SanDisk’s newly unveiled 400GB microSD card, the microSDXC Ultra UHS-I card is the largest SD Card & has the potential to revolutionize future tech and gadgets. The microSD card has also drawn attention for its resistance to water, temperature, shock and even X-rays — additional draws for those seeking more data storage on their smartphones.
With a record number of Americans owning smartphones, there’s no indication that smartphones are going away anytime soon. Over three-quarters of Americans now own a smartphone, something which SanDisk is well aware.
About a year before the 400GB microSD announcement, SanDisk released a 256GB microSD card which at the time was the fastest ever for its size. Ramping up storage on SD cards is an understandable priority for SanDisk, an American manufacturer of flash memory products owned by Western Digital.
The 400GB SD card will impact the way people use their mobile devices as well as future developments in the flash memory and mobile spheres.
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Broadening the Limits of Smartphones
SanDisk’s new microSD card is especially suitable for Android users. The 400GB can store as many as 40 hours of full HD video, making smartphones even more of an entertainment force than before. Additionally, rapid transfer times will make adding content to a smartphone seamless. The card’s read speed of 100 megabytes per second and write speed of 10 megabytes per second allows users to transfer files and load apps faster than ever.
The card also includes an SD adapter, which is useful for those implementing it as a standard SD card. The card is available through SanDisk and numerous retailers for a retail price of $250. With a reasonable price-tag, considering its capabilities, and its free 10-year warranty, which will make consumers feel confident about the purchase, SanDisk’s newest unveiling may become quite prevalent among smartphone users.
The card’s earned status as an App Performance Class A1 device, which essentially means the card runs apps quickly and securely, may also prompt other flash memory developers to abide by similar standards for fear of competition prevailing.
Cheaper Data Storage
Data storage isn’t exactly cheap. A proposed 512GB card from Microdia anticipates costing $1000 upon release, the date of which is presently unknown. In comparison, SanDisk’s new card for one-quarter of the price is a bargain, considering that the difference between 400GB and 512GB is not noticeable for most smartphone users. As record-breaking products tend to establish market value, it’s a good thing that SanDisk’s price for their new card isn’t even approaching a four-digit price tag.
Smartphone users already spend ample amounts of money on their phone plans and smartphones, so a $1000 card likely would not have seen the prevalence of use of SanDisk’s new microSD card will. $250 establishes a price that, while not cheap by any means, is not unfair either considering its speed and record-breaking storage capacity.
Increase in Consumer Control
Another benefit of flash devices with more storage is an improvement in consumer control. In the case of SanDisk’s new card, users can experience an updated SanDisk Memory Zone app, available for free on the Google Play store, which provides control over their mobile device’s memory storage. The app enables users to locate, transfer, organize and backup data, ranging from tagged content on social media to personal documents.
Increased space means more room for consumers to fully embrace their smartphone as a go-to media center and personalized data storage central, complete with security, flexibility, and speed that would not be possible without the storage advancements that SanDisk is achieving.
Flash memory will continue to grow in speed and data storage, enabling mobile devices to be used for more functions than ever before, from viewing high-definition movies on the fly to potentially even surpassing notebook and desktop computers as the ideal choice for data storage.
