Sandisk Ultra 8GB MicroSD – Better?
When I told Darla Mack I was buying an 8GB microSD card to use with my N95-3, she suggested that I not. She told me that hers slowed the phone down dramatically, and that it wasn’t worth the extra 2GB I would be getting over my current 6GB microSD card. Poppycock, I said! They’re both Class 4 Sandisk MicroSDHCs, and thus there shouldn’t be any significant difference, just on account of an extra 2GB of storage space.
Boy, was I wrong. The speed difference of my N95-3 with the 8GB card was noticably slower when accessing the card, such as refreshing my music library, saving photos/videos, and viewing my gallery. Switching back to the 6GB card, I was able to instantly see a speed increase, without changing any other settings.
I found this disturbing, so I got in touch with Sandisk about it. While they did not acknowledge any issues with the 8GB microSDHC, they did let me know that they have since released their Ultra 8GB microSDHC, which is Class 8, rather than Class 4. They offered to send me a review unit of this new Ultra edition, so that I could do some testing.
The Sandisk Ultra 8GB MicroSDHC comes with a really handy little USB adapter, small and sturdy enough to easily hook onto your keyring, and something I’m a huge fan of. To see if this new Ultra microSD is indeed faster, I decided to perform three tests. I used a single movie file, transferring it to the 2 different 8GB microSDs using 2 methods: USB card reader and built-in card reader. I kept an eye on the transfer speed, according to Windows Vista, and here’s what I came up with:
USB Card Reader:
Class 4 card: 13-15MB/s
Class 8 card: 14.5-15.5MB/s
Built-in Card Reader:
Class 4 card: 650-850kb/s
Class 8 card: 850-900kb/s
As you can see, while there is a slight speed difference, moving a file from my laptop to the memory card does not show a significant difference in speed. However, what about simply using the different cards in my N95-3, for listening to MP3s, taking photos, and the like? Indeed, using the new Ultra microSDHC, I was able to see a noticable difference, bringing my phone back to the speeds I was used to with the 6GB card.
Using the exact same files on both the regular Class 4 8GB microSDHC and the Ultra Class 8 8GB microSD, I was surprised to see that the Class 8, while performing roughly similar in my PC-based tests, blew the Class 4 card out of the water when used in my N95-3, with the latest firmware.
To verify, I performed the same test, this time using the black Nokia N82 instead of my Nokia N95-3. While the speed differences were not as drastic as with the N95-3, there was a detectable speed boost when using the faster card, as compared to the regular Class 4 8GB microSD.
From my non-technical assessment, this leads me to believe that not only does the capacity of the card affect speeds, but also the Class. The 6GB class 4 microSDHC card performs nearly identically to the 8GB class 8 microSDHC in my Nokia N95-3, while the 8GB class 4 microSDHC card completely brings everything to a slow crawl.
What size/class microSDHC card are you using, and do you notice a significant speed difference? Do you think the larger cards coming down the line (16GB+) are going to cut it, in terms of speed? More importantly, I hope that my next phone (the N85, recall) is able to handle the card better than my N95-3 did, that’s for sure.
you make me crazy.
I recieved my 8gb sandisk card today… its not the ultra.
The new one shows no difference to my old 2gb card.
If the card is in my n82 and i send a song or movie, the transferspeed is 1,0MB/s.
I can’t say if it’s good or not, but there is no difference for me
Interesting.!
I have been using the non Ultra 8GB Sandisk MicroSD for several months now, and no reduced performance.
Have to be honest, I didn’t notice any difference between the standard 2gb card, the Sandisk 8gb and the Sandisk 8gb Ultra in my N82.
As mentioned in the post, the N82 doesn’t seem to show the same speed differences as my N95-3 does, which is a good sign. I wasn’t able to test it in any other handsets yet, so I don’t know if all of the newer phones handle it better, or if it’s just the firmware on the N95-3.
In any case, there you have it. If you have a N95-3, then there is a NOTICABLE speed difference between the two. The N82 also exhibits a speed difference, but it’s not *nearly* as noticable as with the N95-3. At least that’s my experience.
I switched from a Sandisk 2gb ultra to a Sandisk 8gb (non ultra) this week on a N95-1 and I haven’t noticed any difference…
I have been using regular 8gb SanDisk microSDHC cards since January with both my N95-1 and 6220 Classic.
I cannot say, I have noticed slower performance compared to other cards, e.g. 2gb microSD.
It is very likely to be the case as I have pumped up my memory cards since I had the N-gage classic.
The issue is that the more data you have the time you need to e.g. index things on your phone here mainly the musicplayer and the gallery. (The gallery makes an _PAIbTN folder with lots of small images for every image your phone have. Those are the thumbnails you get when browsing through the gallery.)
It’s also an well know issue that larger files takes less time to transfer as both the read-write operations are less than the read-write operations of smaller files. (That is when the clusters / cells on a storage device gets more or less filled up with large files while small files wastes more clusters / cells)
That being said, I have noticed some slower performance on my N82 but not as notible as mentioned as on the N95.
