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In brief, when comparing Gigastone vs SanDisk, Gigastone offers cheaper prices but slightly slower read and write speeds, with both brands offering similar reliability.
Picking the right microSD card for your application is essential for getting the picture or video you had in your mind. What to choose comes down to several factors: capacity, speed and compatibility.
After you determine what kind of card to get, choosing between brands can seem just as daunting. Some factors that can help make the decision are cost and reliability.
Gigastone and SanDisk are two of the biggest names in flash memory and both make a variety of micro SD cards.
How are MicroSD Cards Rated?
MicroSD cards are available in a sometimes dizzying range of configurations, but speed benchmarks are among the most important. Because of the high speed needed to shoot 4K video, cards need to record at least 30MB/s to work properly.
MicroSD cards are rated in a number of categories, including Speed Class and Video Speed Class.
For 4K video, look for cards of Speed Class C10, which is the highest level, and Video Speed Class of V30 or higher. If you have a camera that can use them, UHS-II cards are generally faster than UHS-I cards.
Who Makes Gigastone SD Cards?
Gigastone is a Taiwan-based company that makes a wide range of storage devices and electronic accessories. It makes memory cards, USB memory sticks, RAM and other products, but is particularly well known for its SD and micro SD cards.
The company has a number of international partners, from Japanese and Chinese mobile phone companies to U.S. retailers like Walmart and Target.
Is Gigastone a Good Brand?
Gigastone is a good brand for SD cards. Although they do not have the name recognition of their rivals Sandisk, their micro SD cards are perfectly good for most uses, even if they are not quite as fast. You shouldn’t expect any more card failures with Gigastone than you would with Sandisk.
What Kind Of MicroSD Cards Does Gigastone Offer?
Gigastone currently offers three levels of microSD card, the Full HD Video range, the Camera Plus range and the 4K Camera Pro range. The categories are based on speed and capacity, with Full HD Video cards being the least expensive and 4K Camera Pro cards being the most expensive. Read a quick Gigastone SD card review below.
Gigastone Full HD Video MicroSD Card Specs
The Full HD Video cards have capacities from 8GB to 128GB.
All of those cards are Speed Class C10, UHS-I, UHS Speed Class 1 cards. They offer read speeds of up to 90MB/s and write speeds up to 20MB/s and are best for SD or HD video.
Gigastone Camera Plus MicroSD Card Specs
The Camera Plus cards range from 16GB to 128GB. The higher capacity cards are Speed Class C10, Video Speed Class V30, UHS-I, UHS Speed Class 3 cards and offer up to 100MB/s read and 50MB/s write speeds.
These faster cards can handle HD and 4K video.
Gigastone 4K Camera Pro MicroSD Card Specs
The 4K Camera Pro range is available in capacities from 64GB to 512GB and are Speed Class C10, Video Speed Class V30, UHS-I, UHS Speed Class 3 cards. They offer up to 100MB/s read and 60MB/s write speeds.
They’re designed to handle recording 4K video.
Does Gigastone Make Reliable MicroSD Cards?
While Gigastone is not nearly as well-known of a name as some others in the United States, it has a long history of making microSD cards and has even manufactured cards for other brands, so is as trustworthy a brand as any other.
What Does Sandisk Make?
SanDisk is a U.S. based company that’s been making flash-based storage for more than 30 years. It was bought by hard drive maker Western Digital in 2016.
The company has a range of storage products from SSD drives for desktops and laptops to portable SSDs and memory cards.
It’s one of the most recognizable and well-known memory card brands, and is available from a number of retailers, as well as direct purchase. In fact, SanDisk, along with Toshiba, was one of the first companies to create the SD card, which the microSD card is based on.
What Kind Of MicroSD Cards Does Sandisk Offer?
SanDisk offers multiple categories of microSD cards.
The three ranges focused on performance are the Ultra, Extreme and Extreme Pro. They generally offer increasing performance and capacity.
There are also the High Endurance and Max Endurance ranges, which boast long life and reliability.
SanDisk Ultra microSD Card Specs
Ultra is SanDisk’s basic microSD line, and cards are available in capacities from 16GB to 1TB. Most of the cards are Speed Class C10, UHS-I, UHS Speed Class 1.
They offer up to 100MB/s read speeds and write speeds of at least 10MB/s, making them most suitable for HD video recording or general storage.
SanDisk Extreme microSD Card Specs
SanDisk’s mid-level performance cards are available from 32GB up to 1TB. They are Speed Class C10, Video Speed Class V30, UHS-I, UHS Speed Class 3 cards and offer between 100MB/s and 160MB/s read speeds and 60MB/s to 90MB/s read speeds.
The cards are geared toward photography and 4K video capture.
SanDisk Extreme Pro microSD Card Specs
The highest performance cards are the Extreme Pro range, which are available in 32GB to 1TB sizes. They’re also Speed Class C10, Video Speed Class V30, UHS-I, UHS Speed Class 3 cards, with read speeds of up to 170MB/s and write speeds of up to 90MB/s.
The Extreme Pro range is best suited to 4K video and continuous photo capture.
Does SanDisk Make Reliable microSD Cards?
SanDisk is among the best-known names in the memory card field and has a stellar reputation for quality and durability. The company’s most powerful cards are often featured on lists of the best microSD cards available.
In addition to its history as one of the first companies to make SD cards, SanDisk is now owned by Western Digital, one of the largest and most prominent computer storage companies in the world.
Gigastone vs Sandisk: Comparison
Let’s compare Gigastone and Sandisk by having a quick Gigastone vs Sandisk SD card review.
The Gigastone 4K Game Pro 512GB microSD card and the Sandisk Extreme Pro 512GB microSD card are both capable of recording 4K video and high resolution photos, but there are some differences in both performance and price.
The Gigastone offering is less expensive, but it also offers somewhat slower sustained read and write speeds.
The SanDisk card offers truly blazing read and write speeds, but that performance comes at a cost.
Gigastone 4K Game Pro 512GB microSD card | Sandisk Extreme Pro 512GB microSD card | |
|---|---|---|
| Bus Interface | UHS-I | UHS-I |
| Speed Class | C10 | C10 |
| UHS Speed Class | U3 | U3 |
| Video Speed Class | V30 | V30 |
| Max Write Speed | 100MB/s | 170MB/s |
| Max Read Speed | 60/MB/s | 90MB/s |
| Check Price |
Overall, either manufacturer makes micro SD cards that work well, at a good price point. Sandisk are the preferred choice for many, but Gigastone are not far behind, and are catching up fast.
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