In a saturated microSD card market, where options are almost endless, Lexar Play MicroSDXC It arrives as a mid-range proposal that seeks to highlight. Designed with the consumer in mind, this UHS-I card promises agile performance for a variety of everyday applications. But does he really deliver what he promises? We have put it to the test to tell you about our first-hand experience.
Lexar Play MicroSDXC: A design that invites you to play
The first thing we noticed when we have the Lexar Play in our hands is its design. With a completely red background and white text, adorned with a friendly icon of white and yellow play, the card has a vibrant and distinctive look. In fact, if you have a Nintendo Switch, this card seems to be made to measure, fitting perfectly with the aesthetics of the console. The card has the standard format of microSDXC, compact (11mm x 15mm x 1mm) and light (0.708g). This makes it easy to handle and compatible with a wide range of devices. Durable plastic shell promises to resist daily use, even in the hands of the little ones.
Key capabilities and specifications
Versatility is one of the strengths of the lexar play. It is available in a wide range of capacities, from 256GB to massive 1TB. This is especially relevant for gamers or content creators. A 1TB space offers immense capacity to store dozens of switch games, thousands of photos, or extensive 4K videos.
As for its specifications, the card is classified as Class 10, U3, V30, and most importantly, A2. This last classification is crucial because it guarantees optimized performance for fast loading of applications on devices. In daily use, this advantage really feels.
Lexar announces read speeds up to 205MB/s and write speeds up to 140MB/s for this card. It is important to mention that, to reach the maximum announced read speed (205MB/s), Lexar indicates that the card must be combined with its Lexar RW310x reader. This is because this speed exceeds the standard UHS-I specification of 104MB/s.
Our verdict on actual performance
To test the Lexar Play, we use benchmarking tools and real-world usage scenarios. These included their natural habitat: the Nintendo Switch.
- Reading speeds: In our sequential 2MB tests, the card reached a reading of 148.6MB/s, bordering on the 150MB/s mark that Lexar originally cited as “up to 150Mb/s”. Although this is slightly lower than the 205MB/s advertised by Lexar on its official site, it is a solid performance. In everyday use, it translates into fast loading times for games and medium. Other tests reported reading speeds close to 90-98 MB/s with different benchmarks such as AJA and CrystalDiskmark. This is still very good for your class.
- Write speeds: This is where the experience was a little more varied. While Lexar on its official site indicates writing speeds of up to 140MB/s, our tests showed a 30.4MB/s writing. Other third-party tests reported write speeds between 81MB/s and 88.70MB/s. This discrepancy suggests that write performance can vary significantly depending on the test environment and the host device. This is evident since each device has its limitations. Although 30.4MB/s is a little lower than some cards in its class, for most consumer applications, such as recording 4K video or downloading games, it is still perfectly functional.
- Random performance: In 4K randomized tests, the card recorded 1,953 IOPS read and 658 write IOPS. These figures demonstrate your ability to handle multiple small operations simultaneously, which is key to application fluency.
Experience on Nintendo Switch and other devices
The Lexar Play was practically “custom-made” for the Nintendo Switch. Once inserted, the console automatically formatted it and was ready to use instantly. The experience was Perfectly smooth and uninterrupted. The capacity of up to 1TB is undoubtedly its greatest differentiator here, allowing us to save a vast collection of games without worrying about space.
We also tested it on smartphones and with video recording. Thanks to its A2 rating, applications load significantly faster. When we use it to record 4K video on a camera, the card handled large files without any latency or problems. This makes it a viable option for high-resolution video storage.
Guarantee: A point to consider
The Lexar Play comes with a 5-year limited warranty, which is a plus. The existence of a guarantee provides peace of mind and underscores Lexar’s confidence in the durability of its products. These are rigorously tested in their quality labs.
Should you buy the Lexar Play MicroSDXC?
In our experience, the Lexar Play MicroSDXC It is a solid and reliable memory card. While the microSD card market is crowded and there are more powerful options, the Lexar Play positions itself as an excellent mid-range option with a competitive price.
If your priority is to expand the storage of your Nintendo Switch To carry a gigantic game library, this card is ideal. In addition, if you need a robust and fast card for your smartphone or tablet that loads the apps without problems and allows you to capture and play video on Full-HD and 4K, this card will do the job. And it will do very well. The reading speeds are excellent and its capacity, especially the 1TB version, makes it a very attractive option for most consumers. Although the write speed was not the highest in all tests, for the average user and consumer applications, the difference is minimal and barely noticeable.
so if you are looking for one microSD card High capacity, with good reading performance and optimized for mobile devices and game consoles, the Lexar Play MicroSDXC is a purchase that will leave you very satisfied.
