Have been pulling my hair out as to why my Blacksys CF-100 was having progressively worsening problems with the Sandisk Ultra SD cards, and now I have the answer! Many thanks! I had no idea that SD cards actually wore out.
Brilliant exposition ! Many thanks. NOW I KNOW WHY MY 2 DASH CAMS SAID 'NO CARD' WHEN I USED THOSE SAN DISK ULTRA PLUS 16 GB cards. Wish I known all this before. Excellent work Car Cam Central !!
Looking on amazon now. The transcend 32gb is $41.20 16gb is $21.90 Lexar 633x 32gb is $18.95 Lexar high endurance 32gb is $21.95 Sandisk high endurance 32gb is $17.49
That's good to hear. Unfortunately, that's not been the case for most dash cam owners. We base our recommendations on the experience of most dash cam owners and Sandisk Ultra has been bad in dash cams. I'm happy to hear that it's working out for you though. -Rolands
Same here. My 64GB SanDisk Ultra has been in my dash cam for 2yrs now and has been working great. No loss of files or other issues. I was surprised to see it isn't recommended for use in dashcams.
The SanDisk High Endurance 64GB is on sale right now for $16.40 USD, and the 32GB is $10.99 USD before taxes on Amazon, definitely going to be picking up a high endurance card. Thank you for making such a well informed video about these cards, I had no idea there was a difference between these and the regular cards.
Glad I could help! I would also look at the Samsung Pro Endurance series, it's the best choice right now. We made a new video about it: th-cam.com/video/ccd0Oo5uBek/w-d-xo.html
Honesty is something we all are looking for when purchasing anything. After watching many of your videos I feel the information you relate is #1 Truthful and #2 straight forward. I know nothing about theses cards and your information is the best. Thank you for taking the time and effort to help me decide....
I ordered AUKEY 4K Dash Cam with 6-Lane Wide-Angle Lens Dashboard Camera Recorder with HDR, Loop Recording, G-Sensor, and Additional 2-Port USB Car Charger - So far I am happy I have tried the 1080p 60fps - it is very clear but appears overly sharp. I am now trying the 1440 at 30 fps........... the level surface of the controls is difficult for my old hands. Trying to hit the record button for me is a pain but I want to give it a fair shake -
While I do not have a dash-cam (yet), I did recently pick up an action-cam (GoPro clone) and love it. I picked up a SanDisc Ultra for it. Been using SanDisc cards for ages, but was unaware of the issues with the Ultra line. Thank you for bringing these to light. I do a lot of recording and re-formatting on my cards, so reliability is key for me. Upon your advice, I am going to go out and find either the Lexar or the Transcend you recommend. Thank you so much for this most informative video.
i guess im asking the wrong place but does anybody know of a trick to get back into an instagram account?? I stupidly forgot the login password. I love any tricks you can give me.
@Omar Nova Thanks for your reply. I got to the site thru google and I'm in the hacking process now. Takes a while so I will reply here later with my results.
I've had a Sandisk Ultra 64GB in my AS200V helmet cam for the last 3 years and it's still fine. The camera records at 6.5mb/s and has recorded 18 days of footage and still works (the estimated lifetime is 60 days based on you saying it only has ~500 write cycles though). It also benchmarked at 13mb/s sequential writes which is enough for most cameras. It's failing to record for more than a couple of minutes with my Hero 7 Black recording at 8mb/s though so I'm swapping it for something faster. Edit - Can confirm that swapping to a Samsung Evo 128GB fixed the GoPro issues.
I’d like to know a reputable source to purchase this particular brand as well. I don’t care about the price and I’m more in the market for a 128 gig microSD card or more because I drive a minimum of eight hours per night and I just got my dash cam today via Amazon. It’s a cheap $100 camera, and I don’t know what the NAND is either, the user manual made no mention of it.
Hey Andrew. I persevered with the Lexar 64GB micros SD card noted below. I found the adapter was defective. I changed to an older one and it worked fine. I have now updated my firmware using your terrific guide video and all went well. Thanks for your site. It is wonderful.
Got in a non-injury fender bender. The other driver is lying and since there were no witnesses, he can say anything he wants (his insurance company is coaching him on his lies). Wish I had dash-cam footage of the accident! Live and learn.
Bought a 1024gb sandisk micro sd for my escort m2 dash cam, and this sucker will not format. Bought the biggest one thinking its the best, but it refuses to format through the app, not sure if I went with a smaller size if it would work better
Thanks for the informative video! I wasn't even aware of the existence of SD cards made/recommended for dashcam use. I'll re-purpose my Ultras as soon as I get the Transcend ones.
This honestly explains so much. I've gone through two of these in my G1WS Dash cam. Used it for the first few months and it worked fine. Then out of the blue my dash cam started popping a 'memory error' message and after formatting countless times, i assumed the card was fried so I bought a new one (exact same card). Dash cam now turns off by itself after 15 mins of it being on.
You will have to check out the new Lexar High Endurance cards that just came out and update your reviews. I'm curious how it will perform compared to the rest.
Excellent video and explanation...never knew there were so many different kinds of SD cards. The ones I have seen in local stores are much more expensive and don't compare to any of those featured by you. Thank you so much for making me an informed consumer!
Is there a way I can use a locked SD card for my dashcam? If the police pull me over for speeding I don’t want them to seize my camera and use it against me. I want everything to be encrypted and impossible to use as evidence without 2 factor authentication. Additionally I want everything uploaded to the cloud in full resolution automatically.
Haha.. I wanted this too but this video wasn't helpful. So I contacted PIROCC_TECH and he was able to help me. You too can reach to PIROCC_TECH if you need help with this.
Hello Man, I got a motorcycle camera on Amazon and was struggling with the 64Gb SanDisk SD. after your advice, I went for the 32Gb Lexar 633x easily available in Italy, and solved all the issues. Thank you for making such a well informed video about these cards, me too I had no idea there was a difference between the SD cards of different producers. Take care!
The only Transcend High Endurance SD cards on Amazon on the search results page say they are from Transcend, but on the actually product pages, it says they are shipped and sold by MemoryC. Is that something to avoid?
Good question and good eye. Normally I would be wary when it's coming from a third party seller. MemoryC is legit and their business focuses on Memory: www.memoryc.com They are and Irish company listed as an authorized retailer under "ireland" on Transcend's retailer page. www.transcend-info.com/support/buy I wonder if you would still get a warranty if you buy from MemoryC outside of Ireland even though they have a USA warehouse. I'll tweet at both of them and get back to you.
Reusable memory like sd cards and thumb drives do burn out faster when being written over and over. The normal consumer wouldnt know this. Thumbs up for bringing this up.
Yup, they do but officially the warranty is void if you use it in a dash camera. Unofficially it might be OK. As well the Pro cards which are the only MLC option are really expensive.
