I don't take many photos, but I have a lot of music, over 100 gigabytes worth. And as much as I'd like to ditch my bulky, four-year-old, 160GB iPod Classic ($249, 4 stars), the 32GB of storage available on most phones just isn't going to cut it. But that's finally starting to change. SanDisk's new Ultra microSDXC card packs a whopping 64GB of storage onto an ultra-tiny microSD card. It's still no match for my 160GB behemoth, but it's a step in the right direction, and more than enough storage for many users. It's pricey at $219.99, but that will come down. For doubling the amount of storage previously available for cell phones and tablets, it's an easy Editors' Choice.

Physical Design and Speeds
The 64GB microSDXC is red and blue, a bright change from existing black memory cards. That makes it harder to lose. As someone that uses (and loses) microSD cards on a regular basis, I can tell you that this simple change in color makes a big difference. It also looks snazzy.

If this is your first microSD card, you should know that it's really, really tiny, about the size of the size of your pinky nail. It comes with an adapter that allows you to use the card in any SD slot, so it'll work with digital cameras and be easily readable in computers.

The actual amount of space available on the card is 59.46GB. It's faster than most phone and tablet memory cards, with Class 6 speeds of up to 30MBps. I tested the read and write speeds using the Antutu benchmarking app on a number of Android-based smartphones. The read speeds consistently reached 30MB and slightly above for each test, while the write speeds averaged out to 13.5MBps. That's about identical to the results I got for a 32GB microSDHC card.

Compatibility and Conclusions
My biggest fear was compatibility. Most phones support microSDHC, which maxes out at 32GB. MicroSDXC is the new standard announced in 2009 that allows small memory cards like this to support storage sizes up to 2TB. The thing is, current phones don't have SDXC slots. Luckily, the card worked in every phone I tested it with. I threw it into a Motorola Droid Bionic ($299.99, 4.5 stars), Samsung Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch ($199.99, 4 stars), and a Sony Ericsson Xperia Play 4G ($49.99, 4 stars), and it worked without a hitch each time. I also tried it with a Motorola Droid (4 stars), to see how it would work in an older device. Again there was no problem, and each phone was able to recognize the card at its full capacity, as well as read and write without a problem.

The card also worked fine in multiple Windows 7 PCs and a 27-inch iMac ($1,999, 4 stars). One Lenovo Windows 7 laptop had a problem reading the card using the included SD adapter, but that laptop also couldn't read a 32GB MicroSDHC card.

If you're considering the 64GB SanDisk Ultra microSDXC card, it ultimately comes down to two questions. Do you need this much storage, and are you willing to pay for it? If you listen to lots of music, capture HD video, and take a bunch of photos, the microSDXC doubles the amount of storage available to you. And it may be costly, but it's less expensive than a brand-new iPod Classic. 

More Storage Reviews: