The new ultra-high resolution home video standard, 4K or Ultra HD (UHD) 4K, is picking up steam in consumer devices, as demonstrated by the latest announcements surrounding IFA in Berlin and Photokina in Cologne, Germany. With CES 2015 not far away, expect to see more buzz in the upcoming months. Not only are pocketable digital cameras capable of 4K video these days (like Panasonic’s Lumix LX100), but also some smartphones are adding a 4K video recording feature, and that list will most likely grow.
Considering the huge amounts of data that need to be written to and read from a 4K-capable device’s memory, it is recommended to use a memory card that supports the latest UHS-I standard and its high data transfer rates. SanDisk has just recently announced a new generation of Extreme Pro SDXC cards supporting transfer speeds of up to 90 MB/s, but these will do little good in smartphones, as they are too big to fit.
Related: Everything you need to know about Ultra HD 4K
Amidst the flood of new products that were announced during and around Photokina, SanDisk’s announcement of a new UHS-I Class 3 MicroSDXC card that can be used for 4K video applications somehow slipped our attention. The new Extreme Pro card with the smartphone-friendly form factor can hold a maximum of 64GB of data, and supports high transfer rates of up to 95MB per second.
SanDisk’s new UHS-I Class 3 Extreme Pro MicroSDHC/XC cards come in three versions, holding up to 16 GB, 32 GB or 64 GB of data. They’re avaialble worldwide now and range in pricing from $80 for the 16 GB card to $300 for 64GB. If you’re planning on using your smartphone to record 4K video – if it supports it, that is, and they’re still rare – getting one of these might be a good idea. You can also use them in digital cameras or other devices via an adapter.
