Camera Memory Speed
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SanDisk Extreme U3 microSDHC 32GB Review

SanDisk Extreme U3 microSDHC 32GB Card

Introduction

The SanDisk Extreme microSDHC U3 card offers high performance for action cameras. It provides up to 60MB/s read and 40MB/s write speed according to SanDisk. This version meets UHS Speed Class 3 (U3) specification to provide at least 30MB/s continuous write speed for 4K HD video recording.

The Extreme U3 microSD card is available in 32GB microSDHC and 64GB microSDXC vresions. A 16GB microSDHC card is available and offers U1 write performance (45MB/s read / 30MB/s write). The 32GB microSDHC card is reviewed here.

SanDisk Extreme U3 32GB microSDHC Card Back

Performance

The SanDisk Extreme U3 32GB microSDHC was run through a series of benchmark tests in USB 3.0 card readers. Sequential read speed was well above specification and reached 75.0 MB/s using the SanDisk ImageMate All-in-One card reader and measured above 74MB/s in all card readers tested. Write speed was also above rating, with a maximum sequential write of 54.3 MB/s.

Card: SanDisk Extreme U3 microSD 32GB
Benchmark: CrystalDiskMark 3.0.3 x64
Program settings: 1000 MB, 5 passes, random test data
Operating system: Windows 10 Pro
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H
Processor: Intel Core i7-3770K @ 4.40GHz
RAM: 32GB DDR3 1600

SanDisk Extreme U3 microSD 32GB
Card Reader Benchmarks
Seq.
Read
1000MB
MB/s
Seq.
Write
1000MB
MB/s
Rand.
Read
512KB
MB/s
Rand.
Write
512KB
MB/s
Rand.
Read
4KB
MB/s
QD1
Rand.
Read
4KB
IOPS
QD1
Rand.
Write
4KB
MB/s
QD1
Rand.
Write
4KB
IOPS
QD1
Rand.
Read
4KB
MB/s
QD32
Rand.
Read
4KB
IOPS
QD32
Rand.
Write
4KB
MB/s
QD32
Rand.
Write
4KB
IOPS
QD32
SanDisk ImageMate All-In-One USB 3.075.01154.28865.78544.1585.4411328.52.143523.24.8261178.21.964479.6
Transcend Multi-Card Reader RDF974.90454.19370.90830.2139.7362377.02.894706.57.6261861.82.625640.9
Lexar LRWM04U-7000 UHS-II Reader74.83954.16271.99646.4819.8622407.82.942718.37.5191835.72.571627.6
Delkin Universal Memory Card Reader74.83454.05969.13330.3359.3532283.42.615638.57.5481842.72.459600.3
Lexar Professional Workflow SR2 UHS-II74.80254.05371.73846.5579.5832339.62.912710.97.5121834.02.652647.5
Lexar Professional Workflow SR174.79154.07869.98546.5739.1972245.32.917712.07.3641797.82.624640.6
Kingston FCR-HS4 Card Reader74.78154.28871.60546.6889.7352376.62.906709.57.4581820.82.626641.1
Delkin Dual Slot SD UHS-II and CF Card Reader74.75454.02571.72746.5889.7152371.82.913711.27.5511843.42.640644.6
Delkin Travel Reader74.71754.10368.99730.0989.0002197.22.918712.37.3631797.52.607636.6
Transcend SD Card Reader RDF5 Black74.70654.00069.90546.3527.4411816.72.398585.46.0501477.22.209539.4
Kingston MobileLite G4 UHS-II74.69054.22971.55746.5889.0452208.22.918712.37.3761800.72.642645.1
SanDisk Extreme Pro UHS-II SD Reader/Writer74.65854.14071.84446.3299.2632261.42.884704.07.4711824.02.626641.1
SanDisk microSD UHS-II USB 3.0 Reader74.62653.99769.37329.4989.3672286.92.521615.67.9891950.41.161283.4
Lexar Professional Dual Slot Reader74.56854.28069.90546.5889.4552308.53.698902.87.5931853.71.710417.5
Lexar Professional Dual Slot UHS-II Card Reader74.55754.08470.64029.8939.4852315.83.272798.97.4561820.31.754428.2
Lexar LRWM05U-7000 UHS-II microSD Reader74.53153.96468.89530.0269.3252276.62.638644.07.5481842.82.474604.0
Transcend Multi-Card Reader RDF8 Black74.52054.33069.99846.7429.6022344.32.789680.97.6981879.41.279312.4
Kingston Multi-Card Reader FCR-HS374.34654.19855.50839.0889.3202275.52.882703.77.4341815.12.643645.3
Lexar LRWM03U-7000 UHS-I microSD Reader74.06253.79068.74829.3288.7402133.71.163284.07.9071930.51.173286.4

Real world performance of the Extreme 32GB microSD card was tested various in digital cameras. In the Nikon D5500 it reached 46.5 MB/s, while the Nikon D7200 reached 45.2 MB/s write speed. Results below include additional cameras results and are updated as additional cameras are tested using this memory card.

SanDisk Extreme U3 microSD 32GB
Tested in Camera
Write Speed
(MB/s)
Canon Rebel T6i/T6s49.4
Fuji X-Pro248.2
Nikon D710047.2
Canon 5Ds46.5
Nikon D550046.5
Nikon D720045.2
Fuji X-T1040.6
Olympus PEN-F39.6
Olympus E-M5 II38.1
Pentax K-3 II36.1
Sony A7R II36.1
Sony A600035.2

Cameras tested with this card: Canon 5Ds, Canon Rebel T6i/T6s, Fuji X-Pro2, Fuji X-T10, Nikon D7200, Nikon D7100, Nikon D5500, Olympus E-M5 II, Olympus PEN-F, Pentax K-3 II, Sony A7R II, Sony A6000

The following table contains information encoded in the SD card.

SanDisk Extreme U3 microSD 32GB microSD — Internal Card Information
Serial number (PSN)4048214174
Product Name (PNM)SE32G
Product Revision8.0
Manufacturer ID (MID)0x000003
OEM ID (OID)SD
Manufacture Date (MDT)11/2014
Total capacity31,914,983,424 bytes

Available sizes and prices

Compare prices on the SanDisk Extreme microSD card. The lowest prices are highlighted in the table below. Prices are updated daily.

CardSize
GB
Lowest
$ / GB
Prices
AmazonB&H PhotoAdorama
SanDisk Extreme microSD16$0.81$12.99Check price
SanDisk Extreme microSD32$0.62$19.99Check price
SanDisk Extreme microSD64$0.61$38.99Check price