PNY Pro Elite Prime 1.5TB microSDXC memory card review

If you want to boost the storage capacity of your camera phone or tablet, or you need a memory card for your drone or action camera, a high-capacity microSD card is a must, and they don't get much more capacious than the 1.5-terrabyte Pro Elite Prime microSDXC card from PNY.

The 1.5TB version we're testing here is the largest capacity of the Pro Elite Prime, but the same card can also be had in 64GB, 128GB, 256GB, 512GB and 1TB flavors, though the write speed of the smaller capacity cards is slightly slower.

Read more: the best microSD cards

Key features

The PNY Pro Elite Prime is one of only a few microSD cards available with more than 1TB capacity, yet it's also fast, boasting up to 200MB/s read speed and a write rate of up to 150MB/s. If you're intending to use the card in a camera phone, the A2 app performance rating ensures speedy app loading and responsiveness. The card's V30 video speed class guarantees a minimum 30MB/s write rate during video recording, which should be quick enough to enable smooth 4K video capture, though a faster V60 or even V90 card may be worth considering if you regularly shoot high-bit-rate 4K footage.

The card comes in several capacities smaller than the flagship 1.5TB version we're testing here. Most have identical read/write performance specs, however the 64GB and 128GB versions have a maximum write speed of 110MB/s (the higher-capacity cards top out at 150MB/s). Peak read speed is 200MB/s across all capacity variants. All versions of the card are supplied with a full-size SD adapter, enabling the card to be used in cameras and memory card readers with full-size SD slots.

Performance

I tested the Pro Elite Prime in a Fujifilm GFX 100RF medium format camera. This is not a camera that this card is really designed for, but its 102MP resolution means it requires fast memory. The Pro Elite Prime had no trouble letting the camera capture at its fastest 6fps burst shooting speed, and recording 4K video was just as uneventful.

To verify PNY's maximum 200MB/s read and 150MB/s write rates more accurately, I fired up the CrystalDiskMark storage benchmark software, with the card plugged into a fast USB4 Windows laptop via a ProGrade Digital PGM0.5 SD card reader. This USB 3.2, Gen. 1 reader has a maximum bus speed of 625MB/s, so there's no chance of it bottlenecking the PNY card during testing.

The maximum read speed we recorded is a little short of the claimed 200MB figure, but a fast write speed matters more when capturing high-res stills or video, and here the card managed to exceed its advertised speed.

We also measured the speed of real-world file transfers to and from the card in Windows and found these results were pleasingly close to the maximum speeds recorded by CrystalDiskMark. Multiple small files will always transfer slower than a single large file, but the Pro Elite Prime managed to perform well even in this test.

It's worth noting that while the card did get hot enough to be uncomfortable to touch during extended file transfers, we didn't see any evidence of thermal speed throttling.

Verdict

I was impressed by the performance of the PNY Pro Elite Prime. Though a UHS-I microSD card, its maximum read/write speeds actually come close to the performance of next-level UHS-II alternatives, yet those cards aren't available in capacities anywhere near as high as 1.5TB. Usually you'd expect a memory card with such a high capacity to command a huge price premium over lower-capacity versions, but the 1.5TB Pro Elite Prime can be had for $109.99 at the time of writing. That compares well with the only other 1.5TB microSD card on the market from SanDisk, and though it's a higher price per gigabyte that the 512GB version of the Pro Elite Prime, the price difference isn't unreasonable. For its combination of high capacity, fair price and speedy performance, the 1.5TB PNY Pro Elite Prime microSD card is hard to fault.