INTRODUCTION

   As smartphones get equipped with higher megapixel cameras (many feature 108MP sensors right now with 190MP+ around the corner) and even 8K video recording data storage requirements also increase which means that 64/128GB are nowhere near enough. A good example is a friend of mine who got himself the Samsung S21+ Ultra with 256GB of onboard storage which according to him is clearly not enough for his stills and videos. Sure, Samsung also offers the same model with 512GB of onboard storage but somehow i doubt even that will be enough for some people. Smartphones aside however there are many devices out there which require large amounts of data storage including DSLR (up to 51.4MP) and mirrorless (up to 102MP) cameras, camcorders (4K+) and yes even IP cameras (4K+). Still 1TB micro SD cards are now a thing and since these seem far more ideal for use with any of the above examples i decided to check the read & write performance levels of some of them starting with the Superior UHS-I model by Silicon Power.

   Founded in 2003 by a group of enthusiastic data storage industry experts, Silicon Power is committed to delivering outstanding product and service quality. Headquartered and with its own state-of-the-art production site in Taipei, SP has become a leading manufacturer of flash memory cards, USB flash drives, portable hard drives, solid state drives, DRAM modules and industrial-grade products. Successfully blending innovative technology with award-winning design, the international player with four branch offices around the globe continuously strives for perfection in preserving and protecting your valuable data. Because memory is personal.

   As clearly stated by its name the Superior 1TB Micro SDXC UHS-I is part of the Superior (UHS-I U3, A1, V30) series by Silicon Power which is currently available in 64GB/128GB/256GB/512GB/1TB capacities (the 1TB capacity is currently not available in the Superior SDXC line) with read-write performance numbers going all the way up to 100-80MB/s respectively. So even though the Superior line may not be among the fastest ones out there not only is it available at 1TB capacity but it's still capable of both 1080p Full HD and 4K Ultra HD recording. Of course, much like previous memory card lines Silicon Power covers the entire Superior series with a 5-year limited warranty.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

THE SUPERIOR 1TB UHS-I

Typically, the card arrived in a blister package the front of which has a clear plastic cover from where you can see the card.

A product description is printed at the rear in 14 languages just over contact information for Silicon Power.

Silicon Power ships the Superior 1TB micro SDXC memory card with an SDXC card adapter.

We are talking about an UHS-I card so just a single row of contacts at the rear.

TEST BED

TESTING METHODOLOGY

   Memory cards are pretty much identical to flash drives so to make things easier for everyone we'll be using roughly the same testing methodology to successfully record achieved read and write data transfer numbers. The benchmark suites we'll be using for our memory card tests are HD Tune Pro (Read - Write average and max speeds), AIDA 64 Engineer Edition (Average Linear Read / Random Read - Write performance), Crystal Disk Mark x64 (4GB Read / Write speeds) and ATTO (Average Read / Write speeds). Every test is repeated a total of 6 times after which the average performance numbers are recorded into our charts (0 = we were unable to complete that test).

   As with all our storage reviews all tests are performed on our main rig running Microsoft Windows 10 Pro installation on a HyperX Predator 480GB PCIe SSD with all updates installed up to the day of this review (for ATTO and Crystal Disk Mark cards are formatted using the NTFS file system – however partitions need to be removed for the write tests of both AIDA64 and HD Tune Pro).

* As of April 2020, I’ll be using the X299 test rig for SDXC & microSDXC UHS-II (and above) memory card reviews.

TEST RESULTS

CONCLUSION

   The Superior 1TB micro SDXC UHS-I memory card by Silicon Power may not impress with its read & write performance but it certainly makes up for that with its massive capacity (massive for a tiny memory card that is). Also let’s not forget that UHS-II cards (and even some of the fastest UHS-I cards) are nowhere near as compatible as UHS-I (i don’t think i have a single device here that actually supports them – minus my card readers of course) ones so even though I’d really like to get my hands on a UHS-II 1TB card i know it will probably be long before i can actually put it to use. As for real life tests I used the Superior 1TB with my Redmi Note 8/9 Pro and Realme 7 smartphones (some action cameras as well) and I had no issues while recording 4K video so it does work as advertised.

   If you’re interested in the Superior 1TB microSDXC UHS-I memory card by Silicon Power then you may be disappointed to learn that it’s almost nowhere to be seen. There was some availability back in December but at least right now I was unable to locate it, not in any of the large online stores. Still back then it was retailing for around USD170/180Euros so it clearly cost quite less compared to every other 1TB microSDXC card out in the market (back then at least). All said and done the Superior 1TB microSDXC UHS-I memory card by Silicon Power offers a very good price/capacity ratio and even though yes, it’s not very fast it’s more than enough for up to 4K recording and so it certainly deserves the Golden Award.

PROS

- Good Overall Performance
- Up To 1TB Capacity
- 5 Year Limited Warranty
- Price (For Some)

CONS

- Current Availability