Best SD Cards 2022: the finest memory cards for your video or stills camera
Searching for the best SD cards for your camera? You've come to the right place. We've speed-tested, reviewed and ranked all of the best choices around for stills and video cameras in this regularly updated guide. (Looking for the best microSD cards? Check out our separate buying guide on those).
SD cards (short for Secure Digital) have been the most popular form of flash memory for digital files for some time now, and are most closely associated with cameras and audio kit. Since they arrived in back in 1999, there have been some major changes to the way they're manufactured – and we've also seen the arrival of new performance classifications.
But what exactly do all these numbers, classes and letters mean? Deciphering all of the technical jargon can be a pain, but this guide is here to show you what to look for when choosing the right SD card for your camera. The first thing to decide is how much memory you'll need, but after that there are some extra factors to bear in mind.
Choosing the best SD card isn't just a case of finding the one with the biggest numbers on it. These numbers are a good indicator of size and speed, even intended purpose (for example, stills or video recording) but manufacturers often emphasize the best possible outcome. On the other hand, real-world tests, as we’ve done here, show the card performance you’re more likely to receive on a day-to-day basis.
Our number one pick for the title of best SD card right now is the Transcend SDXC UHS-II U3. It delivered better-than-claimed transfers speeds on test, has a good range of card sizes from 16GB all the way up to 256GB, and is shock-proof, waterproof, X-ray proof and more. It’s a card that should keep up with you whether you’re in the desert shooting 8K video or halfway up a snowy mountain capturing rapid fire high-resolution stills.
However, there are plenty of other good cards in this list that we’ve put through rigorous testing. In the interest of fairness, we tested our cards by first formatting them with the SD Memory Card Formatter available from the SD Association.
Want a quick primer on the main things to look for when choosing an SD card? Use the link on the side to jump down to that handy section. But right now, we're going to get stuck straight into our list of the best SD cards you can buy.
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THE BEST SD CARDS IN 2022
Our stand-out best SD card is the Transcend SDXC UHS-II U3. With a Class 10, V90, U3 and UHS-II rating, we thought it would be fast enough to capture almost anything modern devices could throw at it, but we weren’t expecting the speed results we got.
The Transcend did superbly in its speed tests, excelling the claimed write speed (180MB/s) with a whopping 224MB/s, but falling slightly short on the read speed with 224MB/s. Overall, that makes this card an impressive buy at a reasonable cost. This card is ideal for high resolution, rapid-fire stills photography and 8K video, with 4K and HD video being recorded comfortably, too.
Add that to the card's waterproofing, shock proofing, plus the fact that it’s X-ray proof, temperature resistant and static proof, and we have a card that is designed for use in almost any conditions. At such a reasonable price we’re mightily impressed with it – the only thing it seems it can’t do is stop a bullet.
Next on our list is the Extreme Pro SDXC UHS-1 from renowned SD card manufacturer SanDisk. As part of a team of manufacturers that came together to introduce standardization of the SD card market, we’re getting a good, reliable card at a decent price.
While our speed tests show quite a dip in performance when compared to claimed speeds (with our tests revealing a write speed of 63.6MB/s and a read speed of 65.9MB/s), for the money it’s still a very solid buy. Suitable for users that want to shoot stills and some 4K video, you can’t go wrong with the Extreme Pro UHS-I.
For added peace of mind, the card comes with a warranty direct from SanDisk giving you a lifetime guarantee should any fault arise (and by lifetime, they mean 30 years). Not bad, considering we probably won’t even need SD cards that far into the future.
Since Lexar’s announcement of the world’s first consumer 1TB SD card back in 2019, there have been several manufacturers that have jumped into the game. However, Lexar is renowned for its memory card line-up and the 633X UHS-I performs well under scrutiny.
While the higher capacity cards increase in price exponentially, the 633x appears in sizes as small as 16GB, making it suitable for a wide range of photographers and videographers alike who require all kinds of capacities for casual or professional use. Its write speed is a little slow compared to other UHS-I cards in this class range, but it’s good value for money and the V30/U3 class listing means it’s still suitable for up to 4K UHD video recording.
Actual transfer speeds under testing churned out a write speed of 33MB/s and read speed of 82MB/s; not too bad, but the write speed is close to the minimum V30 classification on the label, so that's worth bearing that in mind if write speeds are important to your work.
Considering the low price these cards go for, they’re surprisingly well protected against the elements. According to PNY’s internal testing, the Elite Performance SDXC line-up is magnet-proof, shock-proof, temperature-proof and waterproof. This makes it an ideal card for users who want a rugged memory card that can withstand the elements.
Being UHS-I, the Elite Performance is slightly slower than its bigger brothers. With an advertised read speed up to 100MB/s, it fell short of this on our tests at just 65.7MB/s, with read speeds much slower, averaging 20.8MB/s. However, for the average shooter who needs a durable card to capture some stills and a bit of HD video, you can’t really go wrong for the price. If you’re in need of a quick memory fix and need up to 128GB of the stuff, then the PNY Elite performance might be for you.
From one of the biggest names in the SD card industry, the SanDisk Extreme PRO SDXC UHS-II is limited to a maximum of 128GB in card capacity, but its read and write speeds speak for themselves. Ideal for 4K and even 8K video capture and continuous burst shooting with high-resolution stills in raw and JPEG format, our tests revealed that it performed just around 30MB/s slower than the claimed speeds, with an actual read speed of 268MB/s and write speed of 233MB/s.
