What’s more, this card comes into its own on random read/write speed tests. Here, we saw the fastest performance we’ve seen from a microSD card, reaching speeds of over 12MB/sec. Other cards from Lexar, Kingston and Samsung are catching up, but this is still the speed king for app and game performance. Given that it’s only slightly more expensive than the basic Ultima Pro, that makes it one of the top options for smartphone or Switch use.

With the right card reader, the Professional High-Speed version of the Ultima Pro can be a serious speed demon. With Integral’s own high-speed card reader, we were disappointed with its 99MB/sec and 88MB/sec sequential read/write speeds, but in a third-party high-speed reader, we saw read performance leap to 173MB/sec, with sequential write speeds of 139MB/sec. That write speed is the fastest we’ve seen from a UHS-I card. As a result, those hunting for the perfect balance of price and performance don’t need to look any further, and spending just a little more will get you your card bundled with Samsung’s excellent 160MB/sec USB card reader. What more could you want? These standards cover the speed of the interface between the microSD card and your device (or memory card reader), as this can also limit the maximum speed of data transfers between the two. UHS-I has a maximum speed of 104MB/sec, and you’ll usually see a Roman numeral “I” beneath the U1 logo. UHS-II takes that up to 156MB/sec (with data transferring in both directions) or 312MB/sec (with data transferring in only one direction). On top of this, most cards now have a “V” (for video) rating, going from V6 all the way to V90, indicating write speeds of 6MB/sec to 90MB/sec. You need a V30 card to shoot 4K video at speeds of 60 to 120 frames per second, while V60 is the base level for shooting 8K video at 60fps. V90 is theoretically capable of handling 8K video at up to 120fps. However, given that only a handful of professional-grade cameras can offer that, and that they tend to use the larger CFexpress 2.0 cards for storage, this isn’t what you might call a must-have. The latest UHS-III standard is faster still, with speeds of up to 624MB/sec in both directions simultaneously, while the SD Express standard takes this up to a staggering 985MB/sec. However, neither standard seems to have taken off yet, either in terms of cards or the readers and devices to support them. Should I always buy the fastest card I can afford?

The best microSD cards to buy in 2023

Often, fast sequential speeds come at the expense of random read/write speeds, but the A2-class 1066x is an exception; it’s not as speedy as the Integral Ultima Pro Professional High-Speed card below, but it’s faster than the SanDisk Extreme Pro and Samsung Evo Plus on this count, making it a fine all-round performer. If you’re looking for a card that can run apps or cover video on your mid-range or high-end smartphone, you won’t get much better than this.

In other words, it’s a steal for smartphone and tablet users or anyone wanting more storage for their Switch, and still a good option for your average DSLR or compact camera. Unless you find the Ultima Pro Premium High Speed even cheaper, buy away. The best microSD cards to buy in 2023 1. Integral Ultima Pro Premium High Speed: Best-value microSD card at higher capacitiesHalfords supply a wide range of dash cam accessories to help you do just that. For your dash cam to work correctly it needs to be securely fitted to record your journey.

Having the correct dash cam cable clips to keep your cables tidy and secure is essential to make sure the dash cam cables are not flapping around and distracting you while driving.

One final thing we need to make clear is that speeds will depend on your microSD card reader. The reader built into your average laptop might not be capable of reading from or writing to the fastest cards at their full speed, and we’ve found huge variations in external readers, even those bundled with high-performance cards. If you’re investing in one of the faster microSD cards, grab the matching adaptor from the same manufacturer, or from a credible manufacturer like Lexar, SanDisk, Kingston or Integral. That goes double for UHS-II cards. What if I’m buying for an action camera or dashcam? If you are going to fit your dash cam yourself then you are going to need a dash cam installation kit. This will help you fit your camera yourself with the minimum of fuss.

Despite being rated faster than the Lexar 1000x, the Lexar Professional 1066x actually uses the slower UHS-I interface. This turns out not to be a big deal, though, as we still measured sequential read speeds of up to 157MB/sec and write speeds of 80MB/sec on our 64GB sample, with the faster 128GB to 512GB versions capable of over 120MB/sec. The Integral Ultima Pro might be cheap, but it’s still capable of respectable speeds. We logged its sequential read speeds at 96.1MB/sec and its sequential write speeds at 87.4MB/sec, although it came in slightly slower on our random read/write tests. With the increased use of dash cams becoming more common in everyday life, so is the need to keep them maintained and running smoothly as you drive. On the face of it, the SanDisk Extreme Pro seems overpriced. This U3, V30, UHS-I card is significantly more expensive than the Samsung and Integral competition at most capacities, and when tested on our SanDisk ImageMate Pro card reader it wasn’t any faster, at least on sequential read and write speeds, which were 96MB/sec and 85.4MB/sec respectively.