I looked at the packaging....doesn't say anything about that. And how would they know what it was used for anyway? I have been through the RMA process with Samsung for ssds a few times over the last 3 yrs..never had them ask me what it is used in. (I would assume it wouldn't be any different for sd card since it still flash media) Additionally, if available, one can buy store warranty plan, so if card fails, take it back for store credit to get new one. The Samsung evo m-sd card i have had for over 1yr, still going strong. I have had multiple SanDisk Ultra cards fail on me, and they were only used in my smartphone. I never had a successful RMA with Sandisk, they never responded to any of my contact attempts. I cant recommend them for anything. Still, good info you gave in the video. I did not know that there were "High Endurance" cards out there. If only they made actual ssds drives like that so I could use them in my home CCTV HDDVR.
Found buried in super fine print on the Samsung website for micro sd cards, * Warranty is limited for any type of surveillance system. * That is very vague. Also, you click the "All Warranty Info" link, and that pages states " Sorry... No service policy & warranty information for (card model)".
Interesting, however, this is completely unknown to the customer who buys the product and it is not marked on the products packaging. Many may claim on false advertising then and will expect the warranty to be honored and card replaced. People never read documentation anyhow....either way, all their cards are advertised for "Smartphone, tablets, ....etc" all of theses devices use more random multiple read/write cycles to each sector than a circular write operation. They do list "action cameras" in their advertising on all their cards, to most, that is what a dash cam could be categorized under. Sure make it frustrating for the end user to later be told they need to buy a special card....that is usually not sold in stores(i cant find any of the "endurance" cards in my local tech stores). Sales guys also would have no idea not to recommend such cards to customers as the box says it works for cameras etc. Makes me glad there are people like you on the internet who let the world know what to look out for.
This video was so helpful. Thank you for not using fluff music in the background. It made everything so much easier to understand. I now no what to buy for my dash cam. What are your thoughts on formatting an SD card? Do I have to do that at home on my computer or can I do it on the device?
Thanks for the info'. I almost purchased the SanDisc 256GB but decided to not do it. After further investigation, including your informative You Tube presentation, I went ahead and purchased the Transcend High Endurance 32GB. Thanks for making less headaches for me down the road!
Great guide ! Got myself a Sandisk High Endurance for my Blackvue, as I don't want to format each week as stated in the manual of Blackvue (who does that?) The card itself came out of it's casing during a VERY hot day, I see the bare NAND on 1 side, but it's still working :-S Just ordered a Transcend High Endurance to have a spare if the Sandisk would break :) I think very high temperature rating is also a factor one should consider for Dashcams
Excellent and very informative video!!! I generally use Sandisk High Endurance, as their cards are cheaper and also pretty reliable, and have not experienced any data corruption using their cards so far. However, I had one that broke into half inside my dashcam probably due to the heating and cooling cycles it experienced. Replaced it with a spare, and so far it still works good.
It's weird. My SD card came from the dash cam's company. Like it came with my setup. I have recordings on it but they don't even show up when I put it on the computer... not sure what's going on there
Thank you, I think you covered everything I've been reading about for the past hour, but in one short video. Very glad you released this. Am sharing it around.
My SanDisk Ultra 32gb died while using in my dashcam. Now I know why... Will purchase a more durable card based on your recommendations for my dashcams moving forward. Thanks for this informative video.
Had 3 Dash cams. Had 3 new sandisks, 32GB and two 128GB. None worked or had problems after a few days. Bought different SD after this video. Thank you for being clear and saving me time and money and making me understand it wasn't the dash cam it was the SD card!
thanks, i have already bought the cards last week at £9.99 from amazon, they seem to increased in price recently, but they were 1/2 the price of the transcend high endurance
I just ordered a Transcend High Endurance 64 for my new A119. New to all of this & trying to educate myself about. Thanks very much for all of the information.
Cheers for the vid. I had a Sandisk Ultra in a Blackvue DR650GW-2CH, and the front camera gradually went blurry as buggery on the right hand side. Neither the distributor or dash cam shop were able to diagnose why this was happening. Changed the MicroSD card back to the OEM card and she's back to normal. If I had seen this video 2 months ago, I'd still have hair right now
Haha, glad that worked out for you. Sometimes it's the curvature of the window. If you switch the camera to the other side it can go away. Had that happen to me too and it was frustrating.
Great info. One thing you didn't touch upon is temperature ratings. Dash cam SD cards fail most often because they are exposed to high temperatures as they bake in the sun on your windshield. I notice transcend has cards rated as "standard temperature" and "wide range temperature". I guess wide range would be the better choice?
I didn't touch on them because consumer cards are all rated to 80°C. However that doesn't reveal each card's resiliency in withstanding those temperatures. I also can't effectively test these cards. I would need a large sample to be statistically significant and even then batches can vary. I'm mainly relying on public data for that information. If you can get the "Wide Temperature Ranges" for cheap, go ahead. Should be better. However, those cards are rated for industrial use and will be very expensive to purchase.
Thanks for the picture of all recommended disks. I took a snapshot and will be able to remember to resort back to it at Walmart when looking for an sd card
I had a problem with my first dash cam, had an error with recording, it would only save the last video recorded. I purchased another dash cam and then had the same problem! I was so annoyed! After watching your video I see my mistake, I was using the Sandisk SD card, I have since purchased the transcend as recommended, and so far so good!! Thanks for the advise!!
I'm sure you get this question a lot but could you link those clear speakers you have on the desk behind you? Those look amazing and I am seriously interested in getting them. Thanks for the really informative video. I very much appreciate it!!
Just a quick note to anyone buying a Dashcam. Dashcams are very fussy about the type of SD card they use. As an electronic engineer I must stress doing research before your purchase. Contact the manufacture before you purchase. U3 cards get hotter then U1 type cards as of writing this, thus some dashcam models will shutdown due to heat. Most SD cars are not rated for the hot climates. But some are. I am using a Samsung PRO Endurance Micro SDXC Card 128 GB. The larger capacities last longer.
Yes i learnt my lesson with Sandisk years ago - BUT - i have a sandisk in my smartphone - which has lasted over 4 years and counting. they are just no good for dash-cams. I have upgraded my dash cam from blackvue GW550 (2 channel) up to the GW650 (2 channel) - and so far have only tried the G-Skill 64 gig cards. both dont seem to keep up with write speeds and cause video stuttering, whilst the default blackvue card is recording perfectly. Looking for a reputable dealer where i can buy Transcend in Australia. Good video Car Cam Central, thank you
Hey Toggymok. That's the thing. Sandisk produces really good SD cards, just not for dash cameras. Their track record of SD cards in dash cameras is pretty poor. Rolands - Community Support
Sandisk ultra as I use one in my dashcam is currently running for 4 years, I believe its to do with excluding a parking mode function in the dashcam. My mum was using the blackvue 750s - 2ch and as I experimented the card aka the original Blackvue sd card it had lost 10 days of recording, I couldn't suspect the problem as my mum was the owner and couldn't suspect the exact issue. Watching the video now I realize the sd cards we're using is at risk so I'll definitely be checking into the MLC cards.👍
This is a very good info. I am using that Sandisk Ultra 32G, my dash camera will record but once the card filled up, the cam will indicate Card Full on the screen and will not loop record. When I switch it to an 8G card, it works fine. I though may be the capacity of the card or the class of the card is too fast. With this video, I think I know Sandisk is the problem. Thanks.
