Question Comparison of write cycles of Samsung microSD 64 Gb cards “PRO Ultimate”, “PRO Plus”, “PRO Endurance”, and “EVO Plus”?

[PeterMuellerr]

Due to the constant use in a dash cam, my microSD cards deteriorate, and the dashcam suggest a replacement every once in a while. Therefore, I'd like to compare of the longevity of the following Samsung microSD cards with the nominal size of 64 GB:

• PRO Ultimate,
• PRO Plus,
• PRO Endurance, and
• EVO Plus.

Which of the aforementioned cards lasts longest in terms of write cycles, i.e., the total data that can be written onto a card (say, TBW) before it breaks or the write speed drops below, say, 10 Mbit/s?

Samsung support said they didn't have the comparison data and suggested (as I understood their intention; I might be wrong) the latest model for all use cases. Maybe, I didn't ask the right question (a relevant question that they could answer); I don't know. Anyway, a bit disappointing, I'm afraid, because a model being later doesn't necessarily mean that it lives longer, but it might hypothetically simply mean that the model is the cheaper to produce for a particular specification.

 

[USAFRet]

Apparently, Samsung does not publish that information.
Nor would it be very useful for the singular card in your dashcam.

What they DO publish is the warranty.
Regardless of write cycles, those microSD cards have a generous 10 year warranty.
https://download.semiconductor.sams...nty_statement_pro_endurance_excluded_v1.1.pdf

 

[PeterMuellerr]

10 year warranty.
https://download.semiconductor.sams...nty_statement_pro_endurance_excluded_v1.1.pdf

I quote from your source: “Warranties provided herein do not extend to any use of the product for or with continuous recording instruments or any other write-intensive devices, including without limitation security cameras, surveillance systems, dashboard cameras […]”. (The emphasis is mine.)

 

[USAFRet]

I quote from your source: “Warranties provided herein do not extend to any use of the product for or with continuous recording instruments or any other write-intensive devices, including without limitation security cameras, surveillance systems, dashboard cameras […]”. (The emphasis is mine.)

Fair enough.

They still don't publish any TBW values. And I'm not aware of any independent source who has tested these to destruction.

 

[USAFRet]

This, also from Samsung, gives no limitations for continuous writing (dashcams, etc).

Samsung Memory Card Warranty Statement Support | Samsung United Kingdom

Read the Terms and Conditions for your Samsung Memory Card. Read more information on Warranty Policy, Period, and Limitations on this page.

www.samsung.com

And here, for the Pro Endurance
https://download.semiconductor.sams...nce_warranty_statement_english_en-gb_2023.pdf

 

[PeterMuellerr]

@USAFRet : Thank you! Carefully interpreting the text in the two PDF files you quoted, I summarize the results for a continuous-writing usage, such as in a dash cam, as follows:

• PRO Ultimate has no warranty at all,
• PRO Plus has no warranty at all,
• PRO Endurance 64 GB has 3 years of warranty, and
• EVO Plus has no warranty at all,

under the assumption that these warranties do not depend on the country.
As for the Web page you cited, it seems to apply to other cards (not the ones from the question).

 

[USAFRet]

And anecdotally, among all my dashcams and little UAV over the years...I've never had one fail.

All (most?) Samsung, of different varieties.

 

[raccoon.]

Useful thread. This question has been plaguing me since Black Friday as I've been on a dashcam and surveillance (ie, Wyze) cam bender, and still completely unsure which model card to order. The only thing I'm confident about is to order large capacity drives to reduce the number of write cycles per year.

But there are so many "models" that boast different speeds, and only one that hints at lifetime ("endurance") without actually giving us any comparison of life expectancy. It's very frustrating. They don't even tell us cell density; Am I to assume EVO implies TLC (3-bit) and Endurance implies MLC (2-bit) density? It would explain Samsung's pricing.

Are there any other anecdotal reports out there for number of years of continuous write people's Dash/Surveillance cam SD/MicroSD cards have endured?

 

[USAFRet]

Are there any other anecdotal reports out there for number of years of continuous write people's Dash/Surveillance cam SD/MicroSD cards have endured?

I've not had a single microSD fail.

3-4 dashcams, going back 5+ years
Second drives in little laptops.

All either Samsung or Sandisk.

 

[MWink64]

Useful thread. This question has been plaguing me since Black Friday as I've been on a dashcam and surveillance (ie, Wyze) cam bender, and still completely unsure which model card to order. The only thing I'm confident about is to order large capacity drives to reduce the number of write cycles per year.

But there are so many "models" that boast different speeds, and only one that hints at lifetime ("endurance") without actually giving us any comparison of life expectancy. It's very frustrating. They don't even tell us cell density; Am I to assume EVO implies TLC (3-bit) and Endurance implies MLC (2-bit) density? It would explain Samsung's pricing.

Are there any other anecdotal reports out there for number of years of continuous write people's Dash/Surveillance cam SD/MicroSD cards have endured?

I've seen nothing that would make me assume the EVO is TLC and the Endurance is MLC. It's entirely possible they're QLC and TLC respectively. I agree that it's frustrating they don't say. Regardless, the Endurance cards are the only ones meant (and warranted) for that application.

I've not had a single microSD fail.

3-4 dashcams, going back 5+ years
Second drives in little laptops.

All either Samsung or Sandisk.

While not in surveillance applications, I've seen several SD cards fail (and only one gracefully). The most common brand I've seen fail is SanDisk but one should take into consideration that the majority of the cards I see are either SanDisk or Samsung.

 

[raccoon.]

I've seen nothing that would make me assume the EVO is TLC and the Endurance is MLC. It's entirely possible they're QLC and TLC respectively. I agree that it's frustrating they don't say.

I guess I'm giving Samsung a little benefit of the doubt for a couple reasons. They evoke EVO to mean TLC and QVO to mean QLC in their SSD products, so I can see them continuing this trend in their SD market. That, and we see other brands offering 1TB and 1.5TB capacities while Samsung seems to cap out at 512 for EVO and 256 for Endurance lines, maybe hinting at lower cell densities.

You're right, it sucks they don't tell us what's under the hood -- Are we paying for a 4 banger, a v8 or a two-stroke engine?

 

[MWink64]

I guess I'm giving Samsung a little benefit of the doubt for a couple reasons. They evoke EVO to mean TLC and QVO to mean QLC in their SSD products, so I can see them continuing this trend in their SD market. That, and we see other brands offering 1TB and 1.5TB capacities while Samsung seems to cap out at 512 for EVO and 256 for Endurance lines, maybe hinting at lower cell densities.

You're right, it sucks they don't tell us what's under the hood -- Are we paying for a 4 banger, a v8 or a two-stroke engine?

You're making assumptions and one is definitely incorrect. While they do use the QVO name for some QLC drives, there are QLC drives bearing the EVO branding. For example, the Samsung T5 EVO is QLC.