Comparison of memory cards

This table provides summary of comparison of various flash memory cards, as of 2024 ^[update] .

Common information

Unless otherwise indicated, all images are to scale.

Card family	Standards organizations	Varieties	Entry date	Maximum commercially available capacity	Picture [1]	Main features
CompactFlash	SanDisk	I	1994	512  GB (CF5 128*250 bytes)		Thinner (3.3 mm), flash only, now up to 512  GB, although standard goes up to 128  PB since CF 5.0 [2]
		II				Thicker (5.0 mm), older flash, but usually Microdrives, up to 128 PiB [2]
CFexpress	CompactFlash Association	1.0	2017	1 TB		CFexpress Type B: XQD form factor (38.5 mm × 29.8 mm × 3.8 mm), PCIe 3.0 x2 (1.97 GB/s), NVMe
		2.0	2019	?		CFexpress Type A: 20 mm × 28 mm × 2.8 mm, PCIe 3.0 x1 (1.0 GB/s), NVMe[ citation needed ] CFexpress Type C: 54 mm × 74 mm × 4.8 mm, PCIe 3.0 x4 (4.0 GB/s), NVMe[ citation needed ]
		–	–	–	–	PCIe 3.0 x8 (8.0 GB/s), NVMe
MultiMediaCard	Siemens AG, SanDisk	MMC	1997	16 GB		Slim and small (24 mm × 32 mm × 1.4 mm), up to 16 GB
		RS-MMC/MMC Mobile	2003/2005	16 GB		Compact (24 mm × 18 mm × 1.4 mm), up to 16 GB
		MMCplus	2005	16 GB		Compact (24 mm × 32 mm × 1.4 mm), swifter, optional DRM, up to 16 GB
		MMCmicro	2005	4 GB		Subcompact (14 mm × 12 mm × 1.1 mm), optional DRM, 16 MB to 4 GB
Nano Memory	proprietary (from Huawei)		2018	512 GB [3]		Subcompact (12.3 mm × 8.8 mm × 0.7) smallest dimensions as of 2024. Can use Nano-SIM slots.
Secure Digital	SanDisk, Panasonic, Toshiba, Kodak, SD Association	SD	1999	2 GB [4]		Small (32 mm × 24 mm × 2.1 mm), DRM, up to 2 GB. [4] (2 GB cards use larger block sizes and may not be compatible with some host devices. See Article)
		miniSD	2003	2 GB [4]		Compact (15 mm × 11 mm × 1 mm), DRM, up to 2 GB. [4] (2 GB cards use larger block sizes and may not be compatible with some host devices. See Article)
		microSD	2005	2 GB [4]		Subcompact (15 mm × 11 mm × 1 mm), DRM, up to 2 GB. [4] (2 GB cards use larger block sizes and may not be compatible with some host devices. See Article)
		SDHC	2006	32 GB [4]		Same build as SD but greater capacity and transfer speed, 4 GB to 32 GB (not compatible with older host devices).
		miniSDHC	2008	32 GB [4]		Same build as miniSD but greater capacity and transfer speed, 4 GB to 32 GB. 8 GB is largest in early-2011 (not compatible with older host devices).
		microSDHC	2007	32 GB [4]		Same build as microSD but greater capacity and transfer speed, 4 GB to 32 GB. [5] (not compatible with older host devices)
		SDXC	2009	1 TB		Same build as SD/SDHC, but greater capacity and transfer speed, 32 GB and higher. Standard goes up to 2 TB (not compatible with older host devices).
		microSDXC	2009	2 TB [6]		Same build as microSD/microSDHC, but greater capacity and transfer speed, 32 GB and higher. Standard goes up to 2 TB (not compatible with older host devices).
		SDUC	2018	not yet available		Same build as SD/SDHC/SDXC, but greater capacity and transfer speed. Standard goes up to 128 TB (not compatible with older host devices).
SmartMedia	Toshiba	3.3/5 V	1995	128 MB		Very slim (45.0 mm × 37.0 mm × 0.76 mm), no wear leveling controller, up to 128 MB. This particular example shows the write protect sticker (the silver disc).
Memory Stick	Sony, SanDisk	Standard	1998	128 MB		Slim and narrow (50 mm × 21.5 mm × 2.8 mm), optional DRM, up to 128 MB
		PRO	2003	4 GB	(not to scale)	Slim and narrow (50 mm × 21.5 mm × 2.8 mm), swifter, optional DRM, up to 4 GB
		Duo	2003	128 MB		Compact (31 mm × 20 mm × 1.6 mm), optional DRM, up to 128 MB
		PRO Duo	2002–2006	32 GB		Compact (31 mm × 20 mm × 1.6 mm), optional DRM, up to 32 GB
		PRO-HG Duo	2007–2008	32 GB		Compact (31 mm × 20 mm × 1.6 mm), swifter, optional DRM, up to 32 GB
		Micro (M2)	2006	16 GB		Subcompact (15 mm × 12.5 mm × 1.2 mm), optional DRM, up to 16 GB
	Sony	PS Vita Memory Card	2012	64 GB		Subcompact (15 mm × 12.5 mm × 1.6 mm [7] ), compulsory DRM, up to 64 GB, proprietary (can be used on PS Vita only)
P2 (storage media)	Panasonic	MicroP2	2012	64 GB		MicroP2 is a SDXC/SDHC card conforming to UHS-II (Ultra High Speed bus), and can be read by common SDHC/SDXC card readers.
xD	Olympus, Fujifilm, Sony	Standard	2002–2007	512 MB		Slim and small (20 mm × 25 mm × 1.78 mm), electrically identical to SmartMedia, no wear-leveling controller, up to 512 MB [8]
		Type M	2005	2 GB		Slim and small (20 mm × 25 mm × 1.78 mm) but slower read/write, no wear-leveling controller, up to 2 GB [8]
		Type H	2005	2 GB		Slim and small (20 mm × 25 mm × 1.78 mm) and swifter, no wear-leveling controller, up to 2 GB [8]
XQD card	Sony & Nikon	Standard	2011–2012	>2 TB		High-capacity, high-speed standard using PCIe as interface
Universal Flash Storage Card Extensions	Samsung	UFS Card	2016	>256 GB		Packages the flash memory, currently soldered in shipping smartphones, into a removable card form factor. Uses the SCSI command set including queuing. The electrical interface makes use of differential signaling, which enables high bus speeds and robustness under noisy conditions and reduced pin count (compared to parallel bus alternatives such as UHS-I).
USB flash drive	Various	USB 1.1/2.0/3.0/3.1	2000/2001	1 TB+	(not to scale)	Universally compatible across most non-mobile computer platforms, their greater size suits them better to file transfer/storage instead of use in portable devices

