A look at Sandisk's 128GB micro SDXC card

By Jerry Hildenbrand
last updated

The ultimate storage card for your Android also works great for cameras and laptops

Reviewing an SD card is hard. They pretty much work, or they don't. But when Sandisk releases a 128GB micro SDXC card, we have to get one and check it out.

Storage junkies, meet your dream. After formatting and the few odd system files and folders Android puts on any removable storage, you have a full 119GB of space on top of whatever meager offering the folks who made your phone gave you. That's about 100,000 high-res pictures, 40,000 songs, or 30 full length HD DVD rips. In short — it's a whole lot of space for the things you need a whole lot of space for.

Sandisk 128GB SD card

Your need for speed

The card itself is the exact same as any other micro SD card, other than the capacity. It's class 10, so the read and write speed is good — listed at 30 MB/s read speeds, but ours was actually higher! Fast speeds means it won't struggle while shooting HD video, or playing it back. After the capacity, the card speed is the most important thing about an SD card, and class 10 is pretty good. Our SD card speed tests (using the A1 SD Bench app (opens in new tab)) came in at 38.28 MB/s read, and 15.16 MB/s write speeds on the Sony Xperia Z1s, with no hacks or sd speed boosts installed.

The package comes with a Sandisk adapter, so you can use the card in a camera or a laptop. This is a good thing, because it's also an excellent card for your camera or your laptop. It was able to take full resolution video and burst mode captures from both a Nikon DSLR and a Pentax point and shoot without any hiccups and at a nice clip thanks to the class 10 speed rating. When you plug it in to a computer, the transfer speeds were excellent as expected. All around, performance was very good.

KitKat woes

Note 3

The card is everything you would want in a phone running Jelly Bean. Full-tilt reading and writing with any app, in any folder. But with KitKat — and the changes Google has made to Android — things are different. This isn't the fault of the card, as the things it is allowed to do are still nice and speedy. Tested in the Note 3 running KitKat, you still have the full 119GB of space, but you don't have the ability to write files anywhere and everywhere from your phone. We covered this and the reasons behind it right here, and it's worth a look — especially if you have a KitKat device and are thinking of dropping a few bucks on a new high-capacity SD card.

Sandisk 128GB SD card

The verdict:

All in all, I can recommend this card if you need the storage and have a phone that can use SDXC cards. I've tested in the Note 3, the Xperia Z1s, the Xperia Ultra and the Tegra Note 7 and had no issues other than KitKat "issues." The card should also work fine in the Galaxy S4 series. It's not cheap — checking in at $119.99 on Amazon (opens in new tab) — but if you have the need for this much storage you'll be paying for it. Chances are the price will drop when and if other companies start to offer similar products. In the meantime, this is the big daddy many of you have been waiting for — and it works great!

Buy the Sandisk 128GB micro SDXC card at Amazon for $119.99 (opens in new tab)

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Sandisk 128GB SD card
Jerry Hildenbrand
Jerry Hildenbrand
Senior Editor — Google Ecosystem

Jerry is an amateur woodworker and struggling shade tree mechanic. There's nothing he can't take apart, but many things he can't reassemble. You'll find him writing and speaking his loud opinion on Android Central and occasionally on Twitter.

