compared to B given they have obsession with making cameras as small as they can be to detriment of ergonomics. Problem with that format is lack of wider adoption from competition while when it comes to micro SD UHS-II and now SD Express(both full size and micro) is there is 0 adoption from the industry(every one is neglecting it not just imaging sector).

 

[Fishymachine]

Can photos survive 2000 years?

Assuming they don't use the worst possible NAND flash, it should withstand 200, maybe 400 years. A single millennium... I suppose enterprise tier SLC could survive it, but not an SD card, 2 would need ceramic packaging, binning and a lot of luck

 

[Philaphlous]

UHS-1...pass... This is the major factor holding back all this mobile storage... UHS-1 is SO SLOW! Basically HDD speeds or slower.

 

[phints]

...Nintendo?

The Switch successor desperately needs faster SD card storage. This could be it.

Good call this is almost certainly it. We could certainly doubt it's the Raspberry Pi 5

 

[LabRat 891]

NVMe drives, in the size of your thumbnail.

Sometimes... this timeline, ain't so bad.

 

[R-T-B]

Can photos survive 2000 years?

Can you?

 

[LabRat 891]

Can photos survive 2000 years?

If someone is serious about archiving for future generations, there's Optane and M-Discs.
Beyond that, I'm not aware of any consumer-facing storage mediums that have much any chance at retaining data for a millennia+ (let alone 10-25+years.) Even, Optical Disks have a high-rate of decay; 'factory pressed' outlasting most-all -R or -R/W varieties.

Regarding NAND:
I've not seen a datasheet on modern pSLC, MLC, and TLC NAND that has more than a 1-3year specified data retention. (IIRC, I'd ran across older true SLC NAND w/ 5+year rated retention)

Anecdotally, after 3-5years unpowered, it's a crapshoot on what retains and what corrupts.
(I've had more than 1 SATA SSD left unpowered for 2+years, become painfully slow to read until reformatted)

Beyond 10years, data loss is expected. NAND bitrots, period.
(Note: older, lower-density, larger-node, NAND, seems to retain data much longer. 10+ year old devices with flash onboard for basic functions, seem generally 'okay' still)

 

[sephiroth117]

That sounds ridiculous for a microSD card, I wonder how well they hold up under a sustained load.

not really if we are talking of a nintendo switch 2 or a 4k/8k/4k wide field of view uncompressed raw data in a camera

games on a console can easily benefit from the 800+ mbps for sure

 

[Ferrum Master]

If someone is serious about archiving for future generations, there's Optane and M-Discs.

Optane is dead... market was weird again and we went for Pentium4 esque route for useless linear write speeds and coincidentally high temps and still trusting with data on those suckers...

We need to invest in tape drives... again

 

[HisDivineOrder]

"Up to" is the stuff of nightmares. At least it gives us a hint of what Switch 2 will be doing next year.

 

[LabRat 891]

Can photos survive 2000 years?

Can you?

...archiving for future generations...

NAND Flash Cartridges/Cards like SD, CF, etc. (and SSDs) are not intended for "Archiving". These cards are 100% intended for actively used "In-Service" devices.
SDexpress, is here to address the needs of High-Speed and/or High-Resolution media capture devices, (and hopefully soon) smartphones, tablet PCs, gaming handhelds, etc.

TBQH, these new "Thumbnail Sized NVMe SSDs" aren't the most exciting part.
It's the fact that there'll be more devices with exposed PCIe lanes.
Let the hacking, commence

Optane is dead... market was weird again and we went for Pentium4 esque route for useless linear write speeds and coincidentally high temps and still trusting with data on those suckers...

We need to invest in tape drives... again

Optane is not "dead", I just bought 2+ 58GB and 4x 118GB P1600Xs w/in the last year (and there are Gen4x4 U.2 offerings in the high-end server/industrial-only space.
In-theme however, you are correct; Intel has decided to make 3DXPoint a "dead end".

The 3D Cross Point/Ovonic/Ovonyx Phase Change Memory Technology however, is well-proven and (the latter) used in mission-critical aerospace.
Put simply, it has more benefits than mere rnd4k and write-endurance.
I'm not sure why, but Intel made some conscious decisions to NOT fully market Optane (even w/in the pro/server/industrial fields).


100% agree on the tape drives. Magnetic Tape's 'endurance' is based mostly around its storage conditions. (IIRC, Magnetic Media storage should last as long as the substrate.)

Contrary to many gamer-enthusiasts' beliefs, "Tape Storage" never went away, and has been generationally improving.

IMO, LTO(Ultrium) is most accessible to an End User but, Many-TB through 1+PB Magnetic (and hybrid) Tape Media Systems do exist.

 

[Luke357]

Optane is dead... market was weird again and we went for Pentium4 esque route for useless linear write speeds and coincidentally high temps and still trusting with data on those suckers...

We need to invest in tape drives... again

Optane, while very much dead is great. I had a bog standard 500GB NVME as a boot drive and I switched to a 280GB 900p and it is noticeably faster in Windows and it fixed the infamous (and supposedly unfixable) Fortnite stutter. I hope to buy a p5800x one day if the prices ever drop.

 

[Ferrum Master]

Optane, while very much dead is great. I had a bog standard 500GB NVME as a boot drive and I switched to a 280GB 900p and it is noticeably faster in Windows and it fixed the infamous (and supposedly unfixable) Fortnite stutter. I hope to buy a p5800x one day if the prices ever drop.

Optane is not "dead", I just bought 2+ 58GB and 4x 118GB P1600Xs w/in the last year (and there are Gen4x4 U.2 offerings in the high-end server/industrial-only space.

I am still using my 900p too. Nothing comes close to it. I would love to find Optane SSD 905P Series - M.2 22110 380GB version somewhere.

Tape is good... but even LTO8 is expensive... damn shame... Voyager2 still reads its code from a tape drive made in 1977, so... it makes a certain point.

 

[LabRat 891]

Speaking towards my point on PCIe exposure on coming devices:
Y'all realize that Optane drives *are* NVMEs, right?

Just as you can, and have been able to do w/ CFe, etc.

One should* easily (or, affordably. one/other, TBQH) adapt Optane and other M.2 NVME SSDs into a given SDexpress device. *It "should" be a 'simple-matter' of adapting the PCIe PHY from SDe to M.2 M-Key.

Even for the low-budget Content Creator or New Handheld Homebrewer, having some very fast, durable storage, could be attractive. -or, just go big+cheap, and let TRIM do its job