Comparison of memory cards

This table provides summary of comparison of various flash memory cards, as of 2011.

Common information

unless otherwise indicated, all images to scale
Card family Standards organizations Varieties Entry date Picture[1] Main features
CompactFlash SanDisk I 1994 Thinner (3.3 mm), flash only, now up to 512 GB, although standard goes up to 128 PB since CF 5.0[2]
II Thicker (5.0 mm), older flash, but usually Microdrives, up to 128 PiB[2]
SmartMedia Toshiba 3.3/5 V 1995 Very slim (45.0×37.0×0.76 mm3), no wear leveling controller, up to 128 MB. This particular example shows the write protect sticker (the silver disc).
MultiMediaCard Siemens AG, SanDisk MMC 1997 Slim and small (24×32×1.4 mm3), up to 16 GB
RS-MMC/MMC Mobile 2003/2005 Compact (24×18×1.4 mm3), up to 16 GB
MMCplus 2005 Compact (24×32×1.4 mm3), swifter, optional DRM, up to 16 GB
MMCmicro 2005 Subcompact (14×12×1.1 mm3), optional DRM, 16 MB to 4 GB
Secure Digital Panasonic, SanDisk, Toshiba, Kodak SD 1999 Small (32×24×2.1 mm3), DRM, up to 4 GB. (2 GB and 4 GB cards use larger block sizes and may not be compatible with some host devices. See Article)
miniSD 2003 Compact (21.5×20×1.4 mm3), DRM, up to 4 GB. (2 GB and 4 GB cards use larger block sizes and may not be compatible with some host devices. See Article)
microSD 2005 Subcompact (11×15×1 mm3), DRM, up to 4 GB. (2 GB and 4 GB cards use larger block sizes and may not be compatible with some host devices. See Article)
SDHC 2006 Same build as SD but greater capacity and transfer speed, 4 GB to 32 GB (not compatible with older host devices).
miniSDHC 2008 Same build as miniSD but greater capacity and transfer speed, 4 GB to 32 GB. 8 GB is largest in early-2011 (not compatible with older host devices).
microSDHC 2007 Same build as microSD but greater capacity and transfer speed, 4 GB to 32 GB. [3](not compatible with older host devices)
SDXC 2009 Same build as SD, but greater capacity and transfer speed, 32 GB and higher. Standard goes up to 2 TB (not compatible with older host devices).
microSDXC 2009 Same build as microSD, but greater capacity and transfer speed, 32 GB and higher. Standard goes up to 2 TB (not compatible with older host devices).
Memory Stick Sony/SanDisk Standard 1998 Slim and narrow (50×21.5×2.8 mm3), optional DRM, up to 128 MB
PRO 2003
(not to scale)		 Slim and narrow (50×21.5×2.8 mm3), swifter, optional DRM, up to 4 GB
Duo 2003 Compact (31×20×1.6 mm3), optional DRM, up to 128 MB
PRO Duo 2002-06 Compact (31×20×1.6 mm3), optional DRM, up to 32 GB
PRO-HG Duo 2007-08 Compact (31×20×1.6 mm3), swifter, optional DRM, up to 32 GB
Micro (M2) 2006-02 Subcompact (15×12.5×1.2 mm3), optional DRM, up to 16 GB
XQD Sandisk, Sony, Nikon, CFA Standard 2011-12 High-capacity, high-speed standard using PCIe as interface
xD Olympus, Fujifilm Standard 2002-07 Slim and small (20×25×1.78 mm3), electrically identical to SmartMedia, no wear-leveling controller, up to 512 MB[4]
Type M 2005 Slim and small (20×25×1.78 mm3) but slower read/write, no wear-leveling controller, up to 2 GB[4]
Type H 2005 Slim and small (20×25×1.78 mm3) and swifter, no wear-leveling controller, up to 2 GB[4]
USB flash drive Various USB 1.1/2.0/3.0 2000/1
(not to scale)		 Universally compatible across most non-mobile computer platforms, their greater size suits them better to file transfer/storage instead of use in portable devices, up to 1 TB.

Physical details

Note that a memory card's dimensions are determined while holding the card with contact pins upwards. The length of cards is often greater than their width. Most cards show a directional arrow to aid insertion; such an arrow should be upward.

