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I still remember my first computer storage device, an external hard drive for a Mac Plus. It was the size of a small VCR, held 20MB and it seemed like it was more storage then anyone would ever need until the end of time.

This last week I have been testing a SanDisk 16GB MicroSD card, kindly provided by our friends at SanDisk. Where once I was so impressed by 20MB the size of a bread box, I now take the fact that 16,000MB can be held on a card smaller then my fingernail to be commonplace. We have certainly come a long way in terms of solid state data storage and SanDisk has consistently innovated and is still one of the companies creating and pushing advances in NAND technology.

The MicroSDHC format is now widely accepted through out the mobile industry, and it’s small size and infinitesimal weight make the format perfect for mobile phones and other small handheld devices. Originally called TransFlash and developed by SanDisk (I still have one of their earliest 32MB models), these memory cards and the NAND tech behind them make devices such as smartphones possible.

So how does the new 16GB MicroSDHC card from SanDisk stand up to it’s noble ancestors? Quite well, to be sure. The card I tested is Class 2, meaning it must have a minimum write speed of 2MB. As you will be able to see from the speed tests below, conducted using Flash Memory Toolkit 1.2 and a SanDisk MobileMate card reader, the 16GB MicroSDHC far exceeds the minimums for it’s class.

Above are the read/write speeds for the SanDisk 16GB MicroSDHC Card. All in all quite impressive considering that this is a Class 2 card which requires a minimum of 2000K a second write speed. This card well surpasses the minimums, with an average write speed of 5349 KB/s.

Above are the read/write speeds for the SanDisk 8GB Ultra MicroSDHC card. As can be expected, write speeds are much faster for the Ultra card which is a class 8, meaning a minimum of 8000k a second write speed. However, I was impressed that the read speeds are more or less consistent for the 8GB Ultra and 16GB cards. In fact, the 16GB reads a little bit faster then it’s smaller, class 8 cousin.

This may be a fairer test of the 16GB card’s speed. Above are the speeds for another class 2 card, a 2GB DaneElec MicroSD. Clearly inferior to both the 16GB and 8GB Ultra cards, save for read speeds on the larger files. Write speeds however are slower across the board though still over the minimums, with an average of 3746 KB/s, one and a half MB slower then the 16GB Class 2 SanDisk card.

Lastly just for context I tested a standard 4GB flash drive. about 2 years old. It’s read speeds are consistent with the MicroSD cards but the write speed is horrible.

The SanDisk 16GB MicroSDHC card should serve any purpose that requires large amounts of data storage, such as watching video on a smartphone. I would suggest that a faster card with a higher class, such as Class 6 or Class 8 may be more suitable if you need very rapid access or paging, but you certainly can’t go wrong with this Class 2 card for general use. SanDisk has always made quality memory products and this card is no exception. I can give it a solid recommendation.

Zealot (469 Posts) - Website | Twitter | Facebook

By day a department manager and writer for a major network device vendor...by night Zealot stalks the mean magnetic streets, striking fear into the hearts of bandwidth abusers and theme park mascots. Zealot has been involved with mobile devices for more than a decade now, starting off with dumb phones, moving to PDAs and then to smartphones, notebooks and netbooks with the odd PMP thrown in. Most of his mobile time currently is spent on a Treo Pro, Zune HD, Thinkpad T61, Gigabyte M912M or a Hackintoshed Compaq Mini 704. He proudly groks the Geek community and considers himself a Neo Maxi Zune Dweebie (thanks Will Wheaton!).