- Surface Pro 1 2 points3 points4 points 3 years ago (8 children) Totally depends on the card. The speed of the slot appears to outpace the speed of any cards available today. My 128GB card does 90MB/sec reads (similar to a spinning laptop hard drive) but only 20MB/sec writes.
- This video applies to all Surface devices running Windows 10, including the Surface Pro 4, Surface Pro 3, and Surface 3. Don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe if you haven’t already.
Buy Microsoft Surface Pro 3/4 / 5/6 2017 Aluminum Hub, Surfacekit 2 X USB 3.0 Hub Fast Speed Memory Card Reader with TF&SD Card Slot Card Adapter: Memory Card Readers - Amazon.com FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases.
BestmicroSD Cards for Surface Book 2Windows Central2020
Surface Book 2 has a full-size SDXC reader, which is great if you're taking photos from a DSLR or something, but many devices use microSD cards. Unfortunately, Surface Book 2 does not have a microSD slot, but it's worth getting an adapter to increase the capacity of your device or make it easier to transfer data from other hardware. After picking up an adapter, you'll want to choose from these excellent microSD cards.
Immense Capcity: SanDisk Extreme 400GB
Staff favoriteIf capacity is the most important thing to you when it comes to microSD cards, then this is the one you want. With 400GB and write speeds of up to 90MB/s, it's no slouch in performance, and since it's a V30-class card with U3 compatibility, it's perfect for any type of content.
$86 at AmazonBest Value: Samsung EVO Select 128GB
Samsung's EVO Select microSD cards boast wicked fast read and write speeds of up to 100MB/s and 90MB/s, respectively, and they even come with a full-size adapter. These Class 10 UHS 3 cards can handle 4K video and hi-res photos, which makes them perfect for your Surface Book 2. Samsung also offers a 10-year warranty.
$20 at AmazonMore for less: SanDisk Ultra 256GB
With transfer speeds of up to 100MB/s, SanDisk's Ultra 256GB card is capable of lightning-fast performance, not only for transferring files back and forth but also for gaming applications. Since it's rated a Class 10, the Ultra is able to store full HD video, and playback straight from the card is quick. It's perfect if you don't deal with 4K video on a regular basis, and its value is unmatched in terms of GB per dollar.
$40 at AmazonUpgraded Storage: Lexar Professional 1800x 128GB
Lexar's Professional card features transfer speeds of up to 270MB/s, which is blazing fast compared to other cards. It's great for 4K content, gaming, and hi-res images and music. It comes with a USB 3.0 reader, and though you pay a premium for speed, it's great for folks who need to remain constantly productive.
$80 at AmazonBudget-friendly: Samsung EVO Select 64GB
For $12, you can get this 64GB microSD card, which had read speeds of up to 100MB/s and write speeds of up to 60MB/s, with Class 10 and U3 compatibility, making it great for all types of content and a great boost to your Surface Book 2's onboard storage.
$12 at AmazonIf we were to make a suggestion
Though onboard storage may be enough for most people, the ability to quickly move media and files anywhere is incredibly convenient, which is why a quality microSD card makes all the difference. When it comes to the Surface Book 2, which doesn't come with a microSD card slot, you'll need a microSD adapter in order to plug a card. After that, the world is your oyster.
For value, it's hard to beat the Samsung EVO Select lineup, but if shear capacity is all you care about, then the SanDisk Extreme is what you want.
Adding a further 400GB to the internal capacity of the Surface Book 2 would allow you to manage content such as photography and 4K media files should you want to do some editing on the go. There are other benefits like being able to quickly move files between devices and because it's SanDisk, you'll be able to rely on high performance with a 10-year warranty.
For more accessories you might want to get for the Surface Book 2, you can check out our guide for some ideas.
We may earn a commission for purchases using our links. Learn more.
Save some scratch7 Surface Go keyboards that cost (much) less than Microsoft's Type Covers
Microsoft's Surface Go Type Covers are solid and stylish keyboards for an equally solid and stylish 2-in-1. But they sure are pricey. Thankfully, many more affordable options are readily available.
For some users, the included 64GB or 128GB of internal storage found in the Microsoft Surface Go may not be enough. Thankfully, unlike Apple and its iPad, Microsoft included the option to expand that storage with a microSD slot.
For the purposes of this story, we focused on 64GB memory cards. So which one should you get? The fastest and most expensive (Delkin, $80) or the best-selling and cheapest (Silicon Power, $15)? And what can you do with that card in Windows 10 and the Surface Go?
Check out this new Surface Go guide to microSD cards for answers.
Using a microSD card on Surface Go is very simple. You just slide it into the slot under the Surface Go's kickstand.
Windows 10 will recognize the drive, and you can begin using it right away. However, if you want to use it for apps, games, and more you need to tell the OS to do so.
What can you do with expandable storage in Surface Go?
Back in the day, SD memory cards were treated merely as external storage that you could keep photos or media on but not install apps or games, limiting their usefulness. By contrast, Windows 10 lets users mainly do anything they want with an SD or microSD card.