Your camera is probably not even recording. I'd bet if you look at your Sandisk card that it's very old files. On some cameras there's no error notification when your card fails and even worse it appears that the camera is recording.
Dash cam works great … this time the card has stuck in it .. won't bounce out using another card … can I use a magnet on it? Or would that ruin everything ?? love your vid tho .. thanks
Thanks for the info. I almost purchased the Sandisk Ultra with my dbPower camera. I was luckily able to cancel the order for the microSD card and purchase the Lexar 633x 64 GB card instead. It is a little more than the original purchase, but at least it's better than buying the wrong card and voiding the warranty.
Wow, I was considering replacing my dashcam because it was acting squirrelly, but I have the Sandisc Ultra 32 in it, and now I realize it is just the failing card that is to blame. Thanks!
Thanks for this info. I thought my GoPro was faulty, so called them and found out it's the card, a SanDisk Ultra 128GB, which is not on the list, and known to have issues. Then I called SanDisk to find out about data recovery, and they told me after seeing photos it was not a genuine SanDisk. So I have a knockoff of an unreliable card. I'm trying some file recovery software right now but most likely will not be able to recover the 15 corrupted files out of 20 on my Micro SD.
I had a problem with my dash cam. It stopped recording and went to buy a new one. I formatted the memory card, and it started working again. It is also very important to format the card every 2 to 3 months. I have also been a victim of purchasing a fake sd card and lost a substantial amount of photos. Stay away from eBay and buy from a legitimate store, and don't be frightened by the cost of a decent card. If it doesn't do the job when it needs to, you'll regret it afterwards.
This explains alot. I've used the sandisk ultra with my dashcam for about 2 years now. Though I've never needed it for an accident I was in, I did witness and accident and was going to email the video to the injured party. But of course, I start looking for it on my computer (after inserting the sd card) and several clips were missing in a random fashion. I had no idea sd cards even wore out, I thought I just had a bad one.
There are plenty of articles and videos discussing this topic. However, after speaking with a past college buddy of mine who works the last 10yrs as a Engineer at a Data Recovery lab for a well known company....I tend to think this idea of flash media wearing out fast is more of a misconception or not necessarily a thing to worry about these days. " Circular recording devices, such as DVR, CCTV, etc, is a sequential continues-write operation. The device writes data to the first sector of the partition on the drive, then continues sequentially until the end of the drive partition. Then the cycle starts over again. Each sector is only written to 1x each cycle. A smaller drive will incur more write cycles then a larger drive over the same time period. This process is the same regardless of the physical media, flash or magnetic. Little wear is done to the media in this situation. Excessive sector wear only occurs when multiple read/write or especially simultaneous read/write operations are applied to a sector. In your application, a drive used in a DVR that is only actively recording, and not being accessed, will last considerably longer than one that is always being accessed by the user to playback the data on the drive while the unit is still recording(this is where simultaneous read/write operations happen). Flash media of the past did have issues with limited write cycles of each sector, however, quality modern flash media does not have such issues and in most cases, exceeds standard platter drives in MTBF / AFR and other specifications. However, there this is plenty of "value" products on the market that do not meet those level of specifications or manufacturing standards, and thus would fail much quicker than their "name brand" counterpart."
So what you wrote is true, but just because the majority of the drive is fine doesn't mean the controller will not preemptively lock a card which is the case of the SanDisk Ultra. As well in talking to a number of retailers they have experienced significantly increased failures with certain models, not sure if that's controller incompatibility, poor manufacturing or any number of other problems. ADATA specifically with their premier cards, one retailer had RMAs jump 20X because of they moved from Taiwan to Chinese manufacturing. Does your engineering friend have direct experience dealing and analyzing the causes of failure with SD cards or is he/she more concerned with how to extra data from media that have failed? If he's actively collecting data, analyzing why a SD card failed with the quality/brand and how it was written on that would be very valuable information. If not, I don't see how his experiences reflect the realities of what other users, retailers and manufacturers are reporting.
Good points u mention. His main job is to recover the data. He did mention brands design and choice of controller affects how data is written to the media, and thus, how he has to go about recovering it. Some brands(did not say which) are far more difficult than others) He did say that he has noticed reduction in media and manufacturing quality and many defects even in top end brand media over the years, Which makes his job near impossible. His company does keep detailed internal data and statistics about all brands of media and the manufacturer exclusive tools and processes available to recover them etc...but none of that can be released or discussed in detail...of course. NDA's etc.
Thanks a lot for explaining with card will be good for dash cam. I was looking for a Sandisk Exteme pro but after watching you blog I am going for a Lexar High-Endurance microSDHC 32GB UHS-I Card
im sure you guys are right, but i have used a san disk 32gb ultra for a year in my dash and rear cams and they both still work fine so I have to take as I find. Although i do wipe them once a month which IMHO helps with over writing problems
Yup, that can happen too! I see it as the Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF), a concept used for hard drives. The MTBF is significantly shorter for Sandisk Ultra (Not A1s) but towards the far end of the failure curve you can have units that last a long time. -Andrew
What an amazing comparison, thank you so much for taking the time to create such a good video with such valuable insights -- things that would take us hours upon hours to research, you condensed into 4 short minutes. YOU ROCK, Andrew! :D
whats there to wear out ? its solid state , it has no moving parts and i would think the engineers made the "resistors, transistor films" inside to take the power dissapation , micro amps and statics .🔬🎓
Hi thanks for a very good article & advice, also I note that most dash cam's say UP TO 32gb, what happens if you put bigger cards ie 64gb or 125gb ??? your help would be much appreciated
Depends on the camera and who makes it. Some cameras have updates which enables 64GB recording. Others don't label it correctly or are being conservative. Other cameras it's usable but you can't format it in camera and you'll need to use a program like GUIformat in order to use it: www.ridgecrop.demon.co.uk/index.htm?guiformat.htm
Ended up buying the Goluck T2, works nice. The phone integration is a winner. Have it hooked up to an always on outlet, so it doubles as a security cam when in the driveway at night.
*32gb seems way too small, even for the average driver. Unless you are referring to dashcam setup without parking mode. I would suggest 64gb minimum for a single channel parking mode, and if it's 2channel with parking mode, I would go as big as you can get. 128gb minimum. My 2CH Blackvue gets maybe 3 days of footage with a 128gb... Make sure you check your car often as data gets overwritten quick and if you don't notice you've been hit (and run) quick enough, you're SOL.*
Yup, it was a suggestion for drivers without parking mode. Most people won't go through the trouble of hardwiring or even routing their cables from the installs I've seen. I agree with you on the sizing for parking mode 64GB minimum. -Andrew
Since a few years have passed and there are now a handful of 4K cameras out there, would you have anything to add to this excellent video? I know that 4K eats up a lot more storage space, so perhaps a bigger card? Does the card size have anything to do with it's overall performance?