As far as I know the Ultra cards is better for devices with many read-write operations.
Though some have said that it does not.
The Guru is absolutely right in this case when mentioning that there is a link between the class of the cards.
(Again coming to the read-write speed of a card.)
The N82 is likely faster because it’s a newer phone.
No really. I’m sure they’re still using the original SD reader controller chip in all of the N95s, and FAT/FAT32 isn’t exactly the most efficient filesystem around. Smaller physical discs (or cards) like the 6GB are just going to be faster than the 8GB when all things are considered.
I have been using the 8gb class 4 card with my N95-1 for a while now, and it’s really slow. It takes years to just load the gallery and about 1-2 sec. to load stuff when i browse my music.
My two 2gb and one 4gb is way faster. It takes maybe 2 sec. to load the gallery, and i have tried putting the same stuff on them to compare the speed.
Hopefully the card will work much better with newer phones (like the N85 that i really want)
I had a huge problem with my 6G card when I did the last firmware update on my N95-3. My N95-3 Slowed to a crawl. I ended up re-firming no change etc. So I copied files on to a standard micro SD 8G and reformatted the 6G and all was relatively good (N95-3 still lags now and then). Now the old 6G and new 8G run the same until I get above 5G of space in 8G card and over 5.5G of space in 6G. I think its the drivers or something software (poss. 3rd party) in the N95-3 because I see no diff in any of the other devices I use. I have a Nokia E51, N800, HTC Touch & TyTN2. All have really close to the same performance. The only problem I still occasionally have is in my N95-3. Its usually around acessing images from a micro SD card.
I bought a CNMemory 4gb sdhc class8 (yeah, that´s enough for me) today to replace the original 2gb nokia micro sd from my e66 and must say that it was well worth it. Opera mini which lagged a lot on startup (took like 10 seconds when seeing the start page before i could move the cursor) starts right now and the whole menu seems a lot more responsive. I formatted the new card on pc and just copied the whole card content without any changes from the original one. I would never had thought that there would be that much of a difference. Nokia should ship better micro sd cards i guess. :P
I have the same memory on my N95-3, the 8GB Sandisk Class 4. I didn’t notice any difference with the one that came with the Nok (1GB) on performance, and opening music or video takes about two or three seconds .. it is an acceptable delay I think. I can live with those three seconds.
Myabe when I get my N95-4 next week I’ll change my mind. Who knows.
I’m using a Sandisk class 4 8gb with my 6120c, and it works fine for everything I want to do with it. Never tried a 6gb, but how often are you updating your music library, anyway? The class 4 card also came with the micromate adapter for free, incidentally.
What I did end up doing is buying another one for use as a usb flash drive. The tiny, cute adapter makes it the smallest 8gb usb flash drive you can get … and the price is cheaper than a regular usb stick, too. Go figure!
Anyone tried reformatting their cards to a new fresh state? I had the same issue with N95-4 8GB with a firmware upgrade on the 8GB internal memory and then reformatted the 8GB and things moved fine.
1) Copy your files to your PC
2) Reformat Card using the N95
3) Copy files from PC to N95
That’s what I did with my N95-4, I know – it’s not the same thing, but can someone try it out?
Class 8?
Wow, I thought my Sandisk Ultra 8GB Class 6 card was the fastest!
I am using a Transcend Micro SDHC of 4GB. This is a Class 6 card. From what I have read about your Class 4 card, I’m guessing mine is handling things faster, though I don’t think it would be that fast.
Ricky how much does a 8GB Class 8 card cost there? I got the 4GB for about INR 550 (thats roughly $13). In India 4GB cards are just about coming out, I checked Kingston, and YES brands and they are retailing at close to INR 2000 (approx. $46)and they are all Class 4 cards!
If you search for the exact model number of this Class 8 unit on eBay, Amazon, or Tiger Direct you can get a bit of a better price. I just completed checkout for $51.46. :) Just a heads-up.
[...] Did you know that 8GB microSD cards can be a lot slower than 6GB ones? No, neither did, I, so I was very interested to read Ricky Cadden’s detailed investigation into the issue. [...]
Hey Ricky!
Great review on a subject yet again overlooked and REALLY needed. I think we’ve as users reached the pinnacle of media created content on/for our phones matches the speed of the storage mediums. With this review I think highlights why all the manufacturers have agreed that the next media storage card will have to be significantly faster in read/write speeds for future phones – estimated to be in 5yrs or so. I cannot recall the article but I believe it was mentioned early 2008 or late 2007.
i still use my supplied with phone nokia 2 gb card! I did not know all this class thing till now. Though i do not need a larger memory card right now, will make sure that i check the class also!
Thanks for this info ricky.