121 Comments
  • This will be great for those who crave the storage! I've yet to add an SD card to any of the phones I've owned, and I've had a ton of phones. I just use the internal storage. Cheers to more storage. Posted via Android Central App
  • That's not too surprising since we really don't NEED more than 8 GB of internal storage to do basic operations but it sure is nice for those who love to have all their movies, videos, pictures, and music with them. I personally say give the user a choice and you'll have more sales. #HTC #SAMSUNG #APPLE
  • You may not NEED it but I sure do. In addition to emergency music when the cloud has one issue or another, I use it like a flash drive for work. Granted I am a file hoarder, but my 64 gb is 60% full -------------------------------------------
    You really should see the crap I don't post. Sorry if honesty offends you
  • I still have 35.71GB's available on my 64GB card, and I've been using it now for almost 11 full months. For those of us who find 64GB's to be sufficient, one positive thing is higher capacity memory cards will push the price of lower capacity cards down.
    Hey NoNexus, I remember way, way back in like 2005 when a 1GB usb thumb drive cost $100, and now it's about .73 cents per gb on sd cards, at least that's what I paid for my 64GB card, $42 or so. Posted via Android Central App
  • Yeah, the prices for portable storage have come down significantly.
  • He's not debating whether or not people need the storage for their particular usage. His point is technically correct. We don't need more than 8GB of internal storage for basic operations: if there were no such things as SD cards, your phone would still function more than adequately with 8GB of built-in storage. It's the ability to add more media that makes one "need" an SD card.
  • actually no.. cause if you use your phone as your primary point and shoot camera like all the manufacturers are marketing them as then you NEED it.. High res photos or HD video will tear through that meager 8gbs of yours.. and thats if you dont have anything on your phone all already...
  • I've rarely seen a manufacturer market a phone like it should be the primary point and shoot device. Even if they do market it that way, nobody NEEDS to use it that way. If you're letting manufacturer's marketing dictate what you use your devices for then you have bigger problems than needing more storage.
  • True they don't advertise it but majority of people now do use there phones as there main camera hence why the market of dedicated cameras have been going down as smartphone cameras are getting better..
    Posted via Android Central App on nexus 7 (2nd gen)
  • What is the point of getting a top end smartphone (like many people reading this will have) and restricting its use to basic operations? When it comes to actual needs I'm sure most people could live without a smartphone and even any sort of mobile/cell phone. Sure they add convenience to our lives but they aren't really necessary. So really, it is just silly to talk about what we need on a site like this, a better question is: "will the benefit be worth the cost?" Posted via Android Central App
  • You've read to deep into my comment. I'm not debating individual use cases. If I were, I'd still be typing yesterday's reply. I was simply debating what the actual smartphone needs to function. Technically, a smartphone doesn't need 128GB of storage to function. Take the S4 for example: it needs 8GB (give or take) to function (i.e. Carry out basic functions of the actual device). If you bought the S4 today, and it only came in an 8GB configuration (with no SD card), then it would still function, provided, you're only doing basic tasks. I hope this clarifies what I was referring to. Posted via my "Gift from God" Note 3, my "Blessed" iPad Mini 2, or my "Risen" Asus ROG"
  • I get what your saying here but what do you mean by basic usage? Just making calls and texting then yh but Imo basic usage today even for the non techie means taking pictures and videos(1 photo is 3-5mb,1 min hd video is almost 100mb so with just photos and videos especially if you have kids using 8gb will be nothing) listening to music and downloading games like angry birds and candy crush and that will take up 8gb very easily. Sure a phone can function but I doubt someone is buying a s4 for example to just text and call. I would much rather more memory than necessary than to have low storage to start off with and having to wrestle with that storage for a number of years. You might be able to manage 8gb or even 16gb in for the 1st few months but If your on a 2 year contract it will be imo much harder to use 8gb for 2 years and you will have to do a lot of managing. Btw I know your point is basically a phone still works with just 8gb storage but that's basically if your using it as a feature phone. Posted via Android Central App on nexus 7 (2nd gen)