Andrew WOW!! great detailed review!!!! Just found this tonight, but to my surprise, I purchased a micro sd card that didn't make your list. Considering your facts are archived since 2016 I found a PNY brand 32GB class 10 U1 micro sd card for my dash cam. Thanks for revealing the information on the life span of a card, this is not the main card I'll be using. I wanted to see how the camera recorded. Good thing I can get my money back with receipt 14 days after purchase. But now I need to find out how to tell if a micro sd card is a TLC or MLC? Definitely using your recommendation of the transcend brand.
Thanks! There's been some huge updates since we launched this video. MLC is less important than 3D NAND construction. The Samsung Pro Endurance is made from 3D MLC NAND and it's what we recommend now. We wrote a new article here: carcamcentral.com/guide/recommended-sd-cards-for-dash-cameras -Andrew
I ordered the Transcends DrivePro 520 and it was advertised as coming with a Transcend 32gb 600x microSD card, but it came with the Transcend High Endurance 32gb card instead. I thought I got the inferior card, but I noticed that my box says 2017 and most of the videos I see with the 600x are 2016 or older. Did I get the better card with the High Endurance?
You got the better card for sure. While the 600X might be faster, the High Endurance card was designed for error correction and to better handle the stresses of high heat and constant overwriting. It's the better card for dash cameras. Andrew
I have budget vga camera number 5 with a toshiba sd card ,they have lasted 4 sydney summers then a new battery and working as ordinary as ever,I had no accidents I think it brings luck
oh dear...i just got 3 sets of lexar 633x 64gb...i hope mine runs well wish me luck....over here in malaysia the only microsd listed for surveillance use whose warranty can be honoured is the sandisk high endurance...we can get the lexar and transcend high endurance through parallel imports but that means there's no warranty...headaches headaches
I wish you luck as well. I might have gone with the Sandisk High Endurance. I just ordered a 64GB card for testing as I noticed the reviews have been VERY strong on Amazon compared to the Lexar High Endurance. -Andrew
Hi thanks for the article and youtube video, just purchased the Transcend High Endurance 64GB card after my Blackvue 64Gb card which is only 8 mounths old failed completely , the card cost me just under £90 from blackvue which they recommend you change every 6 months and the card has only a 6 month warranty !! while the Transcend is £40 cheaper and has a 2 year warranty!! i dont know how blackvue can justify the price and warranty.
It's their manufactured SD card so there goes the price of the brand. One more thing you should consider if you use Blackvue cameras - some of their cameras might work properly only with their manufactured Blackvue SD cards. Hope your purchase turns out good. Let us know! -Rolands
Great video, i have the A119 and I bought the Samsung EVO + without watching this video. so i will use this card:Transcend Ultimate instead (replace the samsung one with my phone) what do you thing about the Transcend is this card as good as the endurance? is it MLC? thanks:)
It's MLC, hard to tell which is better. Transcend said to me they've optimized the controller's firmware to run better with dash cameras. They use it with their own cameras. There is a lifetime warranty on the Ultimate vs 2 years on the Endurance which is nice.
It's not. You're right on that. For our new SD card recommendations please see the article on our website here: www.carcamcentral.com/guide/recommended-sd-cards-avoid-sandisk-ultra-cards -Rolands
what NAND memory type is the Lexar 633x you recommend in the link provided, i can't find any info from manufacturer, how many write cycles will it take ?, great video have bought both A119 dash cam at £58 on ebay and lexar 32 gb cards at £9.99 on black friday after watching your videos, polarised lens for A119 is now available on ebay.
MLC according to the manufactuer's support, through a Lexar rep and from other reviewers on the internet except for the 200GB which should be TLC>. I'd get a Transcend card as the A119 uses a Novatek processor. Novatek's engineering team uses Transcend cards for testing and optimizations.
Have been pulling my hair out as to why my Blacksys CF-100 was having progressively worsening problems with the Sandisk Ultra SD cards, and now I have the answer! Many thanks! I had no idea that SD cards actually wore out.
Yup, glad I could help!
I switched to a 64GB Lexar 633x 2 months ago and my Blacksys problems have disappeared! Great result, thanks!
Glad to help!
FarHorizons Get a Lexar or a SanDisk extreme card
Me neither
Brilliant exposition ! Many thanks. NOW I KNOW WHY MY 2 DASH CAMS SAID 'NO CARD' WHEN I USED THOSE SAN DISK ULTRA PLUS 16 GB cards. Wish I known all this before.
Excellent work Car Cam Central !!
You're welcome. It's this buried knowledge I want to surface. Glad I could help.
Looking on amazon now. The transcend 32gb is $41.20
16gb is $21.90
Lexar 633x 32gb is $18.95
Lexar high endurance 32gb is $21.95
Sandisk high endurance 32gb is $17.49
Shop ebay
That sounds so expensive. I guess they went down over 7 years.
I have used 2 Sandisk ultra for a long time and i have no problems at all for a long time. Videoquality is great and never corrupted files.
That's good to hear. Unfortunately, that's not been the case for most dash cam owners. We base our recommendations on the experience of most dash cam owners and Sandisk Ultra has been bad in dash cams. I'm happy to hear that it's working out for you though.
-Rolands
Same here. My 64GB SanDisk Ultra has been in my dash cam for 2yrs now and has been working great. No loss of files or other issues. I was surprised to see it isn't recommended for use in dashcams.
Ya and the Sandisk high endurance is half the price and works brilliantly, I have one in my dash cam and never have any issues
@@elantra45Salam.64gb bəs edir?
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The SanDisk High Endurance 64GB is on sale right now for $16.40 USD, and the 32GB is $10.99 USD before taxes on Amazon, definitely going to be picking up a high endurance card. Thank you for making such a well informed video about these cards, I had no idea there was a difference between these and the regular cards.
Glad I could help! I would also look at the Samsung Pro Endurance series, it's the best choice right now. We made a new video about it: th-cam.com/video/ccd0Oo5uBek/w-d-xo.html
Honesty is something we all are looking for when purchasing anything. After watching many of your videos I feel the information you relate is #1 Truthful and #2 straight forward. I know nothing about theses cards and your information is the best. Thank you for taking the time and effort to help me decide....
Hello Keith G. Really appreciate your words. If you don't mind me asking, what did you decide?
-Rolands
I ordered AUKEY 4K Dash Cam with 6-Lane Wide-Angle Lens Dashboard Camera Recorder with HDR, Loop Recording, G-Sensor, and Additional 2-Port USB Car Charger - So far I am happy I have tried the 1080p 60fps - it is very clear but appears overly sharp. I am now trying the 1440 at 30 fps........... the level surface of the controls is difficult for my old hands. Trying to hit the record button for me is a pain but I want to give it a fair shake -
While I do not have a dash-cam (yet), I did recently pick up an action-cam (GoPro clone) and love it. I picked up a SanDisc Ultra for it. Been using SanDisc cards for ages, but was unaware of the issues with the Ultra line. Thank you for bringing these to light. I do a lot of recording and re-formatting on my cards, so reliability is key for me.
Upon your advice, I am going to go out and find either the Lexar or the Transcend you recommend.
Thank you so much for this most informative video.
A great and informative video, Andrew! Great job!