Card Width (mm) Length (mm) Thickness (mm) Volume (mm³) Mass (g)[5]
CompactFlash, Type I 43.0 36.0 3.3 5,108 3.3
CompactFlash, Type II 43.0 36.0 5.0 7,740
SmartMedia 37.0 45.0 0.76 1,265 2.0
MMC, MMCplus 24.0 32.0 1.4 1,075 1.3[6]
RS-MMC, MMCmobile 24.0 18.0 1.4 605 1.3
MMCmicro 14.0 12.0 1.1 185
SD, SDHC, SDXC, SDIO 24.0 32.0 2.1 1,613 2.0
miniSD, miniSDHC, miniSDIO 20.0 21.5 1.4 602 1.0
microSD, microSDHC, microSDXC 11.0 15.0 1.0 165 0.27
Memory Stick Standard, PRO 21.5 50.0 2.8 3,010 4.0
Memory Stick Duo, PRO Duo, PRO-HG, XC 20.0 31.0 1.6 992 2.0
Memory Stick Micro (M2), XC 12.5 15.0 1.2 225 2.0
XQD card 38.5 29.8 3.8
xD 25.0 20.0 1.78 890 2.8
USB varies varies varies varies varies

Technical details

Card Varieties Max. storage capacity (nom. in GiB) Theoretical max. capacity (nom. in GiB) Max. Read Speed (MB/s) Max. Write Speed (MB/s) Read/write cycles Low-level access Operating voltage (V)[7] Controller chip[8] # of pins
CompactFlash I 512 128 PiB[2]
(134217728 GiB)		 167[9] 167[9] NOR/NAND 3.3 and 5 Yes 50
II 12 128 PiB[2]
(134217728 GiB)		 167[9] 167[9]
SmartMedia 128 MiB
(0.125 GiB)		 2 1,000,000 NAND 3.3 or 5 No 22
MMC MMC 8 128 2 2 1,000,000[10] 3.3 Yes 7
RS-MMC 2 2[11] 2[11] 3.3 7
MMCmobile 2 15[12] 8[12] 1.8 and 3.3 13
MMCplus 4[13] 52[14] 52[14] 3.3 13
MMCmicro 2 1.8 and 3.3 13
eMMC 2 TiB
(2048 GiB)		 104 104 1.8 and 3.3 Yes 13
Secure Digital[15] SD (SDSC) 4 25[16] 25 3.3 Yes 9
miniSD 8 25 25 11
microSD 4 25 25 8
SDHC 32[17] 2 TiB
(2048 GiB)		 104 (UHS-I) 104 (UHS-I) 1.8 and 3.3 Yes 9
miniSDHC 4[18] 104 (UHS-I) 104 (UHS-I) 11
microSDHC 32[19] 104 (UHS-I) 104 (UHS-I) 8
SDXC 512[20] 2 TiB
(2048 GiB)		 104 (UHS-I) 104 2.7 - 3.6 [21] Yes 9
microSDXC 200[22] 104 (UHS-I) 104 (UHS-I) 8
Memory Stick Standard 128 MiB
(0.125 GiB)		 128 MiB
(0.125 GiB)		 2.5 1.8 3.3 Yes 10
PRO 4 2 TiB
(2048 GiB)		 20 20 3.3
PRO Duo 32[23] 20 20 3.3
PRO-HG Duo 32[24] 30 (actual;[25]
theoretical: 60[26])		 30 (actual;[25] theoretical: 60[26]) 3.3
Micro (M2) 16[27] 32 20 20 1.8 and 3.3
xC 2 TiB
(2048 GiB)		 60 60 3.3
xD 512 MiB
(0.5 GiB)		 512 MiB
(0.5 GiB)		 5 3 3.3 No 18
Type M 2 8 4 2.5
Type H 2 8 5 4
Type M+ 2 8 6 3.75
XQD 64 2+ TiB
(2+ GiB)		 168 168 5
USB Full speed (USB 1) 1024[28]
(1 TiB)		 No hardware-limit 1 1 5 Yes 4
High speed (USB 2.0) 40 40
Super speed (USB 3.0) 240 160

Consumer details

Card Write protection switch[29] DRM
CompactFlash No No
SmartMedia Partial, sticker Partial (optional)
MMC, RS-MMC No No
MMCMobile Yes, secureMMC
SD Yes[30][31] Yes, CPRM
miniSD No
microSD No
Memory Stick Standard, PRO Yes Optional, MagicGate
Memory Stick Duo, PRO Duo No Optional, MagicGate
Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo No Optional, MagicGate
Memory Stick Micro (M2) No Optional, MagicGate
xD No Partial [32]
USB Sometimes No

Compatibility

The following chart gives details on availability of adapters to put a given card (horizontal) in a given slot or device (vertical). This table does not take into account protocol issues in communicating with the device.