Physical details

Note that a memory card's dimensions are determined while holding the card with contact pins upwards. The length of cards is often greater than their width. Most cards show a directional arrow to aid insertion; such an arrow should be upward.

Card	Width (mm)	Length (mm)	Thickness (mm)	Volume (mm³)	Mass (g) [9]
CompactFlash, Type I	43.0	36.0	3.3	5,108	3.3
CompactFlash, Type II	43.0	36.0	5.0	7,740
SmartMedia	37.0	45.0	0.76	1,265	2.0
MMC, MMCplus	24.0	32.0	1.4	1,075	1.3 [10]
RS-MMC, MMCmobile	24.0	18.0	1.4	605	1.3
MMCmicro	14.0	12.0	1.1	185
SD, SDHC, SDXC, SDIO, MicroP2	24.0	32.0	2.1	1,613	2.0
miniSD, miniSDHC, miniSDIO	20.0	21.5	1.4	602	1.0
microSD, microSDHC, microSDXC	11.0	15.0	1.0	165	0.27
Memory Stick Standard, PRO	21.5	50.0	2.8	3,010	4.0
Memory Stick Duo, PRO Duo, PRO-HG, XC	20.0	31.0	1.6	992	2.0
Memory Stick Micro (M2), XC	12.5	15.0	1.2	225	2.0
Nano Memory	12.3 [11]	8.8	0.7	76
PS Vita Memory Card	15	12.5	1.6	300	0.6 [7]
XQD card	38.5	29.8	3.8	4,360
xD	25.0	20.0	1.78	890	2.8
USB	varies	varies	varies	varies	varies