Hey hey Linus - thanks a bunch!
i guess im asking the wrong place but does anybody know of a trick to get back into an instagram account??
I stupidly forgot the login password. I love any tricks you can give me.
@Dario Finley instablaster :)
@Omar Nova Thanks for your reply. I got to the site thru google and I'm in the hacking process now.
Takes a while so I will reply here later with my results.
@Omar Nova it worked and I actually got access to my account again. I'm so happy!
Thank you so much, you saved my ass!
I had no idea there was such a difference.
Man, I really liked your video. Continue like this, direct and informative! Now I can say I understand a little more about the topic.
Thanks Kanzler, I'll do my best! Appreciate the comment.
I've had a Sandisk Ultra 64GB in my AS200V helmet cam for the last 3 years and it's still fine. The camera records at 6.5mb/s and has recorded 18 days of footage and still works (the estimated lifetime is 60 days based on you saying it only has ~500 write cycles though). It also benchmarked at 13mb/s sequential writes which is enough for most cameras. It's failing to record for more than a couple of minutes with my Hero 7 Black recording at 8mb/s though so I'm swapping it for something faster. Edit - Can confirm that swapping to a Samsung Evo 128GB fixed the GoPro issues.
Thanks for sharing your experience. Dash cams and Sandisk Ultra in most cases don't go great together as well.
-Rolands
I know this vidio is almost 1 year old. But where do you find 32gb Transcend High Endurance for $17?
They raised the price a lot since then.
-Andrew
Any idea why? Also, do you still stand by Transcend High Endurance the same?
I’d like to know a reputable source to purchase this particular brand as well. I don’t care about the price and I’m more in the market for a 128 gig microSD card or more because I drive a minimum of eight hours per night and I just got my dash cam today via Amazon. It’s a cheap $100 camera, and I don’t know what the NAND is either, the user manual made no mention of it.
Hey Andrew. I persevered with the Lexar 64GB micros SD card noted below. I found the adapter was defective. I changed to an older one and it worked fine. I have now updated my firmware using your terrific guide video and all went well. Thanks for your site. It is wonderful.
Thanks!
-Andrew
Got in a non-injury fender bender. The other driver is lying and since there were no witnesses, he can say anything he wants (his insurance company is coaching him on his lies). Wish I had dash-cam footage of the accident! Live and learn.
TheFarmanimalfriend Were you hit from behind?
TheFarmanimalfriend what was the outcome?
Sounds like it never went to court
I didn’t even know I needed this video until I was watching it. This was beyond helpful. Merry Christmas and thank you
Omg this is quite possibly the greatest video of technology ever! Thank you
Thanks Dub!
-Andrew
About to purchase SanDisk Ultra for my Xiaomi security CCTV, but after watching this, I changed my mind. Thank you for this super useful information!
good info. would have been helpful if you had mentioned if you checked a few other brands like Adata, Kingston, samsung, patriot etc.
Bought a 1024gb sandisk micro sd for my escort m2 dash cam, and this sucker will not format. Bought the biggest one thinking its the best, but it refuses to format through the app, not sure if I went with a smaller size if it would work better
Thanks for the informative video!
I wasn't even aware of the existence of SD cards made/recommended for dashcam use.
I'll re-purpose my Ultras as soon as I get the Transcend ones.
Glad you liked it!
Rolands - Community Help
I just spent the last hour watching your videos, thanks to taking your time to take me to school.
Thanks Steve!
Great video and extremely helpful in this confusing subject.
Thanks CF542!
-Andrew
This honestly explains so much. I've gone through two of these in my G1WS Dash cam. Used it for the first few months and it worked fine. Then out of the blue my dash cam started popping a 'memory error' message and after formatting countless times, i assumed the card was fried so I bought a new one (exact same card). Dash cam now turns off by itself after 15 mins of it being on.
What SD card were/are you using?
-Rolands
Great content! I already know what is the best SD card for my dash cam!
You have a new subscriber!
Best wishes!
Glad to help, thanks!
You will have to check out the new Lexar High Endurance cards that just came out and update your reviews. I'm curious how it will perform compared to the rest.
Awesome review thanks for posting i should have watched it before i bought my SD but now i know
Excellent video and explanation...never knew there were so many different kinds of SD cards. The ones I have seen in local stores are much more expensive and don't compare to any of those featured by you. Thank you so much for making me an informed consumer!
Thank you Ursula. Glad we can help!
Rolands - Community help
Is there a way I can use a locked SD card for my dashcam? If the police pull me over for speeding I don’t want them to seize my camera and use it against me. I want everything to be encrypted and impossible to use as evidence without 2 factor authentication. Additionally I want everything uploaded to the cloud in full resolution automatically.
Haha.. I wanted this too but this video wasn't helpful. So I contacted PIROCC_TECH and he was able to help me. You too can reach to PIROCC_TECH if you need help with this.
He's on Instagram. You can send him a DM
His username is PIROCC_TECH
On Instagram
Wow! You've opened my eyes to a wealth of knowledge! Andrew...you're very good at your craft...don't ever stop educating us!!!
Thanks again, Cesar. Keep watching and reading us!
-Rolands
thank you for tips about the fake cards, that helps so much.
Hello Man, I got a motorcycle camera on Amazon and was struggling with the 64Gb SanDisk SD.
after your advice, I went for the 32Gb Lexar 633x easily available in Italy, and solved all the issues.
Thank you for making such a well informed video about these cards, me too I had no idea there was a difference between the SD cards of different producers.
Take care!
The only Transcend High Endurance SD cards on Amazon on the search results page say they are from Transcend, but on the actually product pages, it says they are shipped and sold by MemoryC. Is that something to avoid?
Good question and good eye. Normally I would be wary when it's coming from a third party seller. MemoryC is legit and their business focuses on Memory: www.memoryc.com
They are and Irish company listed as an authorized retailer under "ireland" on Transcend's retailer page. www.transcend-info.com/support/buy I wonder if you would still get a warranty if you buy from MemoryC outside of Ireland even though they have a USA warehouse.
I'll tweet at both of them and get back to you.
MemoryC has a valid warranty. Apparently with Transcend there's a global warranty: twitter.com/Transcend_USA/status/892811318582886400
Reusable memory like sd cards and thumb drives do burn out faster when being written over and over. The normal consumer wouldnt know this. Thumbs up for bringing this up.
Thanks Steve!
I use Samsung Evo or Evo + or Pro 128gb cards....work great..
Yup, they do but officially the warranty is void if you use it in a dash camera. Unofficially it might be OK. As well the Pro cards which are the only MLC option are really expensive.
I looked at the packaging....doesn't say anything about that. And how would they know what it was used for anyway? I have been through the RMA process with Samsung for ssds a few times over the last 3 yrs..never had them ask me what it is used in. (I would assume it wouldn't be any different for sd card since it still flash media) Additionally, if available, one can buy store warranty plan, so if card fails, take it back for store credit to get new one. The Samsung evo m-sd card i have had for over 1yr, still going strong.
I have had multiple SanDisk Ultra cards fail on me, and they were only used in my smartphone. I never had a successful RMA with Sandisk, they never responded to any of my contact attempts. I cant recommend them for anything.
