INTRODUCTION

   A couple of days earlier i talked about how far portable storage devices have advanced over the years, both in terms of performance and capacity. Now, even though portable media like HDDs and SSDs have indeed increased in capacity (and performance) many times over this past decade there's another storage media that has nothing to be jealous of them, memory cards. Just imagine that the very first CompactFlash (CF) card i got back in 2003 was just 512MB in capacity whereas today there are memory cards with capacities as high as 1TB (1000000MB) and with 2TB models not that far out. Late last year KIOXIA updated their EXCERIA Plus line of micro SDXC cards to include a 1TB variant and that's what's on my test bench today.

   KIOXIA Europe GmbH (formerly Toshiba Memory Europe GmbH) is the European based subsidiary of KIOXIA Corporation, a leading worldwide supplier of flash memory and solid state drives (SSDs). From the invention of flash memory to today's breakthrough BiCS FLASH 3D technology, KIOXIA continues to pioneer cutting-edge memory solutions and services that enrich people's lives and expand society's horizons. The company's innovative 3D flash memory technology, BiCS FLASH, is shaping the future of storage in high-density applications, including advanced smartphones, PCs, SSDs, automotive and data centers.

   After this latest addition the EXCERIA Plus line of MicroSDXC UHS-I U3/V30/C10 cards by KIOXIA is currently available in 32GB/64GB/128GB/256GB/512GB/1TB capacities with read-write performance levels of up to 100MB/s-85MB/s respectively for the 64GB/128GB/256GB/512GB/1TB models, 100MB/s-65MB/s for the 64/128GB models and 98MB/s-65MB/s for the 32GB model. Yes, much like most UHS-I memory cards the EXCERIA Plus line by KIOXIA may not offer impressive read & write speeds but you can easily use them for both Full HD 1080p and compressed 4K video recording. As for endurance the EXCERIA Plus cards can operate in temperatures from -25 to +85 degrees Celsius, are water (IPX7), shock and X-ray proof and also feature overheating (electrical fuse) and ESD (electrostatic discharge) protections. Of course, much like previous memory card lines KIOXIA covers the entire EXCERIA Plus series with a 5-year limited warranty.