The PNY 1.5TB PRO Elite Prime microSDXC Card Wins in Value

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PNY Pro Elite Prime 1.5TB MicroSDXC Card Front
PNY Pro Elite Prime 1.5TB MicroSDXC Card Front

While value is subjective, I think many will agree with the idea that the PNY 1.5TB PRO Elite Prime microSDXC is a better value than the high-capacity SanDisk models we have looked at recently. In a fingernail-sized package, this card offers 1.5TB of capacity, or more than many larger SSDs powering desktops, laptops, and servers. Given its small size and surprisingly good performance, we came away impressed with this card. Let us get to it.

Note: We purchased our 1.5TB card on Amazon (affiliate link.)

The PNY 1.5TB PRO Elite Prime microSDXC Card

Since these cards are tiny, we get a lot more packaging than we get device. Our packaging took a bit of a hit during shipping since it came in only a brown envelope, but it arrived in working condition.

PNY Pro Elite Prime 1.5TB MicroSDXC Card In Package
PNY Pro Elite Prime 1.5TB MicroSDXC Card In Package

Let us quickly get to what this card is. We have V30, A2, and U3 markings. If you need a quick cheat sheet see What All of the Markings on SD microSD and microSDXC Cards Mean. While this is not the highest performing card, it is designed to be higher performing and actually run applications from it, unlike the SanDisk 1.5TB Ultra we looked at previously.

PNY Pro Elite Prime 1.5TB MicroSDXC Card Front
PNY Pro Elite Prime 1.5TB MicroSDXC Card Front

Even though this drive is tiny in size, at 1.5TB it can store a lot of data. . We regularly see PCs equipped with 256GB to 1TB capacity M.2 SSDs. The Apple Mac Mini M4 only has a 256GB SSD in the base model making this tiny card around 6x the storage capacity of Apple’s low-cost desktop.

Here is a quick look at the contact side of the card:

PNY Pro Elite Prime 1.5TB MicroSDXC Card Back Close
PNY Pro Elite Prime 1.5TB MicroSDXC Card Back Close

Unlike the SanDisk models, we cannot see a package exposed on this side.

Bundled with this card, we get a microSDXC to SD adapter.

PNY Pro Elite Prime 1.5TB MicroSDXC Card In SD Adapter
PNY Pro Elite Prime 1.5TB MicroSDXC Card In SD Adapter

Like the SanDisk Extreme 2TB microSDXC this drive from PNY is focused on performance so let us get to that next.

5 COMMENTS

  1. No way I would buy another PNY SD card. Everyone I’ve had has died within a couple of years of infrequent use. I’ve never had that problem with Sandisk or Samsung.

  2. What is the unpowered data retention spec on these things? I have a feeling it is somewhere between a shrug and dont ask…

  3. @Pete Mitchell: Every Samsung card I’ve used in a Raspberry Pi (running 24/7) has died within a year too (well they fall back to read-only mode) so even a big brand name is no guarantee. At least with Samsung though you can send them back and they’ll replace them.

    I think at this point anybody only storing one copy of their data is just asking for trouble, regardless of device or brand.

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