  • Yeah, fair enough, brother. I as referring to the most basic usage (i.e. feature phone level). But, as you point out, our usage has changed, since smartphones are becoming more and more prevalent. But, yeah, I can see why my "debate" is a little silly, lol. You win.
  • I need 128gb of storage on my Samsung Galaxy note 3. I have a son and take pictures and videos of him. I run and listen to thousands of songs. I save movies, so while I travel as a Soldier I am not bored. I have books that I read. All of you who use cloud storage, don't realize that you leave yourself open to tremendous hikes in fees. Remember unlimited data on cellphones, where did it go? This will be the same situation for cloud storage. Many are too ignorant or foolish to realize, that when they get rid of micro SD cards in phones, cloud storage will begin to increase in price. Google has already started to do th, as will others. For those that want to have pictures, videos, music and movies they can use whether on a plane, in a concrete structure or outside and not be hampered by not getting signal or being on a flight where you are in airplane mode micro sd is the only way. Cloud storage is a poor substitute. This is why those of us who religiously used Samsung devices were deeply offended when Samsung took away our micro sd card slot. If you want to get ripped off for every gig of memory you want, that was what apple iPhone was made for. It allowed people who thought they were exclusive to pay more for a device that had slower processor and less ram. This is a simple choice. Idiots who don't have much of a life don't need sd storage. For world travelers it is a necessity. Cloud storage is a step backwards.
  • Mr. NoNexus. Please define need. Lol
  • I've never heard of emergency music. More power to you!
  • Can't wait to put this bad boy in my HTC One Max 2
    when it's released Finally can hold all my media files, since I hate wasting my expensive data on streaming my own music & etc Posted via Android Central App
  • +1,000!!!!!! Posted via Android Central App
  • Dude half the population would go crazy and die in a week with out cell phones lol that's just our country Posted via Android Central App
  • True, lol. So true. Posted via my "Gift from God" Note 3, my "Blessed" iPad Mini 2, or my "Risen" Asus ROG"
  • Last time I lost service I got the shakes after about 20 minutes -------------------------------------------
    You really should see the crap I don't post. Sorry if honesty offends you
  • haha I'm sorry, butI can't help but laugh at this.
  • "Basic operations" -- this isn't an iPhone here. Android demands about 500MB free just to install new apps, and a little less (300MB?) free to receive text messages.
    The system takes up 3GB at least.
    That's about 4.5GB to yourself on a new 8GB phone.
  • Is this faster than the common internal storage of the devices ?
  • Yes and no. All phones use different makes and types of NAND storage. :)
    I guess, it also depends on what phone you have. A Note 3 have a USB3 controller for instance, while most other phones have a USB2 controller.
  • So just because a newer phone has a Snapdragon 800 or newer chip, doesn't necessarily mean it is USB 3.0? Posted via Android Central App
  • Lol wut Sent from my Nexus 7 2013 or iPhone 5
  • No, but it is faster than most other SD cards Sent from my Galaxy S4 running SlimKat 4.4.2
  • This looks like something interesting. With 4K video now showing up, more storage can come in handy. Even just shooting 1080p video will eat up internal memory quickly. It might not be for eveyone (especially with KitKat restrictions), but it can come in handy.
  • How come it works with older devices? I thought only newer hardwares like the s5 supported and older devices didn't have the necessary stuff to work with 128gb Posted via Android Central App on nexus 7 (2nd gen)
  • If the device supports sdxc, then its plug and play. If not, reformatting to fat32 should work on most. The only thing new is the fact they have more space. The sdxc standard supports higher, but phones can only verify their hardware with what's available. towards the article....people forget that 1MB = 1024KB, not 1000. For marketing, 1000KB=1MB is used. That is the biggest reason you do not have access to a full 128GB, because it's not there.
  • Thanks for clearing that up. Posted via Android Central App on nexus 7 (2nd gen)
  • Android phones are based on a Linux kernel and the code in the kernel has supported SD cards up to some ridiculous size I can't quite remember (but I think it is something like 2TB) for years. The only issue should be whether the filesystem used on larger cards its supported (the SDXC format specifies exFAT is to be used) but you can reformat cards to FAT32 if your phone doesn't support exFAT. Posted via Android Central App
