New Leading Samsung PRO, EVO, & Standard Memory Cards Released

Samsung launched their upgraded line of microSD and SD cards yesterday in Seoul, Korea. Some of these very tough and feature-rich cards have been release already, while the top-end card PRO will be released on April 30: http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Electronics-Adapter-MB

And these are some very solid memory cards. They're waterproof, temperature proof, X-ray proof, and magnet proof, so travels and adventures should not impose any risk to the files stored on these cards while they are used with tablets, smartphones, cameras and other digital equipment during travels. And this comes with guarantees even.

Samsung guarantees functional survival of all of these cards after 24 hours in seawater, endurance of temperatures from -13°F to 185°F (-25°C to 85°C) and non-operating temperatures from 40°F to 185°F (-40°C to 85°C), or if these cards have been driven over by a 1.9 ton truck! Take that Kingston, and SanDisk. The competition over the best memory cards just went up a few notches.

One of Samsung's senior vice presidents, Unsoo Kim summarized the intentions behind these cards when he said during the launch that: “Samsung plans to take the lead in the growth of high-density memory cards by strengthening our product competitiveness through improved performance, product quality, broad capacity options and sophisticated design.” And it looks like they may have succeeded too, in what have otherwise been a stagnant memory card market.

Samsung's new memory card lineup is divided into three model- and feature series called PRO, EVO, and Standard, each with various features, properties, and price levels.

The memory capacity ranges from 4GB to 64GB, with the 4GB, 8GB, 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB storage options printed in large letters on front, while each memory card series is painted in each their distinctive color.

Samsung PRO memory cards are painted grey/silver, Samsung Pro memory cards are orange, while Samsung Standard memory cards are colored light blue.

The PRO and EVO microSD cards support Grade 1 Ultra High Speed (UHS-I) with speedy 90MB/s read speed and 50MB/s write speed on the PRO cards, and 48MB/s read speeds on the EVO cards.

As an example, one of Samsung's 64GB memory cards can record over 11 hours of Full HD video (1920 x 1080) at 30fps on one card.

But best of all, the price is actually better than that of its competitors. For the Samsung EVO line the price is $14.99 with 16GB, $26.99 with 32GB, and $49.99 with 64GB.

For the Samsung PRO line, the price begins at $24.99 with 16GB, goes up to $39.99 with 32GB, and finally $69.99 with 64GB. See all the details on Amazon.
The EVO cards are shipping already, while the PRO cards will be released on April 30.

– Jim Miller