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If you don’t have time to read the article, then the difference between PNY vs Sandisk is that PNY is a cheaper brand of memory cards with slightly slower write speeds, meaning Sandisk is better for 4K recording.
This article will help you if you’re wondering what’s the difference between PNY vs Sandisk SDXC / Micro SD memory cards, or want to know if PNY SD cards are any good.
To quickly see which is the best SD card for your needs, take a look below. The PNY SD card review and Sandisk Extreme Pro review both follow this in full, which will be helpful if you wish to know is PNY a good brand for SD card.
Best SDXC Memory Card: Sandisk Extreme Pro
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The Sandisk Extreme Pro is ideal if you are shooting bracketed exposures, shooting in RAW, or making lots of videos. This has both a very high capacity of card available – the Sandisk Extreme Pro 1TB – and extremely fast write speeds. Check your camera manual to confirm that you camera can support this write speed though, otherwise you are better off buying the cheaper option below.
Best Value Memory Card: PNY Elite-X
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The PNY memory cards are best for you if you are primarily shooting JPGs, and do not want to shoot bracketed exposures, due to the reduced real-world write speeds of these memory cards. If you are using an older camera, this SD card will be ideal, as it is unlikely that your camera would be able to support the increased read and write speeds of the Sandisk Extreme Pro.
Is PNY a Good Brand?
PNY is not a well known brand, so you may well want to know before you buy, is PNY a good memory card? The simple answer is yes, they are. Although they may not have the name recognition of Sandisk, PNY have existed since 1985, and are based in the US. In the past, their main source of sales has been direct to business rather than to consumers, hence you may not have heard of them. Nonetheless, they offer high quality products at a reasonable price – you’re not paying extra for the branding here.
What’s Better: PNY or Sandisk?
Of course, if you want to know is Sandisk a good brand, the answer is also a resounding yes. Sandisk have widely been regarded as the best memory card brand due to their focus on these products, and innovative design to get the most out of the memory card architecture. In a straightforward comparison of Sandisk vs PNY, Sandisk will always come out on top in terms of absolute quality, but this does not mean that PNY should be written off, particularly if you are using an older camera, which tend to work at lower SD card speeds.
Compare PNY vs Sandisk Memory Cards
Memory Card | Max. Write Speed | Max. Read Speed | Max. Capacity | Check Price | |
| 89.1MB/s | 176.0MB/s | 1TB | ||
 | 86.3MB/s | 98.2MB/s | 1TB | ||
| 76.9MB/s | 97.8MB/s | 512GB | ||
 | 69.2MB/s | 97.9MB/s | 512GB | ||
 | 34.0MB/s | 81.0MB/s | 128GB |
SD Card Speed Ratings
When you take a look at SD cards, you can see a variety of symbols that show the SD card speed class rating and the SD card speed rating.
Take a look at this picture of the Sandisk Extreme Pro to see the five symbols that I have highlighted inside the red box, and read the full explanations below.
Capacity Standard – SDXC
Memory cards are sorted into groups depending on their capacities. SDXC refers to cards in the range of 32GB to 2TB. You can safely ignore this symbol if you know the capacity of the card, as the capacity is obviously a more accurate measure.
Video Speed Class – V30
The video speed class, in this case V30, refers to the ability of the memory card to reliably record video at a specified resolution. As video recording requires a continuous high throughput of writing to the memory card, this symbol lets you know that the card can keep up, and doesn’t throw an error when recording.
| Minimum Sequential Writing Speed | Video Class | Supports Up to: |
| 6MB/s |  |
4K video |
| 10MB/s |  |
4K Video |
| 30MB/s |  |
8K Video |
| 60MB/s |  |
8K Video |
| 90MB/s |  |
8K Video |
Bus Speed – I
The bus speed is indicated by a Roman numeral, in this case I, which gives a broad range of the maximum read and write speeds that the memory card can support. UHS-I indicates the card is in the range of 50 – 104 MB/s. You are better to look at the exact read and write speeds specified for each card, as these numbers will be more accurate.
UHS Speed Class – Class 3
The number inside a U, in this case 3, indicates the specific UHS speed class, which is essentially a more detailed breakdown of the bus speed. This specifically refers to the minimum write speed of the SD card.
| Minimum Sequential Writing Speed | UHS Speed Class |
| 10MB/s |  |
| 30MB/s |  |
Speed Class
The speed class of the SD card is an older measure, that has largely been superseded by the UHS speed class and video speed classes. All of the SD cards you will be looking at will have a speed class of Class 10 (a 10 inside the letter C). This indicates that the minimum write speed is at least 10MB/s. If the memory card has a speed class of less than Class 10, you should immediately discard it, as it will not have sufficient writing speed for your digital camera.
Compare Sandisk vs PNY
Comparing the PNY SD card vs Sandisk involves looking at the read and write speeds that they can sustain, as well as the durability and resilience to errors, and the warranty and price. Everything below also applies to PNY vs Sandisk micro SD cards.
Sandisk 32GB / 64GB / 128GB/ 256GB/ 512GB / 1TB SD Card Review
Sandisk Extreme Pro
Sandisk SD Card Review
- Pros:
- Max Sequential Write Speed: 89.1 MB/s in real world testing
- Max Sequential Read Speed: 176.0 MB/s in real world testing
- Available in capacities up to 1TB
- Fastest read and write speeds of any SD card
- Lifetime warranty (for most countries)
- Waterproof, shockproof and x-ray proof
- Cons:
- Older cameras may not see any speed advantage
- Most expensive SD card
The Sandisk Extreme Pro SD cards are market leaders, and for good reason. They have the fastest read and write speeds of any SD cards, with a claimed write speed of up to 170MB/s. In practice, write speeds of about 90MB/s seem to be the maximum for the Sandisk 32GB Extreme Pro SD card with the higher read speeds seen only on the 128GB models and above, but as camera technology improves and megapixels go up, the additional potential speed advantage of the Sandisk memory cards may come into play.
