Samsung EVO Plus 128GB microSDXC Memory Card

Model: Samsung EVO Plus 128GB microSDXC Memory Card
Manufacturer: Samsung Electronics
Provided By: Samsung America

Samsung Electronics has been a leader in the electronics industry for more than 30 years. Since the introduction of their first television in 1970, this Korean company has grown to become one of the world's leading electronics manufacturers, offering everything from tiny semiconductors to large home appliances. Samsung is no stranger to the storage industry either. Along with an assortment of DVD and Blu-ray Disc drives, the company offers both hard drive and flash based storage solutions for the portable and desktop computer markets.

It's been two years since Samsung launched its current line of SD and microSD cards. Since then, the company has continued to deliver new memory cards with faster speeds and greater capacities. The latest addition to Samsung's lineup is the EVO Plus. Available in 32GB, 64GB, 128GB and 256GB capacities, this updated version of the popular EVO+ gives smartphone, tablet and camera users the capacity they need to store hours of 4K UHD video and thousands of high-resolution photos. The EVO Plus is also UHS Speed Class 3 (U3) rated and is capable of read and write speeds of up to 100 MB/s and 90 MB/s, respectively. 

Like Samsung's other microSD cards, the EVO Plus boasts 4-proof protection. This means that the card is guaranteed to survive up to 72 hours in seawater and endure operating temperatures from -25°C to 85°C and non-operating temperatures from -40°C to 85°C. Data stored on the card is also not affected by X-rays and can resist up to 15,000 gauss magnetic force - the equivalent of a high-field MRI scanner. If that's not enough, Samsung backs the EVO Plus with a 10-year limited warranty.

Needless to say, this is only a taste of what the EVO Plus memory card has to offer. To give you an idea of what to expect, we'll take a closer look at Samsung's new microSDXC card and then see how well it performs. Does the EVO Plus have what it takes? Keep reading as we find out.

Packaging:

Like most other memory cards, Samsung's EVO Plus microSDXC card comes packaged in a cardboard blister pack. The front of the packaging advertises many of the card's key features including its capacity, class rating and rated speeds. The pictures on the front also serve a purpose as they are there to help consumers choose a card based on their intended use. In this case, the pictures suggest that Samsung's EVO Plus microSDXC card is ideal for smartphones.

The back of the packaging provides a bit more information regarding the features and capabilities of Samsung's EVO Plus microSDXC card. Along with the card's UHS speed class rating, the packaging shows that it is covered by a 10 year warranty and is water, magnet, temperature and x-ray proof.

Physical Features:

When it comes to Samsung's memory cards, appearance is just as important as performance and capacity. To make the cards stand out from the competition, they come in bright, color-coded hues. In the case of Samsung's new EVO Plus card, the top is white and orangish-red in color with a black stripe. It also has a large Samsung logo and clearly shows the capacity, model and UHS speed class.

As you'd expect, Samsung's new microSDXC card is quite small. It measures 15 x 11 x 1 mm and weighs in at about 0.5g. Nevertheless, the card is surprisingly tough as it can withstand up to 72 hours in seawater, extreme temperatures, airport X-ray machines and magnetic fields equivalent to an MRI scanner.

For added value and convenience, Samsung includes a full-size SD card adapter with all of its microSD cards. Simply insert the card into the adapter and you can use it with SD-enabled devices such as digital cameras, laptops, printers etc. This especially comes in handy if you ever need to transfer photos, music and video content from a mobile device to a PC or device with an SD slot.

Performance:

The test system used in this review is equipped with an Intel Core i7-6700K CPU, GIGABYTE GA-Z170X-UD3 motherboard, 32GB (16GB x 2) of Crucial Ballistix Sport LT DDR4 memory, Samsung 960 PRO 512GB SSD, GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1060 WINDFORCE OC 6G graphics card and a Transcend TS-RDF5K USB 3.0 card reader. For the operating system, I installed a fresh copy of Windows 10 Enterprise.

To test the performance of Samsung's 128GB EVO Plus microSDXC card, I ran a series of benchmarks using CrystalDiskMark and ATTO Disk Benchmark. To get a feel for the "real world" performance, I also copied and pasted 1GB of random files and directories as well as a single 4GB ISO file in Windows Explorer.

CrystalDiskMark 5.1.2:

First, I ran a few quick tests using CrystalDiskMark. This benchmark tool measures the performance of a storage device by testing its sequential read and write speeds as well as its random read and write speeds using blocks 512K and 4K in size.

Samsung EVO Plus 128GB microSDXC

Patriot LX Series 256GB microSDXC

According to Samsung, the 128GB version of their EVO Plus microSDXC card is capable of reading at 100 MB/s and writing at 90 MB/s. While the card performed relatively well, it came up a bit short of these numbers in CrystalDiskMark's sequential read and write speed tests.

ATTO Disk Benchmark 2.46:

I also used ATTO Disk Benchmark to test the EVO Plus microSDXC card's sequential read and write speeds. The test was run using blocks ranging in size from 0.5KB to 8192KB and the total length set to 256MB.

Samsung EVO Plus 128GB microSDXC

Patriot LX Series 256GB microSDXC

When tested with ATTO, the EVO Plus microSDXC card's read speeds topped out at about 96 MB/s and its write speeds at 88 MB/s.

"Real World" Benchmark:

To test the "real world" performance of Samsung's EVO Plus microSDXC memory card, I copied and pasted 1GB worth of randomly generated files and directories. All of the files are between 1KB and 95MB in size and no more than five directories deep. To see how well the card handled large files, I also copied and pasted a 4GB ISO file.

Samsung's new card performed very well here, taking 29 seconds to write 1GB worth of test data and 13 seconds to read it back.

Final Thoughts:

Samsung's new EVO Plus microSDXC card is a great choice for the consumer looking for fast, yet affordable, storage for their smartphone, tablet or camera. In addition to being water, temperature, X-ray and magnet proof, this new and improved version of the EVO+ is available in capacities ranging from 32GB up to a massive 256GB. The EVO Plus is also UHS Speed Class 3 (U3) rated and is capable of delivering some impressive performance numbers. In our tests, the 128GB version of the EVO Plus was able to read at speeds as high as 96 MB/s and write at more than 87 MB/s. With performance like this, the EVO Plus gives even Samsung's own PRO series cards a serious run for their money.

Samsung's EVO Plus microSDXC card is available now in select countries and at select retailers in 32GB, 64GB and 128GB capacities. Suggested retail prices range from $30 for the 32GB model up to $100 for the 128GB model reviewed here. According to Samsung, the 256GB EVO Plus will be available soon but there is no word on price at this time.

Highs:

• Large storage capacity
• Excellent read and write speeds
• Water, temperature, x-ray and magnet proof
• Includes SD adapter
• Reasonably priced
• 10 year warranty

Lows:

• Nothing