Performance

As far as testing goes, I kept things simple. I tested the Play MicroSDXC 512GB using the reader that Lexar had sent over and I started with CrystalDiskMark so we could get a look at sequential performance. Remember the V30 rating means that the Play MicroSDXC 512GB would sustain at least 30 MB/s on the sequential writes but our test had it up in the mid-’80s. The reads were even better with it running at 157 MB/s for both the single and 8 queue depth tests then things of course dropped off with the random 4k tests. That was better than I expected given the rating the card was given.

Then from there I just ran our normal real-world test which I do file transfers in Windows 10 using three file types. I do small files with a folder filled with word documents, then a folder of pictures, then for large sequential like performance I tested with a folder filled with large movie files. I test going to the drive and back to our test PC as well. The document transfers came in at 1.18 MB/s when going to the drive, which is about a 1/3 or ¼ of what most modern SSDs will do but still isn’t bad for a microSD card. Things were faster of course going back to the SSD on the test bench.

Documents to Play MicroSDXC 512GB

Documents to PC

For the photo, file transfers the Play MicroSDXC 512GB stayed right at 94 MB/s when moving the pictures over to the card. When transferring back the performance looked similar until a little past halfway where it dropped down into the 10-30 MB/s range. I did go back through and retest that a second time and the second time the issue didn’t pop up, in fact, it ran up in the 127 MB/s range that time around.

Pictures to Play MicroSDXC 512GB

Pictures to Play MicroSDXC 512GB a 2nd time

 

 

Pictures to PC

 

The last test was copying the large movie files and here the Play MicroSDXC 512GB fell on its face for a while struggling to even get rolling. It eventually moved up to 46 MB/s but didn’t read the speeds writing to the drive that I would have expected. However, this was over the 30 MB/s that the V30 rating covers. Pulling the files back off the drive was fast however running at 134 MB/s the entire time. I talked about it in the packaging section a little bit. But the slower writes but fast read speeds do fit well with the gaming-focused design of the Play MicroSDXC 512GB. You will write things to the card from time to time when downloading new games, updates, and game saves. But the speed is most important for loading the games and that it does well.

 

Movies to Play MicroSDXC 512GB

 

 

Movies to PC