Still, good info you gave in the video. I did not know that there were "High Endurance" cards out there. If only they made actual ssds drives like that so I could use them in my home CCTV HDDVR.
Found buried in super fine print on the Samsung website for micro sd cards, * Warranty is limited for any type of surveillance system. * That is very vague. Also, you click the "All Warranty Info" link, and that pages states " Sorry... No service policy & warranty information for (card model)".
I contacted the support email listed on the Samsung website: cdn.carcamcentral.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Samsung_Response.png
Interesting, however, this is completely unknown to the customer who buys the product and it is not marked on the products packaging. Many may claim on false advertising then and will expect the warranty to be honored and card replaced. People never read documentation anyhow....either way, all their cards are advertised for "Smartphone, tablets, ....etc" all of theses devices use more random multiple read/write cycles to each sector than a circular write operation. They do list "action cameras" in their advertising on all their cards, to most, that is what a dash cam could be categorized under. Sure make it frustrating for the end user to later be told they need to buy a special card....that is usually not sold in stores(i cant find any of the "endurance" cards in my local tech stores). Sales guys also would have no idea not to recommend such cards to customers as the box says it works for cameras etc. Makes me glad there are people like you on the internet who let the world know what to look out for.
This video was so helpful. Thank you for not using fluff music in the background. It made everything so much easier to understand. I now no what to buy for my dash cam.
What are your thoughts on formatting an SD card? Do I have to do that at home on my computer or can I do it on the device?
i am 1000 "like this video" guy!
Thanks for the info'. I almost purchased the SanDisc 256GB but decided to not do it. After further investigation, including your informative You Tube presentation, I went ahead and purchased the Transcend High Endurance 32GB. Thanks for making less headaches for me down the road!
Great guide ! Got myself a Sandisk High Endurance for my Blackvue, as I don't want to format each week as stated in the manual of Blackvue (who does that?) The card itself came out of it's casing during a VERY hot day, I see the bare NAND on 1 side, but it's still working :-S Just ordered a Transcend High Endurance to have a spare if the Sandisk would break :) I think very high temperature rating is also a factor one should consider for Dashcams
Excellent and very informative video!!! I generally use Sandisk High Endurance, as their cards are cheaper and also pretty reliable, and have not experienced any data corruption using their cards so far.
However, I had one that broke into half inside my dashcam probably due to the heating and cooling cycles it experienced.
Replaced it with a spare, and so far it still works good.
Very Good. You are tops! Informative, clear, precise, brief. Keep up the great work!
Thank you Craig!
Rolands - Community Support
How many times can a micro SD card be formatted or reformatted?
It's weird. My SD card came from the dash cam's company. Like it came with my setup. I have recordings on it but they don't even show up when I put it on the computer... not sure what's going on there
Have you been able to fix this??
Thank you, I think you covered everything I've been reading about for the past hour, but in one short video. Very glad you released this. Am sharing it around.
Hey Clint. Thanks!
-Rolands
My SanDisk Ultra 32gb died while using in my dashcam. Now I know why... Will purchase a more durable card based on your recommendations for my dashcams moving forward. Thanks for this informative video.
Thank you. Was going to head to Costco for memory cards but not now! Prices have really risen for those MLC cards
Hey Eric, yeah they've gotten a lot more expensive because of the SD card shortage and the manufacturing transition over to 3D NAND.
-Andrew
Had 3 Dash cams. Had 3 new sandisks, 32GB and two 128GB. None worked or had problems after a few days. Bought different SD after this video. Thank you for being clear and saving me time and money and making me understand it wasn't the dash cam it was the SD card!
thanks, i have already bought the cards last week at £9.99 from amazon, they seem to increased in price recently, but they were 1/2 the price of the transcend high endurance
Too much to drink over the Holidays watched your video again and it's clear and my question is clearly in your video.
Thanks once more
I just ordered a Transcend High Endurance 64 for my new A119. New to all of this & trying to educate myself about. Thanks very much for all of the information.
You're welcome, Paul!
-Rolands
Thanks for this. I didn't do my homework on the sd cards, and sandisk voided my warranty. I'm going with one of the recommendations on this video.
Cheers for the vid. I had a Sandisk Ultra in a Blackvue DR650GW-2CH, and the front camera gradually went blurry as buggery on the right hand side. Neither the distributor or dash cam shop were able to diagnose why this was happening. Changed the MicroSD card back to the OEM card and she's back to normal. If I had seen this video 2 months ago, I'd still have hair right now
Haha, glad that worked out for you. Sometimes it's the curvature of the window. If you switch the camera to the other side it can go away. Had that happen to me too and it was frustrating.
Thank you. Very helpful. I've followed your recommendation on my dash cam and now the SD card. Thanks for making life much easier.
Thanks FODHS!
Thank you! Just realized why my SanDisk Ultra Plus is no longer working...only after about 1 month in dash cam!
I have been using a number of Samsung Evo+ cards, ranging from 8GB to 64GB, in my Mobius in the past two-three years. No issues so far!!
That's good to hear. I've heard it's a good card. We just need more data before we recommend it to our viewers.
-Rolands
Great info. One thing you didn't touch upon is temperature ratings. Dash cam SD cards fail most often because they are exposed to high temperatures as they bake in the sun on your windshield. I notice transcend has cards rated as "standard temperature" and "wide range temperature". I guess wide range would be the better choice?
I didn't touch on them because consumer cards are all rated to 80°C. However that doesn't reveal each card's resiliency in withstanding those temperatures. I also can't effectively test these cards. I would need a large sample to be statistically significant and even then batches can vary. I'm mainly relying on public data for that information.
If you can get the "Wide Temperature Ranges" for cheap, go ahead. Should be better. However, those cards are rated for industrial use and will be very expensive to purchase.
Just got a dashcam and was wondering if it really mattered. Glad I watched, I would have just got a SanDisk card and regretted it later on.
Thanks for the picture of all recommended disks. I took a snapshot and will be able to remember to resort back to it at Walmart when looking for an sd card
I had a problem with my first dash cam, had an error with recording, it would only save the last video recorded. I purchased another dash cam and then had the same problem! I was so annoyed! After watching your video I see my mistake, I was using the Sandisk SD card, I have since purchased the transcend as recommended, and so far so good!! Thanks for the advise!!
Glad to help Amy. Has everything been fine ever since?
-Rolands
I have the viofo a119 for a couple of years now and been using a $23 Samsung 64gb card with it no problems so far even during the summer
I'm sure you get this question a lot but could you link those clear speakers you have on the desk behind you? Those look amazing and I am seriously interested in getting them. Thanks for the really informative video. I very much appreciate it!!
damn this video is like perfect! wish all TH-cam vids were as informational as this. nice job!
Thanks dude, I try my best and I too wish there were more videos like this one.
Great just bought the sandisc ultra 32gb.story of my life..