Following labels are used:

Cards → CF CFast SM MMC Memory Stick SDSC SDHC SDXC xD XQD
↓ Slots I II MMC RS-MMC, MMCmobile Std PRO PRO Duo Micro SDSC miniSD microSD SDHC miniSDHC microSDHC SDXC microSDXC Std M H
ExpressCard E[33] E[33] E[34] E[35] E[35] E[34] E[34] E[34] E[36] E[34] E[34] E[34] EM
PCI Express Mini Card EM
mSATA XM
PC Card EM[37] EM[37] E[38] E[39] E[39] E[39] E[39]
PCMCIA EM[37] EM[37] E[38] E[39] E[39] E[39] E[39]
CF I + E E[40] E[41] E[41] E[42] E[40] E[43] E[43] E[43]
CF II + + E E[40] E[41] E[41] E[40] E[43] E[43] E[43]
CFast +
SM + X[44] X[44] X[44]
xD E[45] + + +
XQD +
MMC + M D[46]
MS X[47] + + M M X[47] X[47] E[48]
SDSC D M + EM EM
miniSD + EM
microSD +
SDHC D [49] EM EM + EM EM
miniSDHC D [49] EM + EM
microSDHC D [49] +
SDXC D [50] EM EM D [50] EM EM + EM
microSDXC D [50] D [50] +
IDE PATA EM[51] EM[51] E[52][53]
Serial ATA E[54] E[54] EM
PCI Express EM
USB X[55] X[55] X[55] X[55] X[55] X[55] E[56] E[56] E[57] E[58] X[55] X[55] X[55] X
Floppy E[59] E E + M E E
Nintendo DS Slot-1 E[60]
Nintendo DS Slot-2 E[61] E[61] E[61]

