This is a brand that I found while browsing through microSD cards on AliExpress. I bought it because I was curious to see if you could find authentic flash and fake flash in the same brand.
Spoiler: it turns out the answer is “Yes. Yes you can.”
Samples #2 and #3 were obtained separately from sample #1, and there appear to be some differences between them. For example, sample #1 had its manufacturer ID and OEM ID set to all zeroes — which, to me, screams of an attempt by the manufacturer to hide their true identity — while samples #2 and #3 had their manufacturer ID set to 0x56 and their OEM ID set to SD. (No idea who manufacturer ID 0x56 is assigned to.)
There was also a marked difference in performance between the two sets. Here’s how things shook out in each category:
- Sequential read: Sample #1 performed significantly worse than the other two, scoring at just the 3rd percentile (as of the time of this writing). The other two samples scored in the 22nd and 23rd percentiles.
- Sequential write: Sample #1 performed significantly worse than the other two, scoring at just the 5th percentile. The other two samples scored in the 36th percentile.
- Random read: The three readings here were actually clustered pretty closely together, scoring between the 4th and 6th percentiles.
- Random write: Sample #1 performed significantly worse than the other two, scoring at just the 8th percentile. The other two samples scored in the 43rd and 44th percentiles.
These cards carry the Class 10 and U3 marks. Samples #2 and #3 performed well enough to qualify for the Class 10 marking; however, none of the three performed well enough to qualify for the U3 marking.
On the endurance testing front:
Sample #1 started having issues during round 448; however, its issues started ramping up around round 1,534. It hobbled along for quite a while afterwards — every so often (usually a few times a day towards the end), it would disconnect itself from the reader, and I would have to manually pull it and re-insert it into the reader to get it working again. It finally bit the dust during round 1,686 — it disconnected itself from the reader, and re-inserting it would no longer solve the problem. Here’s what the graph of this card’s progression looked like:
Why did the number of bad sectors drop after round 1,647? Because it was experiencing enough errors to the point where my program could no longer automatically detect the device after I plugged it back in, so I had to restart the test from scratch. (Afterwards, I added an option to allow you to force it to force it to resume from a given device.)
- Sample #2 and #3, curiously, both failed just two hours apart from each other, and at the same number of read/write cycles (although this part is probably more due to the fact that I started them testing at about the same time). They both simply stopped responding to commands. They had not experienced any errors prior to this. However, when neither one would respond to commands, even when plugged into my Realtek reader, I decided to declare them dead.
Overall? Terrible performance, fake flash, and low-quality flash. Don’t buy these — they’re garbage.
June 19, 2025