Speed comparison

Standard	SD				UFS Card		CFast		XQD		CFexpress
Version	3.0	4.0	6.0	7.0 [12]	1.0/1.1	3.0	1.0	2.0	1.0	2.0	1.0	?
Launched	2010 Q2	2011 Q1	2017 Q1	?	2016 Q2 / 2018 Q1	2020 Q4	2008 Q3	2012 Q3	2011 Q4	2014 Q1	2017 Q2	?
Bus	UHS-I	UHS-II	UHS-III	PCIe	UFS 2.0	UFS 3.0	SATA-300	SATA-600	PCIe 2.0 x1	PCIe 2.0 x2	PCIe 3.0 x2	PCIe 3.0 x8
Speed (full-duplex)	104 MB/s	156 MB/s	624 MB/s	1970 MB/s (?)	600 MB/s	1200 MB/s	300 MB/s	600 MB/s	500 MB/s	1000 MB/s	1970 MB/s	7880 MB/s

Technical details

Card	Varieties	Max storage capacity (nom. in GiB)	Theoretical max. capacity (nom. in GiB)	Max read speed (MB/s)	Max write speed (MB/s)	Read-write cycles	Low-level access	Operating voltage (V) [13]	Controller chip [14]	# of pins
CompactFlash	I	512	128  PiB [2] (134,217,728  GiB)	167 [15]	167 [15]		NOR/NAND	3.3 and 5	Yes	50
	II	12[ citation needed ]	128  PiB [2] (134,217,728  GiB)	167 [15]	167 [15]
SmartMedia		128  MiB (0.125  GiB)		2		1,000,000	NAND	3.3 or 5	No	22
MMC	MMC	8	128	2	2	1,000,000 [16]		3.3	Yes	7
	RS-MMC	2		2 [17]	2 [17]			3.3		7
	MMCmobile	2		15 [18]	8 [18]			1.8 and 3.3		13
	MMCplus	4 [19]		52 [20]	52 [20]			3.3		13
	MMCmicro	2						1.8 and 3.3		10 [21]
	eMMC		2  TiB (2048  GiB)	104	104			1.8 and 3.3	Yes	Varies
Secure Digital [22]	SD (SDSC)	512	4	25 [23]	25			3.3	Yes	9
	miniSD	8		25	25					11
	microSD	4		25	25					8
	SDHC	32 [24]	32	104 (UHS-I)	104 (UHS-I)			1.8 and 3.3	Yes	9
	miniSDHC	4 [25]		104 (UHS-I)	104 (UHS-I)					11
	microSDHC	32 [5]		104 (UHS-I)	104 (UHS-I)					8
	SDXC	512 [26]	2  TiB (2048  GiB)	104 (UHS-I)	104			2.7–3.6 [27]	Yes	9
	microSDXC	1 TiB [28]		104 (UHS-I)	104 (UHS-I)					8
Memory Stick	Standard	128  MiB (0.125  GiB)	128  MiB (0.125  GiB)	2.5	1.8			3.3	Yes	10
	PRO	4	2  TiB (2048  GiB)	20	20			3.3
	PRO Duo	32 [29]		20	20			3.3
	PRO-HG Duo	32 [30]		30 (actual; [31] theoretical: 60 [32] )	30 (actual; [31] theoretical: 60 [32] )			3.3
	Micro (M2)	16 [33]	32	20	20			1.8 and 3.3
	xC		2  TiB (2048  GiB)	60	60			3.3
xD		512  MiB (0.5  GiB)	512  MiB (0.5  GiB)	5	3			3.3	No	18
	Type M	2	8	4	2.5
	Type H	2	8	5	4
	Type M+	2	8	6	3.75
XQD		64	2+  TiB (2+  GiB)	168	168			5
USB	Full speed (USB 1)	2048 [34] (2  TiB)	No hardware limit	1	1			5	Yes	4
	High speed (USB 2.0)			40	40
	Super speed (USB 3.0)			240	160

