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Find the right SD memory card for your device
Use our guide to find out what type of SD memory card you need for your SD enabled digital camera, MP3 player, cell phone, and more!

How much can an SD memory card hold?
Use our handy charts to determine how many photos, music, and videos you can store on a given SD memory card.

Home » Consumers » Find the Right SD Memory Card

Find the Right SD Memory Card

What Card Works Best with Your Device?

  SD miniSD microSD
Full Size
(Up to 2GB)
SD miniSD microSD
High Capacity
(4GB to 32GB)
SDHC miniSDHC microSDHC
Extended Capacity
(Over 32GB up to 2TB)
SDXC   microSDXC

SD memory cards come in a variety of speed classes and three different physical sizes: SD, miniSD, and microSD. The SD card is typically used in personal computers, video cameras, digital cameras and other large consumer electronics devices. The microSD and miniSD cards are commonly used in smaller electronic devices like mobile phones. Some manufacturers offer adapters to fit a traditional SD card slot, allowing even greater versatility and flexibility to use the card in a mobile phone as well as a computer or video camera.

To determine the right card for your device, always consult the device's user manual or contact the manufacturer. All SD memory card formats are readily available in the marketplace and can be found in a range of retail outlets including drug stores, electronics and computer shops and Internet sites.

Choosing the Best Card - What Memory Capacity do I Need?

SD memory cards come in a variety of memory capacities designed to fit your needs and budget. The next-generation SD memory card specification, SDXC, offers the greatest memory capacity and UHS SDHC and SDXC products offer the fastest performance. Your device's users manual may help you select the memory that is right for your device. You can also determine the best memory capacity based on how you plan to use the card. For cameras, consider the picture resolution of every photo, and for your MP3 player, the bit-rate required for smooth playback. Take a look at our reference chart that illustrates the various storage capacities.

  2 GB 4 GB 8 GB 16 GB 32 GB
Movies
(Hi-def movie recording MPEG-4. H.264)
Fine mode (13Mbps/CBR) 20 min. 40 min. 80 min. 160 min. 320 min.
Normal mode (9Mbps/VBR) 30 min. 60 min. 120 min. 240 min. 480 min.
Economy mode (6Mbps/VBR) 45 min. 60 min. 180 min. 360 min. 720 min.
Photos
10 Megapixels, 3648x2736, Fine mode 770 photos 1,540 photos 3,080 photos 6,160 photos 12,320 photos
Music
ACC, MP3 HQ mode, 128Kbps 34 hr. 7 min. 68 hr. 14 min. 136 hr. 27 min. 272 hr. 54 min. 545 hr. 48 min.

* All numbers are approximate. Actual storage will depend on size of data and compression used.

How to Pick the Best Speed

For greatest performance, users should pair their devices with the corresponding SD memory card. Your device user's manual will help you select the SD memory card performance that will maximize your device performance.