【The Playbirds】

BEATS THE COMPETITION:As of April 3,The Playbirds PNY 1.5TB PRO Elite Prime microSD card is available for $109.99 at Amazon. No discount needed when you're getting up to 200MB/s read and 150MB/s write speeds with A2 app performance.

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Opens in a new window Credit: PNY PNY 1.5TB PRO Elite Prime microSD card $0 at Amazon
$110 Save $110 Used like new deals for $100.99

I’ve tested plenty of microSD cards in my ROG Ally X and Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra, but PNY 1.5TB PRO Elite Prime is the only one that felt close to internal storage — even without any fancy accessories. I skipped the PNY reader and slotted the card straight into both devices, and it held up impressively well.

On the Ally X, I loaded up a mix of indie and AAA games stored directly on the card. App launch times were tight, multitasking didn’t lag, and moving between game files didn’t feel sluggish. It’s A2-rated, which means it's designed for running apps directly off the card, not just storing media. And that actually matters when you're using a handheld PC where every second shaved off counts.

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Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra saw similar results. I use it for a mix of editing, gaming, and file management, and the card handled all of it with minimal fuss. Transfer speeds while moving files internally hovered around 185MB/s for reads and just under 150MB/s for writes—not quite the theoretical max, but solid without the USB 3.1 reader.

• Price: $109.99

• Retailer: Amazon

• Storage: 1.5TB microSDXC

• Speed Class: Class 10, U3, V30

• App Performance: A2

• Read Speed (in-device): ~185MB/s

• Write Speed (in-device): ~145–150MB/s

• Adapter Included: Yes

• Enhanced Performance (with USB reader): Up to 200MB/s read

• Warranty: Lifetime limited

That said, if you're planning to transfer massive game installs or want the fastest possible read/write performance for heavy-duty gaming, using PNY’s Performance Prime reader (Currently 15% off at $10.99) will push speeds closer to the full 200MB/s. But for most day-to-day use directly inside the device, I never felt like I was missing out.

If you need a ton of expandable storage that doesn’t hold back your apps or games, this card gets the job done without extra gear.

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