Samsung EVO Select 256GB microSDXC U3 Memory Card Review

Introduction

The Samsung EVO Select 256GB microSDXC card offers huge capacity and impressive speed. The new 256GB capacity card offers 95MB/s read and 90MB/s write speeds, well above the 80MB/s read and 20MB/s write speeds claimed for the lower capacity cards in the same series. The 256GB EVO Select card supports the high-speed UHS-I interface and is UHS Speed Class 3 (U3) rated to assure full HD and 4K video streams can be recorded without interruption. The U3 rating means the card can sustain at least 30MB/s write speed continuously. The lower capacity cards in the EVO Select series, 32, 64 and 128GB, are rated U1 (at least 10MB/s write speed). The 256GB microSDXC card (MB-ME256DA/AM) tested in this review was made in Korea. Samsung EVO Select memory cards are covered by a 10-year warranty.

Performance

Speed tests were run using USB 3.0 card readers. The highest sequential read speed benchmark reached 98.4 MB/s, well above Samsung's 95MB/s read claim. The sequential write benchmark measured 89.6 MB/s maximum, just reaching the 90MB/s write speed advertised by Samsung. These numbers are impressive for such a large capacity card and makes one wonder why Samsung put such a high performance card in the EVO Select line rather than the PRO Select.

Card: Samsung EVO Select microSDXC 256GB
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

The Samsung EVO Select 256GB card will be included in upcoming digital camera tests. When the results are available they will be added below.

Cameras tested with this card: Canon EOS R, Canon 5D Mark IV, Canon 77D, Canon EOS M5, Canon Rebel T7i, Fuji X-T3, Nikon D7500, Nikon D5600, Nikon Coolpix P1000, Olympus E-M1 II, Panasonic GH5, Sony A9

The following table contains information encoded in the SD card.

The internal card information register on the Samsung PRO Select 256GB card has the production set as June 2016. It also contains the OEM ID (OID) "SM" and manufacturer ID (MID) 0x00001b. These identify Samsung as the manufacturer. Total card capacity is 256,087,425,024 bytes.

Available sizes and prices

Compare prices on the Samsung EVO Select microSD card. The lowest prices are highlighted in the table below. Prices are updated daily.