The best microSD cards in 2026

Engadget has been testing and reviewing consumer tech since 2004. Our stories may include affiliate links; if you buy something through a link, we may earn a commission. Read more about how we evaluate products . Engadget Jeff Dunn for Engadget The SanDisk microSD Express Card and Lexar Play Pro.(Jeff Dunn for Engadget) The Lexar Play Pro on top of Lexar's RW540 microSD Express card reader.(Jeff Dunn for Engadget) Samsung Unlike traditional UHS-I cards, a microSD Express card like the SanDisk model on the right comes with a second row of pins to enable its improved performance.(Jeff Dunn for Engadget) A few of the microSD card readers we've used for testing.(Jeff Dunn for Engadget) The best microSD cards in 2026 We put several microSD cards through a range of tests to figure out which offer the best value for your storage needs. Most microSD cards are fast enough for stashing photos, recording video and transferring files, but some will get you a little more bang for your buck than others. If you’re looking to boost the storage of your Nintendo Switch 2 , Steam Deck , GoPro or any other device that still accepts microSD cards, we can help. We’ve thoroughly researched the market and several cards through a suite of benchmark tests. Here are the best that we’ve tested, along with some general advice on what to look for when buying a new card. Table of contents Best microSD cards of 2026 Storage capacity : 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB | Speed classes : U3, V30, A2, Class 10 | Warranty : Lifetime limited A good UHS-I card is quick enough for most people’s needs, and the Lexar Professional Silver Plus is the best value of the ones we’ve tested. Paired with Lexar’s USB card reader , it consistently delivered faster sequential reads and writes than any other UHS-I model across our benchmark tests. It’s rated for read speeds up to 205 MB/s and write speeds up to 150 MB/s, both of which are relatively high to begin with, but we found the latter to reach into the 180-190 MB/s range in synthetic benchmarks like CrystalDiskMark, ATTO and AJA. Our 12GB test folder wrote to the card in 76 seconds on average, which was roughly 30 seconds quicker than the Samsung Pro Plus and Samsung Pro Ultimate, our two previous top picks. It effectively tied the Pro Ultimate to lead all UHS-I cards we’ve tried in reading that test file back to our PC. (That one averaged about 67 seconds, if you’re keeping score at home.) Both Samsung cards and a few others beat the Silver Plus in some random performance benchmarks, though it was still plenty competitive in that regard. Either way, it has all the requisite ratings - U3, V30, A2 - and it’s more than speedy enough for working with 4K videos or moving files between devices without major delays (so long as you have a reader and/or host device that can enable those max speeds). The...

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