Consumer details

Card	Write protection switch  [35]	DRM
CompactFlash	No	No
SmartMedia	Partial, sticker	Partial (optional)
MMC, RS-MMC	No	No
MMCMobile		Yes, secureMMC
SD	Yes  [36] [37]	Yes, CPRM
miniSD	No
microSD	No
Memory Stick Standard, PRO	Yes	Optional, MagicGate
Memory Stick Duo, PRO Duo	No	Optional, MagicGate
Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo	No	Optional, MagicGate
Memory Stick Micro (M2)	No	Optional, MagicGate
PS Vita Memory Card	No	Yes, Proprietary
xD	No	Partial  [38]
USB	Sometimes	No

Compatibility

Chain of adapters:
microSD→miniSD→SD→CF

The following chart gives details on availability of adapters to put a given card (horizontal) in a given slot or device (vertical). This table does not take into account protocol issues in communicating with the device.

Following labels are used:

• + (native) – A slot is native for such card.
• D (Directly compatible) – A card may be used in such a slot directly, without any adapters. Best possible compatibility.
• M (requires a Mechanical adapter) – Such adapter is only a physical enclosure to fit one card sized into another; all electrical pins are exactly the same.
• EM (requires an Electro-Mechanical adapter) – Such adapter features both physical enclosure and pins re-routing as terminals are sufficiently different. No powered elements in such adapter exists, thus they're very cheap and easy to manufacture and may be supplied as a bonus for every such card.
• E (requires an Electronic adapter enclosure) – These adapters must have components—potentially requiring external power—that transform signals, as well as physical enclosure and pin routing.
• X (requires an eXternal adapter) – Technically the same as E, but such adapter usually consists of 2 parts: a pseudo-card with pin routing and physical enclosure size that perfectly match the target slot and a break-out box (a card reader) that holds a real card. Such adapter is the least comfortable to use.
• XM (requires an eXternal electro-mechanical adapter) – Technically the same as EM, but such adapter usually consists of 2 parts: a pseudo-card with pin routing and physical enclosure size that perfectly match the target slot and a break-out box (a card reader) that holds a real card. Such adapter is the least comfortable to use.
• Empty cell – Card cannot be used in such slot, no single adapter is known to exist. Sometimes a chain of adapters can help (for example, miniSD→CF as miniSD→SD→CF).

