Samsung PRO Endurance Memory Cards Are Made For Security Cameras

Smartphones are slowly shedding their need for microSD card slots, finally bringing Google's vision of a unified Android filesystem storage into reality. Fortunately, the mobile market is just a small drop in a sea of other devices and use cases that still need a small but fast data storage solution. Digital cameras are, of course, still reliant on the larger flash memory cards, but there are classes of video recording devices that need something more compact but just as reliable. These include security cameras and doorbell cameras, and Samsung's latest batch of microSD cards are made specifically for them, promising the ability to record videos continuously for up to 16 years.

Memory cards are often regarded as "transient" data storage, used to temporarily store files long enough to be transferred to a more permanent location. That's often the case with photos and videos being moved from a camera or smartphone to a computer for editing or storing. Ironically, SD cards are notorious for being slow, at least slower than cable or larger drives, but it's usually only the option available for cameras, other than a direct connection to a computer.

For security, doorbell, dashboard, and body cameras, however, microSD cards serve a longer-term purpose. These devices, including the recent crop of IoT cameras, are too small to sport even the smallest SSDs. The only solution available is microSD cards, but not just any card will do. That's why Samsung is launching a new line of PRO Performance cards that are not only fast but also long-lasting.

Samsung is no stranger to rugged external drives, but you can't really say the same thing about tiny microSD cards. For security cameras and dash cams that often get into rough spots or unfavorable weather conditions, regular flash memory just won't do, especially when you consider the fact that these devices continuously write and rewrite data, which would wear out regular cards quickly.

In contrast, the Samsung PRO Performance cards promise an average of 140,160 hours of continuous recording time, which is around 16 years. In practice, there will probably be some downtime, like during outages or when transferring files, but it's good to know it would last more than five years on average. At the same time, Samsung promises an external "six-proof" durability, which means the cards are guaranteed to be resistant against water, magnets, X-rays, extreme temperatures, wear-outs, and drops.

As for speed, the cards are rated at UHS Speed Class 3 (U3) and Video Speed Class 30 (V30), with advertised reading speeds of up to 100MB/s and write speeds of 30MB/s. That should be enough to support up to 4K video resolutions, though some equipment might not even reach those figures anyway. The cards are available in a variety of capacities from 32GB to 256GB; the price ranges from $10.99 for the 32GB microSDHC card all the way up to $54.99 for the 256GB microSDXC.