SD cards

[Amthebigdog]

There seems to be a lot of questions regarding SD card use in android products. They make OTG (OnTheGo) cables and adapters. These are made to plug into your android charging slot. They are also able to be used on any android products that uses OTG technology. I prefer the adapter which is easier to use. If you use SD cards they make an adapter that will read them and are usb-c as well and will plug into an android product. This should at least get you going as it should be read. From there you can use it or format it.

 

[SpookDroid]

Just the usual 'a word of caution!' here. Just as SD cards are very unreliable, using external readers on an USB port also comes with its own set of potential issues. Since this is not something that's part of the hardware, plugging/unplugging repeatedly on an USB port can, eventually, damage the port itself. Same thing with cables (just try keeping a cheapo cable in your car in Summer for a few weeks). Not saying this isn't an option, just saying that you shouldn't rely on this completely, especially for very important files or media.

 

[Mooncatt]

Just as SD cards are very unreliable...

I would disagree with that notion unless you are referring to abusing them, but I do agree with the rest. Using a detachable OTG cable/reader solution will never be easier than keeping the card in a dedicated slot in the phone.

 

[gray2018]

Yeah, I feel like that claim that "SD cards are unreliable," isn't inherently true. I've been using SD cards for years, and never had any issues. Why do people always claim this? Sure, I suppose if I you purchase a 5 dollar one from Walgreens. Yeah, you might have issues. If you buy a higher end one like Samsung, probably not.

 

[mustang7757]

There seems to be a lot of questions regarding SD card use in android products. They make OTG (OnTheGo) cables and adapters. These are made to plug into your android charging slot. They are also able to be used on any android products that uses OTG technology. I prefer the adapter which is easier to use. If you use SD cards they make an adapter that will read them and are usb-c as well and will plug into an android product. This should at least get you going as it should be read. From there you can use it or format it.

Please State your device, USB c external drive probably be better solution

 

[SpookDroid]

35% failure rate on most surveys (granted, and for a reason, there's no 'official' data and all of these are user-based) for SD cards is IMHO NOT a trustworthy medium. And I've had cards fail on me from cheapo-Amazon ones to Samsung-branded and SanDisk and Lexar.

 

[B. Diddy]

Yeah, I feel like that claim that "SD cards are unreliable," isn't inherently true. I've been using SD cards for years, and never had any issues. Why do people always claim this? Sure, I suppose if I you purchase a 5 dollar one from Walgreens. Yeah, you might have issues. If you buy a higher end one like Samsung, probably not.

I discussed this with an acquaintance a while back who was fairly high level in the memory industry. He told me straight up that the chips used in consumer SD cards were, in his words, "bottom of the barrel" -- and this was regardless of the manufacturer. Does this mean they'll all fail with minimal use? Of course not, but by comparison, they will still be less reliable than onboard memory or SSDs. This issue is further compounded by the counterfeit cards that still flood the market (and those counterfeits can be very convincing).

 

[Amthebigdog]

I discussed this with an acquaintance a while back who was fairly high level in the memory industry. He told me straight up that the chips used in consumer SD cards were, in his words, "bottom of the barrel" -- and this was regardless of the manufacturer. Does this mean they'll all fail with minimal use? Of course not, but by comparison, they will still be less reliable than onboard memory or SSDs. This issue is further compounded by the counterfeit cards that still flood the market (and those counterfeits can be very convincing).

I've never had a SD card fail. BUT just as early as last week I had a problem with one I had been using. I reformatted mine. After I did I transferred some files to it. Once I verified they were there I deleted them. I did this several times. I haven't had an issue with it since. I download full movies and an getting close to downloading number 75. When I bought it I bought the cheapest priced one on eBay.

 

[Amthebigdog]

I would disagree with that notion unless you are referring to abusing them, but I do agree with the rest. Using a detachable OTG cable/reader solution will never be easier than keeping the card in a dedicated slot in the phone.

I use mine in my tablet and swap it back and forth depending on where I watch a movie. As long as I "eject" it I have no problems. As opposed to when I first got it and without thinking I just popped it out. This corrupted the card.

 

[BerryBubbles]

I had a Sandisk in my Galaxy s9+. It wasn't abused & I never removed it from the phone. It failed. It happens. They are not bullet-proof.

That being said, I've had many that were fine, still are. However, I will never trust them with anything important unless I have a secondary copy. That's just me, it's just not worth the risk, after what I went through when the card failed on the s9+.

 

[mustang7757]

I use mine in my tablet and swap it back and forth depending on where I watch a movie. As long as I "eject" it I have no problems. As opposed to when I first got it and without thinking I just popped it out. This corrupted the card.

Yeah lot of people don't eject them properly and become corrupt also you hear stories about software updates corrupting them , I never had one go bad in the past but if you keeping important stuff on them back it up in multiple places , if it does get corrupted and all the movies gone should have them back up also another problem is freeze and slower write speeds them internal storage.

 

[Amthebigdog]

Yeah lot of people don't eject them properly and become corrupt also you hear stories about software updates corrupting them , I never had one go bad in the past but if you keeping important stuff on them back it up in multiple places , if it does get corrupted and all the movies gone should have them back up also another problem is freeze and slower write speeds them internal storage.

You're absolutely correct. If it's that important it's worth having multiple copies. I keep a minimum of 3. Two on mediums in in case I need to pull them up. The third input away safely. If it's really important I keep a 4 the copy in case one of those I use goes bad. It's always better to be safe than sorry.

 

[mustang7757]

You're absolutely correct. If it's that important it's worth having multiple copies. I keep a minimum of 3. Two on mediums in in case I need to pull them up. The third input away safely. If it's really important I keep a 4 the copy in case one of those I use goes bad. It's always better to be safe than sorry.

Yeah that's the way I do it also.

 

[Mooncatt]

35% failure rate on most surveys (granted, and for a reason, there's no 'official' data and all of these are user-based) for SD cards is IMHO NOT a trustworthy medium. And I've had cards fail on me from cheapo-Amazon ones to Samsung-branded and SanDisk and Lexar.

That number is incorrect. The failure rate of SD cards is 100%. But guess what, the failure rate of any storage medium is 100% when given enough time/use. That 35% number is meaningless without some qualifiers. And that's without getting into the questionable reliability of user reported failures.

 

[Laura Knotek]

I use mine in my tablet and swap it back and forth depending on where I watch a movie. As long as I "eject" it I have no problems. As opposed to when I first got it and without thinking I just popped it out. This corrupted the card.

Unfortunately there isn't any taskbar to see and click "safely remove device" in plain sight on the desktop like in Windows. The unmount setting is buried deeper in the settings, so users might forget about it when ejecting the SD card on a phone.

 

[Amthebigdog]

That number is incorrect. The failure rate of SD cards is 100%. But guess what, the failure rate of any storage medium is 100% when given enough time/use. That 35% number is meaningless without some qualifiers. And that's without getting into the questionable reliability of user reported failures.

Your right. I've found that drop kicking my computer because it wouldn't do what I wanted ended up failing.

 

[Amthebigdog]

Unfortunately there isn't any taskbar to see and click "safely remove device" in plain sight on the desktop like in Windows. The unmount setting is buried deeper in the settings, so users might forget about it when ejecting the SD card on a phone.

On my phone and tablet I swipe down from the top and it brings up either USB or SD card and says eject

 

[surfcrone]

I had a Sandisk in my Galaxy s9+. It wasn't abused & I never removed it from the phone. It failed. It happens. They are not bullet-proof.