My millennial brain can't still comprehend how something THIS small could pack so much space and speed.
This is the Lexar Play Pro 1-terabyte microSD Express Card, with a read speed of up to 900 megaBYTES per second. Not megabits, megaBYTES. For those who don't know, merong 8 bits in 1 byte. So 900 megabytes translate to 7.2Gigabits/second. That's very close to the read speed of your average portable SSD!
The fact that we're comparing it to portable SSDs instead of microSD cards should tell you something. Because though it takes the form of a microSD card, technologically, it acts more like a solid state drive, combining both PCI-Express and NVMe interfaces.
This explains why it's kinda hard to find microSD Express cards lately, it isn't so easy to manufacture for now. But boy should they hurry up in making more!
Now, where can you use this? The first that comes to mind is the Nintendo Switch 2, which requires the read speed to run its games. It's what makes faster loading times and loading higher-res assets on time possible. As a matter of fact, a quick test online showed that Mario Kart World loads faster in MicroSD Express than in a physical game card (Watch it here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUQnJaEh-bA)! If you're planning on going all digital this console generation, I think it's a good idea to equip your Switch 2 with this one.
We've been talking about Read Speed, but its Write Speed is nothing to scoff at as well. 600 Megabytes per second. For context, the highest video recording format in iPhones is ProRes HQ at 4K, 120fps, and that has a bitrate of 400Megabytes per second. That is why iPhones often require an SSD for recording professional videos. The next fastest SD Cards, UHS-II, can only write as fast as 312 Megabytes per second, and that's only in theory.
So yes, I bet SD Card Express will find its way into more cameras in the coming future.
Obviously, this kind of speed in such a small package comes at a price. The SRP of the 1TB microSD Express card in the Philippines hasn't been announced yet. But in the States, it's said to cost around 220 US dollars, before tax. Give or take a few thousand, that's how much it will probably cost here, plus VAT. That's around twice as expensive as a 1TB portable SSD. But hey, this microSD Express Card is almost as fast, but multiple times tinier than portable SSDs. I dare say it's reasonable. But hopefully, as it becomes more widespread and mainstream, prices for it go down accordingly.
There's also the question of SUSTAINED speed and heat. I'll get back to you on that in a future post
So there you go, the Play Pro microSD Express Card by Lexar. Small as a fingernail, fast as an SSD, and until demand goes down, it's gonna be pretty hard to secure a terabyte. Be on a lookout; I heard it's gonna be available soon sa atin mga suking gaming stores and IT shops.
Til next time!
#NintendoSwitch2 #LexarPhilippines #Gaming #Gadgets #Tech #DataStorage #Lexar