Kingston 32 GB microSD Class 10 Card Review

Conclusion

In this review we tried to answer the question that is lingering on the minds of a lot of smartphone users. A lot of users ask themselves if they can benefit from the extra speed offered by a class 10 card. With the minimum guaranteed 10MB/s speeds, we expected the tasks involving file access in our smartphone testing to be sped up. But after testing the class 10 card, we were left a bit underwhelmed. In most of our tests in a smartphone, the class 2 card was able to match the performance of a class 10 card if not better it.

Through our testing, we found that the real benefit of this the card is when used for continuous shooting in a DSLR. During continuous shooting, the recovery time for the class 10 card was almost instant, while it took around 8 seconds for the camera to recover after writing all the JPEG images taken during continuous shooting with a class 2 card. This can make all the difference between getting that perfect shot and missing it altogether while shooting fast-paced action. An example of this was made perfectly clear to me when I shot the performance of USAF Thunderbirds at an air show. It is easier to shoot continuously to get that one great shot while the jets whiz by rather than trying to track the jets manually and taking single shots.

At this point of time we believe that smartphones don’t really have a need for a class 10 card and can be well served with a class 2 card. However, if you are shooting pictures in a DSLR or a full HD video camera, we would definitely recommend a class 10 card.