Before buying this card, check that your camera can support the high speeds of this card. You will not see a card failure, but if your camera operates at a lower speed, you will be paying a premium for a feature that you cannot use.
PNY 32GB / 64GB / 128GB / 256GB / 512GB SD Card Review and Micro SD Card Review
PNY Pro-Elite Micro SD
PNY Pro Elite vs Sandisk Extreme
- Pros:
- Max Sequential Write Speed: 86.3 MB/s in real world testing
- Max Sequential Read Speed: 98.2 MB/s in real world testing
- Cheaper than Sandisk Extreme Pro
- Fast performance all round
- Waterproof, shockproof and x-ray proof
- Cons:
- Only five-year warranty
- Hard to find as SD card, only micro SD
With super fast read and write speeds if you discount the Sandisk Extreme Pro, the PNY Pro-Elite is one of the top memory cards available, particularly when you consider that it is a little more than half the price of the comparable Sandisk model.
If you are looking for a micro SD card, then this card should be your number one choice. The only negative is that it is increasingly difficult to find as a standard SD card, although it does come with an SD adapter. Personally, I find this introduces an extra potential point of failure that I don’t want in my cameras – I don’t want to lose photos because the card is not properly seated for example. Therefore, I would still recommend the Sandisk Extreme Pro for standard SD cards.
Comparing the PNY Pro Elite vs Elite-X, the Elite-X is slightly slower, but is widely available as an SD card, rather than micro SD. Therefore, the Elite-X is a better choice for your camera.
PNY Elite-X
PNY Micro SD Card Review
- Pros:
- Max Sequential Write Speed: 76.9 MB/s in real world testing
- Max Sequential Read Speed: 97.8 MB/s in real world testing
- Cheaper than Sandisk Extreme Pro
- Excellent performance to price ratio
- Waterproof, shockproof and x-ray proof
- Cons:
- Only five-year warranty
- Performance not as consistent as Sandisk Extreme Pro
The PNY Elite-X is not quite as fast as the Pro Elite model, but offers plenty of capacities in both SD and micro SD card formats. It’s a decent card that is marginally faster than the Elite Performance, but tends to only be available in larger capacities.
If you are looking for a smaller memory card, say 64 GB, then the Elite Performance is your better option, but if you want a large 256 GB card, then the Elite-X is both faster and cheaper.
Bear in mind that as with all PNY memory cards, while they are good value for money, the quality control is not as high as with Sandisk, so you should regularly back up your photos to prevent losses.
PNY Elite Performance
PNY Memory Card Review
- Pros:
- Max Sequential Write Speed: 69.2 MB/s in real world testing
- Max Sequential Read Speed: 97.9 MB/s in real world testing
- Cheaper than Sandisk Extreme Pro
- Fast performance on all but the newest cameras
- Waterproof, shockproof and x-ray proof
- Cons:
- Only five-year warranty
- Slower real-world read and write speeds than Sandisk Extreme Pro
You may want to know, are PNY SD cards good, and the simple answer is that the PNY SD card is generally a very good performer. PNY do not state a maximum write speed, only that the maximum transfer speed is 95MB/s. This can be taken to be a maximum read speed, as reading from a memory card is a much faster, less intensive process than writing to it.
Real world testing puts the maximum write speed for the PNY 32GB Elite Performance SD card at about 70MB/s, which is significantly less than the Sandisk alternative. This is still a very good speed, and if your camera cannot support write speeds above this, you would see no speed difference in using this card over the Sandisk.
To determine the maximum write speed your camera can support, check your user manual. If your manual only gives you the speed class of memory card that it can support, you can use the SD card speed guide earlier in this article to find the actual write speed.
PNY High Performance SD Card
PNY High Performance Memory Card
Best PNY 64GB Memory Card for Budget Users
- Pros:
- Very cheap
- Waterproof, shockproof and x-ray proof
- Read and write speeds are good enough for older cameras
- Cons:
- Slowest read and write speeds
- Only five year warranty
- Lower capacities
The PNY 128GB High Performance SD memory card is the slowest of the memory cards we are looking at here, but is by far the cheapest option. You can get a PNY 64GB SD card for under $10, making this a bargain, if you are using an older camera, or are only shooting JPGs without bracketed exposures. Bear in mind that a slower card such as this one will hit buffering limits if you try to take too many pictures in too quick a succession.
PNY Warranty
The PNY SD card warranty is only five years, compared with Sandisks’ lifetime warranty. In practice, SD cards are very unlikely to fail as they have no moving parts and are relatively simple. You are more likely to physically lose one than have it fail. If you regularly transfer photos from your SD card to your computer, then any memory card failures should not impact you to any great degree.
It’s also likely that you will have upgraded your camera over the five year length of the PNY warranty, and your current card will become obsolete as your require a higher capacity for the new camera technology.
Where Can You Buy a Memory Card?
If you want to know where to buy memory cards, my preferred location is Amazon
One Response
Visaip
Neparašyta nieko apie mobilius telefonus. Būtent jiems ir yra skirta PNY mikro SD kortelė. Telefonai irgi filmuoja, ir filmuoja aukšta raiška. Ir jiems irgi reikia gerų kortelių. Tad būtent PNY tam geriausiai tinka.