Samsung PRO Plus for Professionals review: A decent SDXC card for photographers

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While microSD cards are the norm for a lot of devices, SD cards are still kicking around, especially in the photography world. Samsung has just released two SD card lines: the Samsung PRO Plus for Professionals and the EVO Plus for Creators. Available in 32, 64, 128, and 256GB sizes, they offer read/write speeds of up to 100MB/s.

Our Samsung Pro Plus for Professionals SDX UHS-I Card review takes a look at the 128GB size and sees if it performs as well as the company says it does. Read on for our full review!

Specifications

The Samsung PRO Plus for Professionals SDXC UHS-I Card has the following features and specifications:

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  • Storage Density: 32GB (SDHC), 64/128/256GB (SDXC)
  • Interface: UHS-I (Compatible with HS interface)
  • Speed: Sequential read speeds of up to 100MB/s, sequential write speeds of up to 90MB/s
  • Speed class: U3, Class 10
  • Reliability: Waterproof, Temperature-proof, X-ray proof, Magnet-proof, Shockproof, Drop-proof, Wearproof
  • Warranty: Ten-year limited warranty

What’s in the box

  • Samsung PRO Plus for Professionals SDXC UHS-I Card

Design

There’s not much to say here, an SD card is an SD card. They’re all the same shape and design. The Samsung PRO Plus for Professionals SDXC UHS-I Card is white in color, has a label on the front of the card, and the typical sliding lock switch on the left side.

The Samsung PRO Plus for Professionals 128GB SDXC UHS-I Card
The Samsung PRO Plus for Professionals 128GB SDXC UHS-I Card.

In addition, the card is waterproof, temperature-proof, x-ray proof, magnet-proof, shockproof, drop-proof, and wear-proof. Samsung’s full details on those reliability features include:

  • Water: saltwater and depths of up to 1m for up to 72hrs;
  • Temperatures: operating temperatures ranging from -25℃ to 85℃, and non-operating temperatures ranging from -40℃ to 85℃;
  • X-rays: up to 100mGy (equivalent to most airport X-ray machines);
  • Magnets: up to 15,000 gauss;
  • Shocks: up to 1,500Gs (a G is a unit of gravitational acceleration);
  • Drops: capable of withstanding drops of up to 5 meters (16.4 feet);
  • Wear: capable of withstanding up to 10,000 swipes

As you can see, the card should be able to easily handle normal use as well as the occasional drop, water submersion, and the like. It also comes with a long ten-year limited warranty.

Performance

The Samsung PRO Plus for Professionals SDXC card is rated at up to 100MB/s read and up to 90MB/s write speed. As I usually do with storage drives and memory cards, I ran it through a number of benchmarks.

AS SSD Seq Read88.07 MB/s
AS SSD Seq Write75.26 MB/s
ATTO Disk Benchmark Seq Read (max)88.89 MB/s
ATTO Disk Benchmark Seq Write (max)76.42 MB/s
CrystalDiskMark Seq Read (Q8T1)92.90 MB/s
CrystalDiskMark Seq Write (Q8T1)80.94 MB/s

During our IOPS test, we averaged around 2700 read/820 write speed during the 4K test and 3800 read/552 write speed during the 512B test. In practice, this means it does meet the performance metrics that would be required by an A1 rating for app performance use. Benchmarks are great but real-world performance is what matters most.

Up until now, I’d been using a SanDisk Ultra SDHC UHS-I card in my Sony a6000 mirrorless camera. While it worked well enough, it only gets about 20MB/s write and 87MB/s read in the ATTO Disk Benchmark test. Shooting in RAW mode, continuous burst, I could get around 15 images over about 1 1/2 seconds before the camera would stop. It would then take another 28 seconds for the write operation to complete on the memory card.

With the Samsung PRO Plus for Professionals SDXC card, the performance was much better. Again, shooting RAW files in continuous burst mode, I was able to take 25 pictures in about 2 1/2 seconds before the camera would stop firing. It then only took about another 12 seconds for the write operation to complete on the memory card.

The back of the Samsung PRO Plus for Professionals 128GB SDXC UHS-I Card
The back of the Samsung PRO Plus for Professionals 128GB SDXC UHS-I Card.

Of course, your performance will vary depending on the camera you use, but as you can see, the Samsung PRO Plus for Professionals card offers up pretty decent write speeds compared to an SDHC card.

Price/Value

The Samsung PRO Plus for Professionals SDXC cards are very reasonably priced. Starting at $9.99 for the 32GB version, our 128GB review sample will only set you back $25.99. The largest 256GB version is regular $49.99 but is currently on sale on Amazon for $39.99.

Wrap-up

If you’re looking for a faster card for your digital camera, the Samsung PRO Plus for Professionals SDXC card offers good speeds at a great price.

In some of our articles and especially in our reviews, you will find Amazon or other affiliate links. As Amazon Associates, we earn from qualifying purchases. Any other purchases you make through these links often result in a small amount being earned for the site and/or our writers. Techaeris often covers brand press releases. Doing this does not constitute an endorsement of any product or service by Techaeris. We provide the press release information for our audience to be informed and make their own decision on a purchase or not. Only our reviews are an endorsement or lack thereof. For more information, you can read our full disclaimer.

Last Updated on July 19, 2021.

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