By heading to Settings > Systems > Storage > Change where new content is saved, you can choose to have the following put on a microSD card for the Surface Go:
- New apps.
- New documents.
- New music.
- New photos.
- New movies and TV shows.
- Offline maps.
If you already have apps or games installed to the primary drive on the Surface Go, you can navigate to Settings > Apps > Apps & features and move existing software to the newly-mounted microSD card (see above image).
There are limitations, however. So-called Windows 10 'inbox apps' like Mail, Camera, and Calculator, cannot be moved. Likewise, a developer can flag their app or game as not installable to an SD card due to degradation in performance (the popular YouTube app MyTube! is one example).
If you use the app or game frequently, keep it on the main drive and put rarely used apps or games on the microSD card. Even better, try to keep all apps and games on the main drive with just media (music, movies, photos, and documents) on the microSD card, because the performance hit is inconsequential for those items.
The fastest microSD card isn't always the best
Surface Go owners obviously need to pick which card to purchase. Like all flash media, microSD cards range in speeds, class, size, and more.
For this test, we bought three microSD cards to use on the entry-level 4GB Surface Go:
- Silicon Power 64G ($15).
- Lexar Professional 1000x 64GB ($60).
- Delkin 64GB microSDXC 1900X ($80).
The Silicon Power and Lexar options are both Class 10 cards, but the Silicon Power is Ultra High-Speed Phase-1 (UHS-1), and the Lexar is UHS-II. UHS refers to the bus interface for the SD card, and UHS-II or even UHS-III is faster than UHS-1.
The Delkin is the most expensive and is a UHS-II Video Speed Class 60 (V60) meant for 4K video, high-speed photography, and more. It has theoretical read and write speeds of 285MB/s and 100 MB/s, respectively, compared to the 'professional' Lexar with 150MB/s and 45 MB/s.
Going by the rule of computers faster is always better, right?. But splurging for the $80 Delkin likely isn't the best choice here.
Using CrystalDiskMark we measured all three cards for sequential read and write speeds.
microSD card comparison
| Device | Price | Size | Read | Write |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Silicon Power | $15 | 64GB | 79 MB/s | 44 MB/s |
| Lexar Pro | $60 | 64GB | 85 MB/s | 55 MB/s |
| Delkin | $80 | 64GB | 70 MB/s | 54 MB/s |
While the $60 Lexar is technically faster than the $15 Silicon Power, the price difference hardly justifies the gains. Meanwhile, the most expensive card – the $80 Delkin – had slower read speeds than the $15 Silicon Power on Surface Go.
In real-world file transfers between the Lexar and Silicon, we saw the following results using the Surface Go 4GB with 64GB of eMMC internal storage.
Transfer from card
- Silicon Power: 1.80GB (2x files) took 33 seconds to eMMC.
- Lexar Pro: 1.80GB (2x files) took 29 seconds to eMMC.
Transfer to card
- Silicon Power: 1.80GB (2x files) took 49 seconds to SD.
- Lexar Pro: 1.80GB (2x files) took 34 seconds to SD.
The Lexar is faster, but the differences are minor.
Surface Go storage speed comparison
Surface Pro 4 Sd Card
The Delkin is a fast card, but it doesn't matter for the Surface Go.
Another real-world test is playing a 10GB MP4 video file in the Windows default video player. Both cards loaded up the video instantly and scrubbing (using the slider to jump to different parts of the movie) works without buffering or delays. There was no discernable difference.
| Device | Size | Type | Read | Write |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Surface Go | 64GB | microSD | 70 to 85 MB/s | 44 to 55 MB/s |
| Surface Go | 64GB | eMMC | 260 MB/s | 145 MB/s |
| Surface Go | 128GB | SSD | 1,185 MB/s | 133 MB/s |
The Lexar and Delkin are not bad cards. The issue is the Surface Go does not seem capable of hitting more than 85 MB/s for read speeds (and 55 MB/s for write) on any card. That is likely a hardware issue although software or firmware could play a part too.
For comparison, the Delkin, when used with the Surface Book 2 (using the SD adapter), managed a respectable 224 MB/s for read and 69 MB/s for writes, confirming our suspicion about Surface Go hardware limitations.
That makes any purchase of an SD card for use solely with Surface Go with over 105 MB/s (anything above UHS-1/Class 10) not worth it.
Therefore, our recommendation is to buy the cheapest UHS-1/Class 10 micro SD card you can find with the storage amount you want (up to 512GB) for use exclusively with the Surface Go. Buying something that is faster or more expensive does not yield significantly better performance and is a waste of money.
The Silicon Power 64GB card used here has a 4.6-star rating on Amazon, ships free with Amazon Prime, and performs just as well as a more expensive card for casual use with the Surface Go.
We may earn a commission for purchases using our links. Learn more.
On A RollWindows 10 build 19546 arrives for Fast ring with graphing calculator
Microsoft Surface Pro Sd Card Slot
Microsoft pushed out another new Windows 10 Preview build for Windows Insiders on the Fast ring today. This build brings the build number up to 19546, and it includes a new graphing mode for the Calculator app.