Lexar has announced the Armor Gold series of memory cards, a virtually indestructible SD card with a stainless-steel construction that is 37 times stronger than typical SD cards and can withstand a crushing force of 370 Newtons. In contrast, regular plastic cards tend to break at around 10 Newtons of pressure. In addition to being physically strong, the stainless steel build bestows the card with superb heat dissipation performance, able to operate in a temperature range of -25ºC to 85ºC (-13ºF to 185ºF).
The card is IPX8 water-resistance rated, IPX6 dust-resistance rated, and can withstand a 5m drop, so it should operate flawlessly in the harshest environments. It features an anti-magnetic and anti-static build with X-ray protection and is UV-proof. Laser-engraving ensures that important information does not wear off, as can be the case with printed cards. A ribless design ensures that there are no flimsy elements to break off and there's no fragile write-protect switch either – a largely redundant feature of SD cards that have a nasty habit of failing and which no one ever uses anyway.