  • The file numbers on this type of article always make me laugh because of how low they are. The average 1080p video file movie in MP4 can get as low as 2GB, allowing for upwards of 60 movies, not 30. If you settle for 720p in mp4, you can get up to 120 videos on 119gb.
  • Wow! Good to know! Posted via Android Central App
  • Never settle. 1080p 60 frame MPEG or nothing :)
  • lol
  • That's funny, but it still seems like a waste of space on a mobile device... 720p looks just fine on a phone to me... Posted via Android Central App
  • Absolutely. All kidding aside, 720 is plenty for me on even something big like the Note or the Z Ultra. But for some reason I always go for 1080 on my N7. Must be all the acid :P
  • Lmao... fair enough Posted via Android Central App
  • Acid. Hilarious. Posted via my "Gift from God" Note 3, my "Blessed" iPad Mini 2, or my "Risen" Asus ROG"
  • What if you're displaying content from your phone to an HDTV (using something like MHL or DLNA)?
  • That's something I never really do, so I can't comment on it. Would imagine it sucks, tho.
  • +1 Posted via my "Gift from God" Note 3, my "Blessed" iPad Mini 2, or my "Risen" Asus ROG"
  • Any idea at what rate and resolution Google Play HD videos are encoded? Some of them are pushing over 3GB but I can't see resolution and bitrate on them like I can an uploaded video on my SD card (Note 2).
  • I would love to know where you got those numbers. I have encoded allot of video and unless you hack the video bit-rate down to nothing you are dead wrong. A full length 1080P movie at 2 GB is going to look like crap when played back. The only video's I have seen that come close are animations that don't have as much detail to begin with. If you are trying to preserve quality most 1080p Videos will end up close to the 8-12GB range
  • "A full length 1080P movie at 2 GB is going to look like crap when played back." Depends on what you play it back on.
  • Debatable... I'm inclined to lean towards agreeing with "it'll look like crap" ... but would really need to see it on different devices (mobile) to judge properly Posted via Android Central App
  • I recently got a 64gb sd card as well! If it gets cheaper, am getting it too Posted via Android Central App
  • Oh it well, these memory cards go down fast. Just wait for a sale, Amazon all the way for me, that's where I got my 64GB card. Posted via Android Central App
  • $119 is already the sale.... originally $199. Just got mine today... it's awesome.
  • Last year I bought some 64GB uSD cards. The SanDisk extreme version had a read speed of 90 and the Samsung a speed of 80. I suppose the question would be "What's the maximum speed of the interface or is the card still the limiting factor?" Even with double the space, a reduction to 1/3 the speed seems too much given that my 64GB cards are nowhere near full even after a week-long trip where I took photos and video like crazy.
  • That's a lot of storage!! I do a whole lot of downloading, and I'm not sure I would even know what to do with that on a phone. A tablet would be easier, obviously, but that still seems like a whole lot, even. I get it, it's nice in case you need it, but at $1 per 1gb I'll wait for the tech to come down before I buy one....if I ever get another phone that has an SD slot.
  • My GF's Note 2 just destroyed her second 64GB card. I can't imagine @ $120 having a 128GB destroyed for this price. So I'll wait a while for this card to drop in price.
  • Never bought an SD card without a lifetime warranty. Y u no replace for free? Posted via my Shnexus 5
  • It helps to keep the original purchase receipt for said SD card. When you don't have the receipt it can get a bit tricky.
  • If you bought it online, the vendor may have a record of the purchase, or there may be an email. Also, a brick & mortar store may have a record of the purchase if you used a credit card (or a Visa/Mastercard branded check card).
  • I'm a cash-only kinda guy at a retail brick & mortar store. But your comment is valid of course paying via CC/PayPal and like. I just don't keep a receipt for a small-ticket item like a 64GB microSD card. My bad.
  • Micro SD cards come with a 3 year warranty I think. My compact flash and SD cards for my cameras are lifetime. Unless sandisk changed their policy? Posted via Android Central App
  • Depends on the microSD card manufacturer's policy. The first time my GF's 64GB card got nuked, the manufacturer replaced it no-questions-asked and even paid for the shipping cost. The second time this happened they asked if I had a receipt as apparently their policy is to always ask for the receipt but didn't do so the first time as a professional courtesy. Moral of the Story: keep your receipt in any case.
