Hey, it’s Andrew with Car Cam Central
and this is our 2019 update
of the best microSD cards for dash cams
The biggest change is replacing older, planar
aka flat memory construction
with 3D, layered architecture
This makes cards cheaper by increasing density
and more durable because memory cells are bigger
Our top pick is the
$20 USD 64GB Samsung Pro Endurance
It uses 64-layer MLC construction
which doubles lifespan
versus our former recommendations
As well a big price drop in April
makes it far more appealing
It also has the best lifespan and warranty
of all consumer endurance cards right now
Endurance is important as all SD cards
are slowly damaged when saving videos
and eventually fail
causing your camera to stop working
You want to choose an endurance card
they are optimized to record longer before failing
and have technology to ensure
video files are properly saved without corruption
For those who need a 128GB or larger card
on a budget
the Samsung EVO Plus
or the new Sandisk Ultra A1 are ok picks
These are made from cheaper TLC NAND
which means they will likely fail early
versus endurance cards
Still
these cards use 3D construction
making them more durable than our
former budget recommendations
The rest of this review goes deeper
on why endurance cards are worth spending more
and when budget models are a good idea
If you already trust us
and just want to buy a new card
see the description below this video
for any updates from changing prices
and new products being released
as well as a summary of our recommendations
and good retailers so you’ll avoid counterfeits
For disclosure, this is not a sponsored video and we’ve purchased all the cards at full
retail price
With that out of the way, let’s talk memory cards
[Intro Music]
This is a memory cell
one of many in your microsd card which holds data
When your dash cam erases older videos
the cell is hit with a charge of electricty
which slowly damages it
Eventually
the memory cell stops working
When enough cells die,
the card’s controller will permanently
prevent new video files from being written
Your micro sdcard no longer works
and your camera stops recording
Endurance cards use multiple technologies
to increase lifespan and reduce data corruption
ensuring your videos are properly saved
Pause for a summary
You can also read more in our article if you’re interested
Samsung now leads the field for lifespan
Their card uses 64-layer 3D MLC construction
to double the lifespan over our former Transcend
and Sandisk Endurance picks
Still
it’s important to know that lifespan ratings
are an average
Some cards fail quickly
because of manufacturing defects,
others last much longer than expected
That explains how some users
with 16GB no-name cards can last years without failing
sometimes you just get lucky
and get an exceptionally well made card
For the majority though
using the usual consumer cards will fail quickly
and most companies will deny a warranty
when used in a dash cam
For example
Samsung’s EVO Plus has a 10-year warranty
but the fine print will say
it’s not valid for dash cam use
Endurance cards always have a warranty
You can even save money as you won't have to buy
a new card if it fails during use
For our Samsung pick
we chose the larger 64GB size
as it gives superior peace of mind
for a few dollars more
Still
if you need to save money
get the smaller 32GB card
and not some generic brand
You’ll have at least 2 hours of recording time
on even our most data-hungry dash cams
which is more than enough
if you get a traffic ticket or into an accident
The Pro Endurance also comes in a 128GB size
the extended recording time
5-year warranty and endurance are nice
but not necessary for most drivers
These larger cards are only needed
for parking mode users and professional drivers
to respond to complaints about their driving
Our runner up pick is Sandisk’s High Endurance card
Launched in 2015
it’s been proven reliable over the years
with great worldwide availability
and it still works well with all our
recommended cameras in 2019
It’s a good alternative if Samsung’s Pro Endurance
is out of stock or overpriced in places like Australia
Still
there’s are drawbacks as it has a
significantly reduced endurance rating
and slower read speed
with a price similar to Samsung
Looking at card speed
in 2019 it’s not an issue
Nearly all cards sold meet the recommended specs
of Class 10 or UHS-1
which is at least
10 megabytes per second written to the SD card
These are fast enough
for even the most demanding cameras
like the 2-channel 4K Blackvue DR900S
Some cards are rated even faster
at U3 or the new V30 format
but higher speeds won’t improve the
performance of your dash cam
Let’s talk about our budget recommendations
for 128GB and larger cards
the Samsung EVO Plus, EVO Select
and the new Sandisk Ultra A1
Only at these larger sizes
is the price difference big enough to make
a budget option worth considering
However
as we were making this review Kingston
Western Digital and Sandisk
launched new high endurance models
While none have better performance
than Samsung, they could replace our
runner-up endurance and budget picks in the future
Specifically, the new Sandisk High Endurance
as it has a cheap 128GB
and one of the first 256GB endurance models
Keep an eye out in the description for updates
as we’ll need to test these cards out
before recommending them
Going back to our current budget picks
we think all both cards are equally good
We used reliability reports from Street Guardian
and BlackBoxMyCar who have sold thousands
which gives us data to say they have performed well
but not enough to say which is better
Hopefully, that explains how we used data to choose
these cards versus the other cards on the market
without an endurance rating
A few details to mention
the Select is a rebranded EVO Plus
exclusively made for Amazon
It’s the same hardware on the inside
Be aware of an older EVO Plus model
which is slower at U1 compared to U3
of the modern version
As well the Ultra A1 is a completely different card
and much improved over the the 2016 version
we said was, and still is terrible
In 2019 there are still counterfeit cards on the market
When buying
check if the seller is well known and trustworthy
especially if you are buying off of eBay and Aliexpress
Even Amazon you should check as the seller
can unexpectedly change
We cover a lot more details in the article
and it has a summary of our recommendations
Link in the description
So that’s it
share this video with other dash cam users you know
as they could be using a bad card
We’ve heard of too many people only noticing
their camera doesn’t work after getting a ticket
or into an accident
We also have a facebook page
where we post updates on what we’re doing
Thanks for watching and drive safe