Need a microSD? I trust this 1TB card with all my footage - and that says a lot

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I remember when 1TB microSD cards were considered moonshot technology, complete with moonshot price tags. Over the years, however, prices have dropped significantly, and you can now get a basic 1TB card for around $150. This is great news for consumers looking to add substantial storage to their smartphones, action cameras, or drones.

However, professionals often need more than just capacity. They require better performance for handling full HD and 4K video, enhanced durability and reliability to withstand frequent use and harsh environments, and a broader range of options to meet specific needs.

Also: How to choose the right microSD card - and what all those numbers and letters mean

Lexar is a storage brand I've trusted for nearly two decades. From CFexpress, SD, and microSD cards to flash drives, SSDs, M.2 drives, and even RAM modules, I've tested, reviewed, and personally used almost everything the company offers. It's a brand that has never let me down, whether I'm adding storage to a smartphone, a drone, an action camera, or a PC. 

That's why I was excited to test Lexar's 1TB Silver Plus microSDXC card, a high-capacity card aimed at enthusiasts and semi-professionals. 

A microSD card designed to cater to demanding amateurs and professionals alike who need a lot of storage space.

Before diving into the details, let's address Lexar's somewhat confusing microSD lineup. The brand offers Gold, Silver, and Blue series microSD cards.

Confused yet? Well, here's where it gets trickier. 

The card I'm looking at here is from Lexar's Silver Plus line, which doesn't quite match the Gold series. However, since the Gold cards are only available in 128GB and 256GB capacities, the Silver Plus 1TB microSD card is the fastest 1TB option in Lexar's lineup.

This Silver Plus card is rated V30 (guaranteeing a minimum sustained write speed of 30 MB/s for video recording), U3 (also indicating a minimum sustained write speed of 30 MB/s), and A2 (offering 4,000/2,000 IOPS for random read/write operations and a sustained write speed of 10 MB/s for app performance). These are the basics, but the card goes beyond them, thanks to a built-in 400 MHz processor that gives it rated read/write speeds of 205 MB/s and 150 MB/s, respectively.

Also: I tested the world's smallest 1TB SSD drive, and it's biggest downside shouldn't surprise you

In my benchmark tests on both Windows and Mac, using a range of tools including Blackmagic Disk Speed Test and CrystalDiskInfo, I achieved results within 10% of the rated specs.

This card is plenty fast for all but the most demanding tasks. It's capable of handling 4K and 8K 60FPS H.265 video and 4K 25FPS Apple ProRes 422 HQ video. While cameras that record 8K H.265 video onto microSD cards are commonplace, ProRes is on a whole different level. 

As far as robustness goes, these cards are pretty much the "Wolverine" of the tech world. 

IPX7-rated for dust and waterproofing down to three feet for 30 minutes, they can handle extremes of cold and heat (they have an operating range of -13°F to 185°F and storage temperatures of -40°F to 185°F). 

Also: How to get more iPhone storage almost immediately - 8 simple ways (and most are free)

They're X-ray proof to 100 mGy, the level of an airport scanner. They're shock proof to 1,500G, drop proof to six feet, vibration proof in the range of 10 to 2,000Hz, and have been tested to withstand 10,000 pluggings and unpluggings. 

Pretty much all microSD cards can take a real battering, but Lexar gives numbers to back up its claims.

Whether you're looking for a pro-grade microSD card for a camera or drone, or you want a large, fast card for a smartphone, this card won't let you down. However, with a pricetag of $270 to $300, it's far from the cheapest 1TB microSD card on the market. 

For comparison, an Amazon Basics 1TB microSDXC with similar specs costs under $150, and a 1.5TB SanDisk Ultra card is available for under $200. That said, the Lexar card offers high performance and comes with a lifetime warranty, which adds value.

If you're considering a high-capacity microSD card, think carefully about whether it's the right choice for your needs. 

Larger cards offer an economy of scale compared to smaller ones (for example, 256GB Silver Plus cards cost around $100 each). However, one downside of large cards is that people, both amateurs and professionals, tend to let them fill up with precious, irreplaceable data before offloading the information.

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If you're working in a safe, controlled environment where there's little risk of loss or damage, this situation isn't a problem. However, if the card is in an action camera, a drone, or is being taken across borders, the card and the data on it are at risk.

Just the other day, I chatted with someone who not only lost a drone (a big deal, but something the insurance will cover), but that drone contained a 1TB storage card with days of footage (something the insurance won't cover). 

Even when dealing with 8K video, you can get one to two hours on 1TB of storage. Sometimes spreading your data across a handful of smaller-capacity cards is much better than tempting fate and storing it on one.

"Buy cheap, buy twice" was a motto instilled in me by my grandpa, and he had a point. If I'm spending hundreds -- sometimes thousands -- of dollars on cameras and drones, it makes no sense to skimp on the one component responsible for storing the photos and videos I capture with that gear. As I've said many times before, Lexar is a company whose products have never let me down, so it's a no-brainer for me to stick with Lexar, and the 1TB Silver Plus offers a lot of bang for the buck.

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This 1TB card is fast for both writing data and offloading, and it's built to last. Sure, if I'm putting storage into a knockabout action camera, a cheap smartphone, or need a card for a dash cam or CCTV camera, I'll likely choose something different. 

But for captures that matter, this is the brand I trust.