  • My 128GB Sandisk MicroSD card states 10 year warranty on the back packaging.
  • Even having a Note 3, I still haven't purchased an SD card. And, I likely won't. I;m glad that the option is there for those that do use SD cards and like the ability to add more storage or swap as needed. But, for me, one bad experience completely turned me off. But, having both a tablet and a phone, I'm just fine with the 32GB of the Note 3 and the 16GB of the iPad Mini. I'd honestly prefer more 64GB versions of phones. And, I'm pretty sure that my next iPad will have either 64GB or 128GB of on-board storage.
  • Yeah! I can't wait to plunk down $120 just so my Samsung Galaxy S III can trash it, like it's done to the SanDisk 64GB and 32GB cards that I purchased when I first got the phone.
  • Yeah - same issue with my GF's Note 2 which trashed two 64GB cards as well. Always keep the receipt for the SD card's purchase - useful when claiming a replacement under warranty.
  • I remember buying a 1gig CF card for $100 thinking that I got lots of space for music for my Sony Clie. Posted via Android Central App
  • I still have a pic from when Staples first got the 1GB regular full size SD card selling for $99.99 Posted via Android Central App
  • What a beast! Posted via Android Central App
  • It works on devices that say they support up to 64GB? Posted via Android Central App
  • Yeah. Because, as of right now, there are no devices currently on the market that are advertised as supporting up to 128GB sdxc cards. Posted via my "Gift from God" Note 3, my "Blessed" iPad Mini 2, or my "Risen" Asus ROG"
  • I give a few months tops before we get people for whom this isn't enough. Posted via Android Central App
  • I'm waiting for the first 1TB card myself.
  • Cloud. Posted via Android Central App
  • -ed judgement? -y skies?
  • Cue Richard Yarrell saying this is "boss", that cloud storage is "crappy" (despite his earlier claims that T-Mobile's HSPA+42 MPBS network was awesome), that KitKat is "shitty", plain and simple period.
    Oh wait, he got banned.
  • He's on vacation, remember? Posted via my "Gift from God" Note 3, my "Blessed" iPad Mini 2, or my "Risen" Asus ROG"
  • Big deal let me know when the 1 tb shows up. Posted via Android Central App
  • Pffft...lets just skip ahead to a yottabyte
  • OTG cable and Kingston's DataTraveler HyperX Predator 1TB USB Flash Drive? Amazon has it for only $1243.63 (https://www.amazon.com/Kingston-DataTraveler-Predator-1TB-DTHXP30/dp/B00...). Victorinox also had a 1TB Swiss Army Knife which went for originally $3000 (https://www.tomshardware.com/news/victorinox-swiss-army-knife-ssd,14508....).
  • Only? Posted via my "Gift from God" Note 3, my "Blessed" iPad Mini 2, or my "Risen" Asus ROG"
  • I know right? Bargain.
  • lmao
  • Well phone companies need to start making 128GB internal storage on their phones. I find it stupid to worry about removable storage when I never remove my SD cards anyway...give me 64 or 128GB options and I won't give a crap. Posted via Android Central App
  • It's easier to transfer pictures and music to a new smartphone with an sd card, than to have to deal with the hassle of connecting a G2 or HTC One to a PC using a USB cable to transfer stuff, that's way too much hassle. The whole point in having a smartphone is to be independent of a PC. Posted via Android Central App
  • Wasn't much of a hassle at all for me on my G2, but to each their own I suppose... Posted via Android Central App
  • Transferring an sd card, yes, less hassle than having to deal with a usb cable and a pc. Posted via Android Central App
  • Your initial comment stated you think it's "way too much of a hassle" to connect the phone to a computer to transfer... I was simply stating it's not much of a hassle FOR ME. It's subjective. What's considered a hassle to you clearly isn't what I consider a hassle. I'm cool with that. Now, if you had initially stated what you just clarified, "less of a hassle" ... then I wouldn't have even bothered to comment on the initial post because, of course, anyone in their right mind would agree with that. However, you said "way too much of a hassle" so I felt the need comment. I also like not having to worry about my incredibly well used micro sd cards not being backed up on a computer for that inevitable moment when they totally fail, having used them in the last dozen phones or so... but like I said, to each their own... Posted via Android Central App