Just a quick note to anyone buying a Dashcam. Dashcams are very fussy about the type of SD card they use. As an electronic engineer I must stress doing research before your purchase. Contact the manufacture before you purchase. U3 cards get hotter then U1 type cards as of writing this, thus some dashcam models will shutdown due to heat. Most SD cars are not rated for the hot climates. But some are. I am using a Samsung PRO Endurance Micro SDXC Card 128 GB. The larger capacities last longer.
Yes i learnt my lesson with Sandisk years ago - BUT - i have a sandisk in my smartphone - which has lasted over 4 years and counting. they are just no good for dash-cams. I have upgraded my dash cam from blackvue GW550 (2 channel) up to the GW650 (2 channel) - and so far have only tried the G-Skill 64 gig cards. both dont seem to keep up with write speeds and cause video stuttering, whilst the default blackvue card is recording perfectly. Looking for a reputable dealer where i can buy Transcend in Australia. Good video Car Cam Central, thank you
Hey Toggymok. That's the thing. Sandisk produces really good SD cards, just not for dash cameras. Their track record of SD cards in dash cameras is pretty poor.
Rolands - Community Support
Sandisk ultra as I use one in my dashcam is currently running for 4 years, I believe its to do with excluding a parking mode function in the dashcam.
My mum was using the blackvue 750s - 2ch and as I experimented the card aka the original Blackvue sd card it had lost 10 days of recording, I couldn't suspect the problem as my mum was the owner and couldn't suspect the exact issue.
Watching the video now I realize the sd cards we're using is at risk so I'll definitely be checking into the MLC cards.👍
Check out the Samsung Pro Endurance. It's our new pick from our latest video: th-cam.com/video/ccd0Oo5uBek/w-d-xo.html
-Andrew
This is a very good info. I am using that Sandisk Ultra 32G, my dash camera will record but once the card filled up, the cam will indicate Card Full on the screen and will not loop record. When I switch it to an 8G card, it works fine. I though may be the capacity of the card or the class of the card is too fast. With this video, I think I know Sandisk is the problem. Thanks.
Your camera is probably not even recording. I'd bet if you look at your Sandisk card that it's very old files. On some cameras there's no error notification when your card fails and even worse it appears that the camera is recording.
Amazing info. Straight to the with no bs in between.. love it.
Dash cam works great … this time the card has stuck in it .. won't bounce out using another card … can I use a magnet on it? Or would that ruin everything ?? love your vid tho .. thanks
Andrew, can you make an update to this for 2018? I think we've had some updates in the technology since 2016. Thank you!
Thanks for the info. I almost purchased the Sandisk Ultra with my dbPower camera. I was luckily able to cancel the order for the microSD card and purchase the Lexar 633x 64 GB card instead. It is a little more than the original purchase, but at least it's better than buying the wrong card and voiding the warranty.
Glad I could help!
Totally professional production and informative. Thank you!
Thanks Christina!
-Rolands
Wow, I was considering replacing my dashcam because it was acting squirrelly, but I have the Sandisc Ultra 32 in it, and now I realize it is just the failing card that is to blame. Thanks!
Hi I ordered a Viofo Pro 4k
I'll need a SD card
What do you mean by buying from 3rd party on Amazon?
I don't want to buy a fake
Thanks
Thanks for this info. I thought my GoPro was faulty, so called them and found out it's the card, a SanDisk Ultra 128GB, which is not on the list, and known to have issues. Then I called SanDisk to find out about data recovery, and they told me after seeing photos it was not a genuine SanDisk. So I have a knockoff of an unreliable card. I'm trying some file recovery software right now but most likely will not be able to recover the 15 corrupted files out of 20 on my Micro SD.
I had a problem with my dash cam. It stopped recording and went to buy a new one. I formatted the memory card, and it started working again.
It is also very important to format the card every 2 to 3 months. I have also been a victim of purchasing a fake sd card and lost a substantial amount of photos. Stay away from eBay and buy from a legitimate store, and don't be frightened by the cost of a decent card. If it doesn't do the job when it needs to, you'll regret it afterwards.
This explains alot. I've used the sandisk ultra with my dashcam for about 2 years now. Though I've never needed it for an accident I was in, I did witness and accident and was going to email the video to the injured party. But of course, I start looking for it on my computer (after inserting the sd card) and several clips were missing in a random fashion. I had no idea sd cards even wore out, I thought I just had a bad one.
Yup, this information isn't widely known. Glad you were able to figure it out before you actually needed it.
There are plenty of articles and videos discussing this topic. However, after speaking with a past college buddy of mine who works the last 10yrs as a Engineer at a Data Recovery lab for a well known company....I tend to think this idea of flash media wearing out fast is more of a misconception or not necessarily a thing to worry about these days.
" Circular recording devices, such as DVR, CCTV, etc, is a sequential continues-write operation. The device writes data to the first sector of the partition on the drive, then continues sequentially until the end of the drive partition. Then the cycle starts over again. Each sector is only written to 1x each cycle. A smaller drive will incur more write cycles then a larger drive over the same time period. This process is the same regardless of the physical media, flash or magnetic. Little wear is done to the media in this situation. Excessive sector wear only occurs when multiple read/write or especially simultaneous read/write operations are applied to a sector. In your application, a drive used in a DVR that is only actively recording, and not being accessed, will last considerably longer than one that is always being accessed by the user to playback the data on the drive while the unit is still recording(this is where simultaneous read/write operations happen). Flash media of the past did have issues with limited write cycles of each sector, however, quality modern flash media does not have such issues and in most cases, exceeds standard platter drives in MTBF / AFR and other specifications. However, there this is plenty of "value" products on the market that do not meet those level of specifications or manufacturing standards, and thus would fail much quicker than their "name brand" counterpart."
So what you wrote is true, but just because the majority of the drive is fine doesn't mean the controller will not preemptively lock a card which is the case of the SanDisk Ultra. As well in talking to a number of retailers they have experienced significantly increased failures with certain models, not sure if that's controller incompatibility, poor manufacturing or any number of other problems.
ADATA specifically with their premier cards, one retailer had RMAs jump 20X because of they moved from Taiwan to Chinese manufacturing.
Does your engineering friend have direct experience dealing and analyzing the causes of failure with SD cards or is he/she more concerned with how to extra data from media that have failed?
If he's actively collecting data, analyzing why a SD card failed with the quality/brand and how it was written on that would be very valuable information. If not, I don't see how his experiences reflect the realities of what other users, retailers and manufacturers are reporting.
Good points u mention. His main job is to recover the data. He did mention brands design and choice of controller affects how data is written to the media, and thus, how he has to go about recovering it. Some brands(did not say which) are far more difficult than others) He did say that he has noticed reduction in media and manufacturing quality and many defects even in top end brand media over the years, Which makes his job near impossible. His company does keep detailed internal data and statistics about all brands of media and the manufacturer exclusive tools and processes available to recover them etc...but none of that can be released or discussed in detail...of course. NDA's etc.
Thanks a lot for explaining with card will be good for dash cam. I was looking for a Sandisk Exteme pro but after watching you blog I am going for a Lexar High-Endurance microSDHC 32GB UHS-I Card
Your videos are so helpful. Thank you for spending time to provide valuable information.
Thank you very much for watching us!