Card Slot	CF		CFast	SM	MMC		Memory Stick				SDSC			SDHC			SDXC		xD			XQD
	I	II			MMC	RS-MMC, MMCmobile	Std	PRO	PRO Duo	Micro	SDSC	miniSD	microSD	SDHC	miniSDHC	microSDHC	SDXC	microSDXC	Std	M	H
ExpressCard	E [39]	E [39]			E [40]		E [41]	E [41]	E [40]		E [40]	E [40]	E [42]						E [40]	E [40]	E [40]	EM
PCI Express Mini Card																						EM
mSATA			XM
PC Card	EM [43]	EM [43]		E [44]	E [45]		E [45]	E [45]			E [45]
PCMCIA	EM [43]	EM [43]		E [44]	E [45]		E [45]	E [45]			E [45]
CF I	+	+		E	E [46]		E [47]	E [47]	E [48]		E [46]								E [49]	E [49]	E [49]
CF II		+		E	E [46]		E [47]	E [47]			E [46]								E [49]	E [49]	E [49]
CFast			+
SM				+															X [50]	X [50]	X [50]
xD													E [51]						+	+	+
XQD																						+
MMC					+	M					D [52]
MS					X [53]		+	+	M	M	X [53]	X [53]	E [54]
SDSC					D	M					+	EM	EM
miniSD												+	EM
microSD													+
SDHC											D [55]	EM	EM	+	EM	EM
miniSDHC												D [55]	EM		+	EM
microSDHC													D [55]			+
SDXC		uscb									D [56]	EM	EM	D [56]	EM	EM	+	EM
microSDXC													D [56]			D [56]		+
IDE PATA	EM [57]	EM [57]									E [58] [59]
Serial ATA	E [60]	E [60]	EM
PCI Express																						EM
USB	X [61]	X [61]		X [61]	X [61]		X [61]	X [61]	E [62]	E [62]	E [63]		E [64]						X [61]	X [61]	X [61]	X
Floppy				E [65]	E	E + M	E	E
Nintendo DS Slot-1													E [66]
Nintendo DS Slot-2											E [67]	E [67]	E [67]