  • Agree not a hassle, imo it's easier to connect the phone to the pc than to get the sd out ten phone, put it in adaptor and then connect it to the pc and then put the sd back in the phone. I have a s4 and use a sd card and it's much easier for me to just connect with the cable which is just 1 step vs removing the sd card etc which is multiple steps. Posted via Android Central App on nexus 7 (2nd gen)
  • Yeah. I have a bad habit of dropping SD cards, when I remove them multiple times from my phone. For me, it's way easier to just connect my devices to my laptop (even easier, now that I have a laptop vice a Chromebook, lol)
  • +1 This! Posted via Android Central App
  • To each their own. +1
  • Someone needs to give Google hell to add support for writing to SD cards back into Android again, so many OEMs (like Samsung) like to cheat and offer less internal storage and Android apps just keep getting bigger Posted via Android Central App
  • I agree! This is 2014, 64GB's of internal storage should at least be an OPTION! Posted via Android Central App
  • +1
  • Too expensive. Posted via Android Central App
  • It's less than a dollar a gig, that's really not bad. Posted via Android Central App
  • That's a lot man, storage is actually cheap. Posted via Android Central App
  • I was reading up in the Note 3 forums on xda and there's a fix for the sd card write restriction in Kitkat. I'm not sure if it's available on other phones but that should at least put Note 3 owners at ease when deciding to pick up this bad boy or not.
  • There is a fix for Kit Kat. Just root your device and edit a line in one file and magically you have sd card function again... Posted via Android Central App
  • Still sounds good, probably going to order one and use in my Note
  • How fast external memory can go on mobiles? I think no smartphone supports UHS-1 standard. would it really matter if we have fast SD card.
  • Will this work with something like a meenova adapter. I would love this for my nexus 7 (2013) for movies and games. My moto g as well. I know not all phones support higher micro sd Posted via Android Central App
  • Adding this card to a Chromebook would be a great idea! Posted via Android Central App
  • +2
  • I'm happy that I don't need one anymore, but if I was to go back to it, SanDisk wouldn't not be my choice. Last time I had it was horrible and they said there was a recall on the whole batch... Then I bought the Samsung SD card and had no single problem with it for over a year (before sold). It's all about individual experience (anecdotal) in this case, but thought someone would appreciate it :)
    64gb would be my ideal storage size if I wanted to use my phone as iPod (as many do) or movie player and I can definitely see a need for 128gb especially with all these 4k videos and 20-40 MP photos.
    People want to have it all in a phone bc it's much easier to deal with and carry 1 than 3 devices (camera, iPod). Posted via Android Central App
    VZW Moto X
  • "SanDisk wouldn't not be my choice." ... that means it would be your choice... those pesky double negatives! ;-) Posted via Android Central App
  • Grammar Cop!!! /s
  • Lol.. Gotta admit, that was a bad one tho..
  • Lmao I know I know... but I couldn't resist Posted via Android Central App
  • Glad your tests were done with my current device. Was curious as to whether I could go above 32gb with the #sonyxperiaz1s.
    Will probably take the plunge when cost is lowered.
  • Is it any faster than the common internal storage?
  • Wonderful news is 128GB micro SDXC card. It will solve our external storage problem easily. http://bit.ly/1lWUKcY
  • Please delete.
  • If for sure this would work in the Note 3, I'd get it in a heart beat. Posted via Android Central App
  • So on KitKat can you set all ur videos that u record and pictures u take to save onto the SD card by default?? I'm not quite understanding the problem here..
  • Now this what i call memory! (MAX56054) Samsung, SCH-s738c
  • Yeah, i know. I'm late to the party. I just have to say that a 128GB card is really cool, expensive, but cool. I can see putting a lot of movies and music on that thing. Especially the movies. Remember portable dvd players? ;)
  • Finally, a way to travel with more movies. If your job requires heavy travel this is far more convenient than the discs. I have 4x 64GB MicroSDXC cards full, and only half the time have the movie I really feel like from the rips of my collection of 1000+ DVDs & 200+ BDs. Maybe with 4x 128GB MicroSDXC cards I can bring that to 66.6% of the time! #firstworldproblems
  • This is just going to make my piratebay addiction even worse!!!! my 64gb is soo unorganized too
  • I lost faith in SD cards when my 32g just died. All my photos gone. No explanations.
  • Yea, while I enjoy some streaming services, there's nothing more reliable than offline storage.
  • Great buy - the 128gb is what's up!