-Rolands
Great video, I learned a lot, so much interesting and useful information. Thank you so much !!! 👍👍
im sure you guys are right, but i have used a san disk 32gb ultra for a year in my dash and rear cams and they both still work fine so I have to take as I find.
Although i do wipe them once a month which IMHO helps with over writing problems
Yup, that can happen too! I see it as the Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF), a concept used for hard drives. The MTBF is significantly shorter for Sandisk Ultra (Not A1s) but towards the far end of the failure curve you can have units that last a long time.
-Andrew
What an amazing comparison, thank you so much for taking the time to create such a good video with such valuable insights -- things that would take us hours upon hours to research, you condensed into 4 short minutes. YOU ROCK, Andrew! :D
Just realized that this is 5-6 years old, but I see you have a 2019 version. :)
Top notch work across all of the Car Cam Central series, thank you.
And thank you for watching!
-Rolands
whats there to wear out ? its solid state , it has no moving parts and i would think the engineers made the "resistors, transistor films" inside to take the power dissapation , micro amps and statics .🔬🎓
Hi thanks for a very good article & advice, also I note that most dash cam's say UP TO 32gb,
what happens if you put bigger cards ie 64gb or 125gb ??? your help would be much appreciated
Depends on the camera and who makes it. Some cameras have updates which enables 64GB recording. Others don't label it correctly or are being conservative. Other cameras it's usable but you can't format it in camera and you'll need to use a program like GUIformat in order to use it: www.ridgecrop.demon.co.uk/index.htm?guiformat.htm
Great straight forward info and in depth. thanks for the post. Keep up the good work.
Thank you!
-Rolands
Your dash cam nerdom reigns supreme! Thanks!
Hahah - 100% geeking out on dash cams. 👍 📷
Ended up buying the Goluck T2, works nice. The phone integration is a winner. Have it hooked up to an always on outlet, so it doubles as a security cam when in the driveway at night.
*32gb seems way too small, even for the average driver. Unless you are referring to dashcam setup without parking mode. I would suggest 64gb minimum for a single channel parking mode, and if it's 2channel with parking mode, I would go as big as you can get. 128gb minimum. My 2CH Blackvue gets maybe 3 days of footage with a 128gb... Make sure you check your car often as data gets overwritten quick and if you don't notice you've been hit (and run) quick enough, you're SOL.*
Yup, it was a suggestion for drivers without parking mode. Most people won't go through the trouble of hardwiring or even routing their cables from the installs I've seen. I agree with you on the sizing for parking mode 64GB minimum.
-Andrew
Since a few years have passed and there are now a handful of 4K cameras out there, would you have anything to add to this excellent video? I know that 4K eats up a lot more storage space, so perhaps a bigger card? Does the card size have anything to do with it's overall performance?
Glad you found the new video too medic!
Andrew WOW!! great detailed review!!!! Just found this tonight, but to my surprise, I purchased a micro sd card that didn't make your list. Considering your facts are archived since 2016 I found a PNY brand 32GB class 10 U1 micro sd card for my dash cam. Thanks for revealing the information on the life span of a card, this is not the main card I'll be using. I wanted to see how the camera recorded. Good thing I can get my money back with receipt 14 days after purchase. But now I need to find out how to tell if a micro sd card is a TLC or MLC? Definitely using your recommendation of the transcend brand.
Thanks! There's been some huge updates since we launched this video. MLC is less important than 3D NAND construction. The Samsung Pro Endurance is made from 3D MLC NAND and it's what we recommend now. We wrote a new article here: carcamcentral.com/guide/recommended-sd-cards-for-dash-cameras
-Andrew
Now I know why previous dash cams failed for no apparent reason. Thank you.
Hey. What dash cams you were using previously?
-Rolands
I ordered the Transcends DrivePro 520 and it was advertised as coming with a Transcend 32gb 600x microSD card, but it came with the Transcend High Endurance 32gb card instead. I thought I got the inferior card, but I noticed that my box says 2017 and most of the videos I see with the 600x are 2016 or older. Did I get the better card with the High Endurance?
You got the better card for sure. While the 600X might be faster, the High Endurance card was designed for error correction and to better handle the stresses of high heat and constant overwriting. It's the better card for dash cameras.
Andrew
I have budget vga camera number 5 with a toshiba sd card ,they have lasted 4 sydney summers then a new battery and working as ordinary as ever,I had no accidents I think it brings luck
oh dear...i just got 3 sets of lexar 633x 64gb...i hope mine runs well wish me luck....over here in malaysia the only microsd listed for surveillance use whose warranty can be honoured is the sandisk high endurance...we can get the lexar and transcend high endurance through parallel imports but that means there's no warranty...headaches headaches
I wish you luck as well. I might have gone with the Sandisk High Endurance. I just ordered a 64GB card for testing as I noticed the reviews have been VERY strong on Amazon compared to the Lexar High Endurance.
-Andrew
Hi thanks for the article and youtube video, just purchased the Transcend High Endurance 64GB card after my Blackvue 64Gb card which is only 8 mounths old failed completely , the card cost me just under £90 from blackvue which they recommend you change every 6 months and the card has only a 6 month warranty !! while the Transcend is £40 cheaper and has a 2 year warranty!! i dont know how blackvue can justify the price and warranty.
It's their manufactured SD card so there goes the price of the brand. One more thing you should consider if you use Blackvue cameras - some of their cameras might work properly only with their manufactured Blackvue SD cards. Hope your purchase turns out good. Let us know!
-Rolands
Great video, i have the A119 and I bought the Samsung EVO + without watching this video. so i will use this card:Transcend Ultimate instead (replace the samsung one with my phone) what do you thing about the Transcend is this card as good as the endurance? is it MLC? thanks:)
It's MLC, hard to tell which is better. Transcend said to me they've optimized the controller's firmware to run better with dash cameras. They use it with their own cameras. There is a lifetime warranty on the Ultimate vs 2 years on the Endurance which is nice.
huh, good to know. I just pulled my Sandisc Ultra out and put Transend in yesterday. I did something right without knowing why:)
Yup, Transcend is used for testing as well by Novatek engineers (image processor for many dash cameras). Another reason to use Transcend.
Your presentation is so very very good. You are a great communicator.
Thank you very much!
-Rolands
Uhh you sure the Lexar 633X is MLC??? Pretty certain this is not a "high endurance" card.
It's not. You're right on that. For our new SD card recommendations please see the article on our website here:
www.carcamcentral.com/guide/recommended-sd-cards-avoid-sandisk-ultra-cards
-Rolands
what NAND memory type is the Lexar 633x you recommend in the link provided, i can't find any info from manufacturer, how many write cycles will it take ?, great video have bought both A119 dash cam at £58 on ebay and lexar 32 gb cards at £9.99 on black friday after watching your videos, polarised lens for A119 is now available on ebay.
MLC according to the manufactuer's support, through a Lexar rep and from other reviewers on the internet except for the 200GB which should be TLC>.
I'd get a Transcend card as the A119 uses a Novatek processor. Novatek's engineering team uses Transcend cards for testing and optimizations.