References

  1. ↑ Pictures are given in relative scales; they're sized to be WYSIWYG when viewing using 81PPI monitor.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Compact Flash Association announces CF 5.0 standard supporting up to 128 PiB of storage
  3. ↑ http://pocketnow.com/smartphone-news/why-do-microsd-cards-have-a-maximum-32gb-capacity
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 FUJIFILM Global | xD-Picture Card and Adapters
  5. ↑ Plexus Outbursts specifications
  6. ↑ Apacer's MMC specifications
  7. ↑ Voltage table at All Memory Cards, note that some cards support both voltages (and), and some cards are available in distinct versions (or)
  8. ↑ Explanation of controller chip at All Memory Cards
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 CompactFlash Specification Rev. 6.0
  10. ↑ ACP-EP Specifications
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 ACP-EP RS-MMC card features list
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 ACP-EP MMCmobile card features list
  13. ↑ Transcend MMCplus 4 GiB
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 MMC transferred at up to 52 MiB/s
  15. ↑ Maximum transfer speed is not defined by SD standards. Bus speeds are quoted.
  16. ↑ https://www.sdcard.org/consumers/speed/bus_speed/
  17. ↑ Toshiba Adds New High Density SDHC Cards and microSDHC Card to Extensive Memory Card Line-up
  18. ↑ New 4 GiB miniSDHC card
  19. ↑ http://pocketnow.com/smartphone-news/why-do-microsd-cards-have-a-maximum-32gb-capacity
  20. ↑ http://www.sandisk.com/about-sandisk/press-room/press-releases/2014/sandisk-premieres-worlds-highest-capacity-sd-card-for-high-performance-video-and-photo-capture/
  21. ↑ https://www.sdcard.org/developers/overview/capacity/
  22. ↑ http://www.sandisk.com/about-sandisk/press-room/press-releases/2015/200gb-sandisk-ultra-microsdxc-uhs-i-card-premium-edition/
  23. ↑ Sony 32 GB Memory Stick PRO Duo
  24. ↑ http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=8198552921666322869&tab=featuresTab
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 Sony Introduces Faster MS Pro HG Duo Card
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 Sony Memory Stick PRO-HG, up to 32 GB, 8-bit parallel transfer
  27. ↑ SanDisk announces world's largest mobile phone card capacity with 16GB M2
  28. ↑ http://www.kingston.com/us/company/press?article=6487
  29. ↑ Write protection switch at All Memory Cards
  30. ↑ Some early SD cards may not have a write protection switch.
  31. ↑ The write protect switch signals to the host, which is responsible for write protection. The write protect switch is not connected to the internal circuitry of the card. (SD Card Simplified Physical Layer Specification)
  32. ↑ Fujifilm accessories xD-Picture Card
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 DataFab EXP-CF
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 34.2 34.3 34.4 34.5 34.6 DataFab EXP 12 in 2
  35. ↑ 35.0 35.1 DataFab exp 12 in 1
  36. ↑ DataFab exp M2+microSD
  37. ↑ 37.0 37.1 37.2 37.3 Transcend CompactFlash-to-PC Card adapter
  38. ↑ 38.0 38.1 Transcend SmartMedia-to-PC Card adapter
  39. ↑ 39.0 39.1 39.2 39.3 39.4 39.5 39.6 39.7 Transcend 5-in-1 Adapter
  40. ↑ 40.0 40.1 40.2 40.3 Minolta SD-CF1 SD-to-CompactFlash adapter
  41. ↑ 41.0 41.1 41.2 41.3 Transcend MemoryStick-to-CompactFlash adapter
  42. ↑ Sony MSAC-MCF1N and AD-MSCF1 PRO Duo to CF adapters
  43. ↑ 43.0 43.1 43.2 43.3 43.4 43.5 Olympus MACF-10 xD-to-CompactFlash adapter
  44. ↑ 44.0 44.1 44.2 Hama xD-to-SM adapter
  45. ↑ In March 2008, Olympus started shipping the MASD-1 microSD-to-xD adapter along with its latest compact digital cameras, with a shape designed to fit only in those latest cameras. The physical adapter is in fact purely electromechanical, although the xD and SD protocols are completely incompatible. This demonstrates that the cameras themselves must understand the SD protocol, and thus the adapter is more properly termed an electronic adapter, with the electronic logic contained in the camera rather than the physical accessory.
  46. ↑ SD cards are usually thicker than MMC ones, and although it uses perfectly compatible pins, not every MMC slot may allow thick SD card to be inserted
  47. ↑ 47.0 47.1 47.2 Dragon SD/miniSD/MMC to MS PRO Duo Adapter
  48. ↑ KingMax microSD to MS PRO Duo Adapter
  49. ↑ 49.0 49.1 49.2 SDHC devices are backward-compatible with normal SD cards. (https://www.sdcard.org/consumers/compatibility/)
  50. ↑ 50.0 50.1 50.2 50.3 SDXC devices are backward-compatible with SD and SDHC cards. (https://www.sdcard.org/consumers/compatibility/)
  51. ↑ 51.0 51.1 PC Engines IDE to CompactFlash adapters
  52. ↑ Star Empery PT110 SD Card To ATA IDE 3.5 inch Hard Drive Adapter
  53. ↑ 4× SD to SSD IDE Adapter
  54. ↑ 54.0 54.1 Accelerated Compact Flash: The Addonics SATA CF Adapter
  55. ↑ 55.0 55.1 55.2 55.3 55.4 55.5 55.6 55.7 55.8 There are many USB-connected "n-in-1" memory card readers, for example Belkin's "Hi-Speed USB 2.0 15-in-1 Media Reader & Writer".
  56. ↑ 56.0 56.1 MS Duo and M2 adapters have appeared in the last 12 months which look like USB memory sticks
  57. ↑ SanDisk @ CES - SD card with built-in USB adapter
  58. ↑ A-Data microSD to USB Adapter
  59. ↑ DCRP Special Report: FlashPath Adapter by Tom Beardmore
  60. ↑ R4 microSD to NDS Slot-1 Adapter
  61. ↑ 61.0 61.1 61.2 Supercard to NDS Slot-2 Adapter

External links