References

1. Pictures are given in relative scales; they're sized to be WYSIWYG when viewing using 81 PPI monitor.
2. CompactFlash Association announces CF 5.0 standard supporting up to 128 PiB of storage Archived 2010-11-22 at the Wayback Machine
3. Yordan. "Lexar launches 512 GB NM card for Huawei phones". GSMArena.com. Retrieved 2024-10-21.
4. "Capacity (SD/SDHC/SDXC/SDUC) | SD Association". www.sdcard.org. 2020-12-11. Retrieved 2022-03-28.
5. "Why Do microSD Cards Have a Maximum 32GB capacity? – Pocketnow". 31 July 2010. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
6. "Kioxia 2 TB micro sd".
7. "PS Vita Memory Card Instruction Manual". Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. Archived from the original on 21 April 2017. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
8. FUJIFILM Global | xD-Picture Card and Adapters Archived 2008-01-28 at the Wayback Machine
9. Plexus Outbursts specifications Archived 2006-06-27 at the Wayback Machine
10. Apacer's MMC specifications Archived 2006-06-24 at the Wayback Machine
11. "Lexar nCARD NM Card – Lexar". Archived from the original on 2021-09-01. Retrieved 2021-09-01.
12. Pinto, Yosi. "SD + PCIe/NVMe card New Innovations in SD Cards Lead the Way to Mobile Everything" (PDF). Flash Memory Summit.
13. Voltage table at All Memory Cards, note that some cards support both voltages (and), and some cards are available in distinct versions (or)
14. "Parked at Loopia". www.allmemorycards.com.
15. CompactFlash Specification Rev. 6.0 Archived 2010-11-21 at the Wayback Machine
16. ACP-EP Specifications Archived 2006-06-22 at the Wayback Machine
17. ACP-EP RS-MMC card features list Archived 2006-06-19 at the Wayback Machine
18. ACP-EP MMCmobile card features list Archived 2006-06-19 at the Wayback Machine
19. Transcend MMCplus 4 GiB
20. MMC transferred at up to 52 MiB/s Archived 2007-02-08 at the Wayback Machine
21. Transcend MMCmicro card (TS128MMCM) datasheet
22. Maximum transfer speed is not defined by SD standards. Bus speeds are quoted.
23. "Bus Speed – SD Association". Archived from the original on 2014-02-09. Retrieved 2014-02-09.
24. "Toshiba : Press Releases 22 August, 2007". www.toshiba.co.jp.
25. New 4 GiB miniSDHC card Archived 2007-12-15 at the Wayback Machine
26. PNY Technologies. "PNY 512GB Elite Performance Class 10 U3 SDXC Flash Memory Card : Electronics". Amazon. Retrieved 2022-08-07.
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30. http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=8198552921666322869&tab=featuresTab ^{[ dead link ]}
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34. "Press". Kingston Technology Company.
35. "Write protection switch at All Memory Cards". Archived from the original on 2016-04-20.
36. Some early SD cards may not have a write protection switch.
37. The write protect switch signals to the host, which is responsible for write protection. The write protect switch is not connected to the internal circuitry of the card. (SD Card Simplified Physical Layer Specification Archived 2010-07-07 at the Wayback Machine )
38. "Fujifilm accessories xD-Picture Card". Archived from the original on July 11, 2007.
39. "DataFab Systems Inc. – The Leader of Innovative Technology in Portable Storage Systems". www.datafab.com.
40. DataFab EXP 12 in 2 Archived 2007-11-13 at the Wayback Machine
41. DataFab exp 12 in 1 Archived 2007-12-14 at the Wayback Machine
42. DataFab exp M2+microSD Archived 2007-12-14 at the Wayback Machine
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47. "Transcend MemoryStick-to-CompactFlash adapter". Archived from the original on 2007-02-24. Retrieved 2007-01-04.
48. "Shortage everywhere! Sony MSAC-MCF1N Memory Stick Duo Adaptor for CompactFlash Slot". www.camerahacker.com.
49. Olympus MACF-10 xD-to-CompactFlash adapter Archived 2006-12-10 at the Wayback Machine
50. "Hama xD-to-SM adapter". Archived from the original on 2007-09-30. Retrieved 2007-01-04.
51. In March 2008, Olympus started shipping the MASD-1 microSD-to-xD adapter along with its latest compact digital cameras, with a shape designed to fit only in those latest cameras Archived 2011-06-25 at the Wayback Machine . The physical adapter is in fact purely electromechanical, although the xD and SD protocols are completely incompatible. This demonstrates that the cameras themselves must understand the SD protocol, and thus the adapter is more properly termed an electronic adapter, with the electronic logic contained in the camera rather than the physical accessory.
52. SD cards are usually thicker than MMC ones, and although it uses perfectly compatible pins, not every MMC slot may allow thick SD card to be inserted
53. "PSP Expand Memory Converter" – via Amazon.
54. KingMax microSD to MS PRO Duo Adapter ^{[ permanent dead link ]}
55. SDHC devices are backward-compatible with normal SD cards ( "About Compatibility with Host Devices – SD Association". Archived from the original on 2011-11-21. Retrieved 2012-01-03.)
56. SDXC devices are backward-compatible with SD and SDHC cards. ( "About Compatibility with Host Devices – SD Association". Archived from the original on 2011-11-21. Retrieved 2012-01-03.)
57. "PC Engines flash storage solutions". www.pcengines.ch.
58. Star Empery PT110 SD Card To ATA IDE 3.5 inch Hard Drive Adapter
59. "The do-it-yourself SSD adapter". 19 February 2007.
60. "Tom's Hardware Articles – Find and Filter Our Latest Articles". Tom's Hardware.
61. There are many USB-connected "n-in-1" memory card readers, for example Belkin's "Hi-Speed USB 2.0 15-in-1 Media Reader & Writer".
62. MS Duo and M2 adapters have appeared in the last 12 months which look like USB memory sticks
63. "SanDisk @ CES – SD card with built-in USB adapter". 6 January 2005.
64. A-Data microSD to USB Adapter Archived 2007-09-15 at the Wayback Machine
65. DCRP Special Report: FlashPath Adapter Archived 2007-10-26 at the Wayback Machine by Tom Beardmore
66. R4 microSD to NDS Slot-1 Adapter Archived 2007-10-31 at the Wayback Machine
67. Supercard to NDS Slot-2 Adapter Archived 2008-03-25 at the Wayback Machine

External links

• GumstixDocsWiki Frequently Asked Questions: Are SD cards interchangeable with MMC cards?
• Types of Memory Cards
• USB mass storage device class: Mass Storage device class specification 1.4 Date: Feb 19, 2010 — on the site of the USB Implementers Forum.