Samsung MicroSDHC Memory Card Test

Samsung 8Gb MicroSDHC and SD Adapter

Samsung claim to be the number one memory card company in the world since 1997.

Samsung memory cards are universal which means they can be used in any brand of camera and as the cards boast at being waterproof, shock proof, and magnet proof, ePHOTOzine decided to see if they really are as tough as they make out to be. The cards do come with a ten year warranty so Samsung must be pretty confident that they can survive pretty much anything!

The Test

Samsung say the card can be taken in and out of a camera, computer or phone 10,000 times before it wears out. We tried inserting it into a mobile and when compared to a Lexar MicroSDHC card, the Samsung one feels a lot more sturdy as when tested,  the Lexar card bent slightly when we tried to get the card into the phone.

Next, we have seven more ways to test the card, starting off easy and getting gradually more extreme to really test the card's durability! Let's see how it fares.

1. Sitting On It 

If you're storing your MicroSDHC card in your wallet, chances are it will get sat on at some point. We sat on the card on several different chairs varying from padded to hard to test the card. Some cards can bend if they are sat on, rendering them unusable but the Samsung card came out of this one unharmed and fully functional.

2. Submerging In Water

This could happen if, for example, you accidentally drop your card into a puddle. We poured water over the card until it was completely submerged. It was then left to dry sufficiently before it went anywhere near a camera to test if the card still worked and yes! It still worked fine.

3. Walking On It

If your card gets dropped then it could accidentally get stood on. We walked across the Samsung card several times to test how well it stood up to being stood on. Again, the card looked unharmed, if a little dusty and still worked perfectly.

4. Hot Coffee Spill

Imagine the scenario; you have a nice cup of coffee on your desk next to your memory card and whoops! You accidentally knock the coffee all over your memory card. Will it survive? Well, after removing the memory card from the coffee puddle we left it for a long time to make sure it was completely dry before re-inserting it into the camera to see if it still works. But once we did, we found the card did in fact still work.

5. Running It Over With An Office Chair

If your memory card falls on the floor and you wheel backwards to find it, you could accidentally wheel over it and this will put serious pressure on the card. However, the Samsung card wasn't damaged and we could still read the information on it once placed in a card reader.

6. Washing It By Accident

If you forget that your card is in your jeans pocket before they go in the wash, there's no way you can open the door until the cycle has stopped. All you can do is hope in vain that your card is built well enough to survive an hour of having soapy water sloshed all over it. After a long wash cycle we, again, let the card dry out then placed it into a camera to see if still worked and it did!

So far, the Samsung has passed all of our day-to-day "accident" tests showing the claims Samung make about the cards are in fact true.

This calls for something else, to really test the card to its extremes. So let's see if it survives being ran over with a car. We know it doesn't say on the packaging that it can survive this but we thought it would be fun to test.
 

7. Running Over It With A Car

This perhaps is the worst case scenario, which is why we have left it untill last before testing it; you accidentally drop the card while you're getting into your car, set off and run straight over the memory card.
 

We ran over the card sitting on a surface that was flat, the car running over the card caused minimal damage to the card. With some scratching to the other side, the card is surprisingly still working, even after being run over by a Renault Scenic, and as Samsung say the card will withstand up to 1.6 tonnes!

Watch the card tested to destruction in our video:

Samsung MicroSD Verdict

The Samsung MicroSD card is waterproof, shockproof, magnetproof and dustproof and will survive a wide variety of abuse from water to hot coffee, as well as physical abuse. This, combined with the 10 year warranty, makes it an excellent choice for someone who takes a lot of photos or videos as it ensures your photos are protected. The Class 10 card is quick in use and can be used in high speed cameras.

For more tests of Samsung memory cards, have a look at our Samsung SDHC and MicroSDHC Class 10 memory card review.