Still, the fast V90 and UHS Speed Class 3 (U3) transfer speeds make this card ideal for users that are capturing fast-paced action or sports stills photography, or who require high-resolution video capture. The card is fully waterproof, temperature proof, shock proof, and X-ray proof to ensure peace of mind when traveling, too.
Thanks to the UHS-II technology in the 2000X, we can rely on this card for fast read and write speeds. Though slightly more expensive than its competitors, the Lexar name is known for reliability and consistency in performance when it comes to memory cards.
In our real-world tests, we found that the read and write speeds fared significantly better than other cards in its class. It only dipped 19MB/s shy of the claimed write speed at 241MB/s, making it ideal for larger data transfer such as 4K or 8K video recording, with the read speed only lagging slightly behind at 253MB/s.
For stills, this would benefit sports and wildlife photographers, or indeed any discipline that requires rapid bursts of high-resolution photographs. It'll also work nicely for filmmakers needing to capture 4K and 8K on cameras, as it’s one of the fastest in this guide, as shown by its V90 classification.
The Sony SF-G Series Tough UHS-II stands out from the crowd by bringing some extra ruggedness claims, for a price premium. Branded as dirt, dust, water, and grime-proof by Sony, it’s also purported to be 18x stronger than standard cards thanks to a unique resin-moulded design, which can be felt easily in the hand. It also has a noticeable protective protrusion at the rear.
In our tests, the actual write speeds came back with 246MB/s and with read speeds of 251MB/s – very impressive. This SD card is undoubtedly a little more expensive, but when you consider it’s designed with professional use in mind, it’s a card you can likely take into any situation with a little more peace of mind, whether up an icy mountain or into a sandy desert.
The smallest capacity version of the 1667X SDXC UHS-II is 64GB, which might be a problem for some photographers and videographers who are still shooting slightly lower resolution content or want to grab a small backup card such as a 32GB. However, a UHS-II classification means this card can handle up to 4K video recording and with that comes some hefty files, so it’s no wonder there’s no 32GB version.
Matching the claimed read speeds almost exactly at 254MB/s, the 1667X does well when compared to the claimed transfer speeds. Write speeds did drop by about 20% to 101MB/s, which is similar to or better than other cards in this roundup. Consistency, fast speeds and a limited lifetime warranty make the 1667X a very desirable option for creatives who need to capture scenes at higher resolutions.
With capacity starting at 16GB, this is a brilliant option for those who need an inexpensive backup card to throw in their camera bag – and it doesn't lag too far behind the others in real world performance, either.
Our SanDisk Extreme SD UHS-I V3 tests saw write speeds live up to its claims, matching them almost exactly at 71.6MB/s. But as with most other cards on this list, the read speeds leave a bit to be desired, coming in at almost half the claimed speed, 71.6MB/s. All can be forgiven, though, bearing in mind the extremely low cost of these cards, especially while still offering such high capacity to users at up to 256GB sizes.
As is standard with all SanDisk cards, there’s a lifetime warranty, plus it’s shock-proof, waterproof, temperature-proof, X-ray proof and is also classed as UHS speed class 3 and video speed class 3, making it ideal for high-resolution photography and 4K UHD video.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR WHEN CHOOSING AN SD CARD
What SD card speed do I need?
Choosing a new SD card can be confusing with so many classes and speeds available. The main figures to focus on are the 'write' speeds and (to a lesser extent) 'read' speeds. While the main figure on the front of card is likely to be its theoretical 'read' speed (measured in MB/s, or MegaBytes per second), this only tells you how fast you can copy photos to your computer in ideal settings. The more useful number for telling you how quickly your camera can record images to your SD card is the 'write' speed (also measured in MB/s). Faster write speeds are particularly important for shooting sports or action in burst mode.
Card classifications like V30 or U3 are just categorizations of these speeds. There are three main classes: Speed Class (denoted with a number in a circle), UHS Speed Class (a number in an open beaker-like icon), and a Video Speed Class (V followed by a number). The numbers indicate the minimum writing speed when put under data transfer. Speed class is categorized into Class 2 (a minimum write speed of 2MB/s), Class 4 (4MB/s), Class 6 (6MB/s), and 10 (10MB/s). Choosing the best one for your camera depends on your camera's resolution, buffer size and burst shooting speeds. An additional clue is the UHS Speed Class rating, which is U1 or U3. U1 means it can write a minimum of 10MB/s (like Class 10), while U3 pushes the write speed up to a minimum of 30MB/s. More interested in shooting video? The Video Speed Classes are V6, V10, V30, V60, and V90, with V6 suitable for standard definition video recording and V90 capable of 8K video capture. 4K UHD video recording will require a minimum of V10 ideally, and HD video can utilize V6 or below at a push.
How we test SD cards
It’s all well and good comparing card read and write speeds by comparing the numbers on the label, but this rarely gives an accurate account of how well they actually perform in the real world. So we’ve tested them out using specialist speed-tracking software to calculate more realistic data transfer speeds.
We do this by first formatting all cards into the same format system to make sure things are fair from the off. That way, speeds can’t be influenced by the storage system in place on the card. Next we run a storage media testing software on each card which works by filling up the entirety of the card with data and reading it back off the card. This tests both write and read speeds in the same process to give reliable, real-world results that we’d expect to see when shooting photos or videos.
This is a much fairer way to measure transfer speeds between cards. Trying to test speeds by using a device would introduce anomalies. For example, using a DSLR on burst mode and taking photos would firstly take a long time to fill up a large capacity card. Then you have to take into account not every frame will be exactly the same as light levels and colors affect the size of the file capture. Not to mention the time it would take to run it through every card. You’d also be wearing out devices before their usable lifetime, so we use speed-tracking software instead.
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