Nice article, didn’t knw class 8 existed.thought it was till class 6…im using 4Gb Class 4 right now with my N95-1(firmware v21)& speeds on my card is ok but havnt tried 8Gb…does firmware v21 affect speed in read/write on 8gb cards?has any1 used it & seen any differences?
[...] I am sad to see, however, is the Class 2 indicator, there are on the top corner of the card. Having previously tested the Class 4 and Class 8 cards on my N95-3 and other handsets, the idea of increasing the capacity while simultaneously decreasing [...]
I’m considering buying an 8Gb card for my N95-1, but now I’m not so sure… Some people mention not noticing any speed decrease with the N95-1, but TrulsT did notice it considerably. TrulsT, which at firmware version are you?
Cheers!
There is no Class 8 card in existence. The fastest is Sandisk Ultra 8GB Class 6 card. This is just 6 faked in to 8 on this photo.
Pete – unfortunately, you are incorrect. I have the card here in front of me, and it’s most certainly labeled as Class 8.
Ok, got it. For my sake, can you please post any other link that will confirm cards existence? I would as well like to order it as soon as it is available. Thanks
I’m a little late, I know … but I just came across this post.
I purchased a Class-4 8GB card for my N95-3 a while back and it was nearly unusable … it was so freaking slow (that may have been before the latest firmware update though).
In order to have the best performance from our cards, I know we should format them (either when we first use them or when we just want to wipe the slate clean and start over), but does anyone know which format options will give us the best performance: NTFS, FAT. There are multiple types of each listed under my format options.
The throughput on Class 4 and Class 8 may be the same, but the random access sequence is what counts for phone performance (think about reading many small, scattered, thumbnails).
I’ve ran bandwidth/latency tests on two cards:
Sandisk 8 GB Class 2 card, and 2GB card that came with my Nokia E71.
The sequential access performance (read) is:
12.31 MB/s for the 8GB card, 12.29 MB/s with the 2GB card. On both cards avg. latency is 1.3ms with deviation of 0.3.
The RANDOM access is, however:
6.28MB/s for the 8GB card, but 9.91 MB/s on the 2GB card – 50% more!
The average latency was 1.6ms on the 2GB card, but doubled for the 8GB card – 2.5ms.
A difference in performance with a random access pattern can cause a phone to be really sluggish when there are applications installed on the memory card – in which case, each menu access will generate several read requests from the card (which will most likely be random).
I went to a shop and the printed class on the micro sdhc card looked like an 8, but in the back of the packing box it was clear wrinten class 6.
Is this class 6 or class 8 (SDSDQY-8192-A11M)?
Looking at the offcial sandisk website the class number looks like the 6 I saw in the shop:
http://www.sandisk.com/Assets/Products/Big/Z__woattach_207860_UltraReaderw8GBcard.jpg
http://www.sandisk.com/Products/Item(2630)-SDSDQY-8192-A11M-SanDisk_Mobile_Ultra_microSDHC_8GBCard.aspx
When in question look at the back of the packing card, the letters are much bigger.
The 6 font type used can be mistaken with a 8.
Just bought “sandisk SDSDQY-8192-E11M” = Sandisk Mobile Ultra 8GB microsd card with reader – CLASS 6
The class number on the microsd card looks like a 8, but on the back of the package it clear says class 6.
I dont beleave there’s such thing as class 8, it’s just the number printed on the card is so small it looks like a 8 but it is really a 6. It’s clear printed in the back of the package class 6 and not 8.
This is what the class 6 product that I bought looks like:
http://www.sandisk.com/Assets/Products/Big/Z__woattach_207860_UltraReaderw8GBcard.jpg
When copying LARGE files, windows VISTA says the transfer speed is:
write speed: 16MB/s
read speed: 19MB/s
I also have the 8GB sandisk microsd card – CLASS 4.
When copying LARGE files, windows VISTA says the transfer speed is:
write speed: 12MB/s
read speed: 19MB/s
So the only diference between these 8GB class 6 and class 4 cards is:
sandisk class 6 card WRITE_SPEED is 4MB/s faster than the class 4 card.
BTW: I’m very happy with both cards :)
[...] a.k.a the Symbian-Guru around the same time wrote an interesting piece on the various Micro SDHC cards, the classes and how much of a difference it makes by having a [...]
Where can I find a “8GB microSD class 8″.. Haven’t been able to find such a thing as class 8..I would love to get one. I got so many clips and pics of my kids that my 4gb class6 microsd is slowing down a lot when trying to look through them.
Thanks
Ivat
i have a class 4 8gb for my N82.
everything got slow, when i used more than 50% of the card space.
(before, i had the original 2gb card (with more than 50% used as well).
so i think that it yes, it makes a difference, having a faster card. but you will only notice it when its more than half full.
thanks,
Felipe
im guessing the difference of performance of the micro SDHCs on the N95 and the N82 is because the difference of the RAM size on both phones. the N95 only has 64MB while the N82 is packed with 128MB of RAM. that way memory cards class (speed performance) effects less in N82 than in N95.