There are many different options available if you want to buy a microSD card, but which one of these lasts the longest? Tech enthusiast Matt Cole wanted to find out, so he set up a torture rig in 2023 to put various cards through their paces and recently released an update on the status of his project on the r/DataHoarder subreddit. Cole said that he has a total of 351 microSD cards in his collection coming from 52 different brands and 111 unique models. Of these, 177 have already been tested until they completely stopped working, have become read-only, or more than half of the sectors on the card have experienced verification failure. Another 107 units are currently being put through their paces, while a further 67 are waiting for a microSD card slot to open up.
Cole has so far tested 200 cards last year, meaning 84 microSD's have failed in the intervening months. While this might sound disastrous for any manufacturer, we should note that the testing conditions are quite extreme, and it’s rare that a user would find themselves in these circumstances. If you want to check out the raw data, Cole’s database is publicly viewable on his website, but he’s also shared some of his observations after three years of testing. First, he divided his microSD cards into three categories: consumer-grade, high-endurance, and industrial-grade. Consumer-grade microSD cards are the typical cards you can get off Amazon, while high-endurance models are often labeled as such (or some other similar wording). Lastly, industrial-grade microSD cards are those that are specifically designed for heavy-duty use and would often come with a data sheet and an endurance claim.
