Guide to Choosing the Best micro SD Card for GoPro

Recommended micro SD Card Specifications by GoPro Model

These are recommended specifications, so cards that fall below these specs may still function, but to fully utilize GoPro's performance, it's best to choose a micro SD card that meets or exceeds the recommended specifications.

Recommended SD Card Specifications by GoPro

GoPro devices only support "micro SD" cards. SD cards are not compatible, so be cautious.

Within micro SD cards, the recommended specifications are:

1. Minimum speed specification
2. Maximum capacity of micro SD card

Here's a summary of recommended specs by model.

Recommended Speed Specifications for micro SD by GoPro

GoPro has set recommended speed specifications for micro SD cards¹.

Older models up to the HERO9 series recommend Class 10 or UHS-1 (minimum continuous write speed of 10MB/s), while HERO10 series and later recommend UHS-3 or V30 (minimum continuous write speed of 30MB/s).

Understanding micro SD Speed Specifications

According to Kingston's official website, micro SD speed specifications are as follows. It's useful to remember this:

Note that for HERO10 Black and later models, the minimum spec of UHS-3 or V30 is often not met by budget micro SD cards, which are usually Class 10 or below, making them insufficient for HERO10 Black.

Maximum Capacity of micro SD Cards by GoPro Model

GoPro also has a maximum capacity limit for micro SD cards by model. Cards larger than the maximum capacity cannot be used.

While many recent smartphones support micro SD cards over 1TB, it's notable that GoPro only supports up to 1TB with the HERO12 Black.

Recommended micro SD Card Manufacturers and Series by GoPro

The recommended micro SD card specifications also include a list of preferred manufacturers and series.

While affordable brands like Adata, Kingston, Amazon Basics, and Gigastone are included.

Tips for Choosing a micro SD Card for GoPro

Choosing the Capacity

Start by choosing the capacity of the micro SD card.

Even if the card becomes full, you can transfer data to a PC or cloud and delete it, but for long continuous recordings, a larger capacity card is necessary.

The required capacity varies by resolution and frame rate.

Capacity varies by use case:

1. Everyday recording: 32GB–64GB
2. Long-duration recording: 128GB–256GB
3. Professional use: 512GB and above

Pay Attention to the Price Per GB

In recent years, the price per GB of micro SD cards is around 10 cents. Higher-speed specs may exceed this rate, but generally, aim for around 1o cents per GB.

Be Cautious of Fake micro SD Cards

Recently, micro SD cards are also sold on flea markets and auctions, but beware of fakes from unreliable sellers. Fake micro SD cards often falsify capacity and speed specs to lower prices and are unsuitable for GoPro use.