MicroSDs are still a highly used physical media both in the field of smartphones but also, and above all, for drones and devices such as portable retroconsoles. These are media that are on sale practically everywhere, but Chinese stores are - as always - those that offer seemingly unbeatable prices. In fact, it is enough to do a search on the major stores in the Far East, to come across those that have all the appearance of being products exactly identical to those found on Amazon or in any European store. But is it really like that? Let's find out.
First of all, we must take into account that MicroSDs as memory media are physiologically more fragile and prone to failure than devices such as USB sticks or hard disks. They are small in size, they heat up a lot and the difference between a high-end product and a low-end one is, even today, decidedly marked. For review and testing purposes, I find myself testing various devices that come with apparently unknown brand MicroSDs and, by now, my consolidated routine is to take the original MicroSD, clone it with a quality one and throw the original in a drawer.
The three main problems that are encountered on these cheap devices are the following:
- They do not work and the seller does not always agree to refund you
- The declared capacity does not correspond to the real capacity. For example, it happened to me that MicroSDs sold for 128Gb of capacity, in reality had about half that
- The read/write speeds are significantly lower than what the manufacturer declared
The first case is physiological, in the sense that anyone can sell you a defective part. Yes, too bad that European stores are required to provide a guarantee. Doesn't it work? They'll change it or refund you, end of the story. The second case highlights a manufacturing defect, it is not necessarily classifiable as a "scam" because it is enough for the memory inside to have damaged sectors and the space is automatically reduced. Here too, the part should be replaced immediately guys, it is not acceptable to buy a 120 GB memory and be happy with little more than half of it (just to give an idea).
But what is the purpose of this article? Let's take an example: if you buy a car, fill it up with poor quality petrol and the car does not reflect the performance declared by the manufacturer, is it the car's fault (and therefore the manufacturer's), or is it your fault for using poor quality petrol? Yes, sometimes we watch video reviews, listen to opinions and spend hours comparing notes with colleagues or students who have purchased a certain device, and who complain about poor performance and a whole series of problems that are not necessarily due to the device itself.
The problem I am about to discuss comes from an apparently trivial experience that made me think.
Recently -because of me, I admit- a friend of mine became passionate about the PICO-8 virtual machine. If you don't know it, we talked about it in this article. His intent was clear: to have a portable retro console with which to play the titles offered by the Pico-8 collection during his train and bus trips. Against all odds, after a few days, he came to me complaining about the performance of the device. The games were jerky, the operating system froze and the console restarted often. Furthermore, something decidedly anomalous on handhelds of this type, the system started to heat up after it was in operation for a while.
Knowing the manufacturer of the machine very well and knowing the overall quality level of the devices it offers, my skepticism soon made its way and, given my proverbial curiosity, I asked to borrow the retro console to do some tests. I will start by saying that I myself own the Miyoo Mini Plus and the Miyoo Mini first edition, consoles that literally sold out and are difficult to find on the used market because those who have them, hold on to them tightly, which is why I felt I could recommend it both for its excellent overall performance and for a form factor that makes it ideal for transport. As you can see in the photo, in fact, it is an incredibly pocket-sized device.
After turning on the machine, I did some tests and, indeed, the system was quite unstable. If you read the article about Pico-8, these are very light games with very few demands on resources. Seeing audio/video stuttering with a Tetris-like game makes absolutely no sense.
The first thing I did was check the settings and the version of the operating system, but there didn't seem to be any particular problems. I opened the chassis of the machine and checked the battery, noting that everything was in order. I then completely disassembled the Miyoo Mini Plus to check the grounds, the power pins and the various solderings. Multimeter and microscope in hand, no problems were found. The focus of the "investigations" then shifted to the only possible suspect: the butl... er, I meant the microSD!
Extracted from the console, it appeared as a KIOXIA branded memory. This is a fairly common brand for those who deal with these devices. They are microSDs that are sold in blisters of 10 pieces that can cost around forty euros. Which means that a single microSD costs less than 5 euros. Looking for a quality microSD with the same capacity and declared performance, we can see that the price per unit doubles.
Below we have the benchmark of the microSD included with the retroconsole:
while in the graph below we can see the results relating to a 32 GB Sandisk Ultra microSD:
But there is more: in addition to the obvious difference in performance, the original microSD finally broke immediately after completing the test. At this point I loaded the Onion OS operating system onto the memory card, installed Pico-8 and, after inserting it into the console, I started testing it again with various gameplays.
By installing a quality MicroSD, bought in a European store (and paid a good 50% more than the other - Editor's note), all the console's problems "magically" disappeared. Let's be clear, it didn't become a top-of-the-range device - which it never wanted to be - but it suddenly became an enjoyable, usable machine capable of providing hours of fun and interactivity. No problems with lag, stuttering, various delays or system instability. Everything that seemed to be a problem with the console's hardware was actually attributable to the faulty microSD.
I do not doubt that you can find valid memory media on Chinese stores, but it is also true that many of them are imitations of well-known brands and others are products that entice the customer just because they cost little.
What is the moral of the story? Well, first of all, before evaluating a device in its entirety, it is advisable to check that everything that contributes to its functioning is perfectly in order. Only then will you will have a clear picture of the overall functioning of a machine. This consideration immediately suggests another: is it worth spending money on devices of a certain level, to then save on memory? Imagine buying a drone costing thousands of euros for the acquisition of audio/video material and then using poor quality memory that makes it work badly (or worse). Does it make sense?
Ultimately, it is better to spend a little more and find yourself with a valid and above all reliable product, rather than saving and getting lost in the labyrinth of malfunctions. Are there memory media that are more reliable and long-lasting than a microSD? Absolutely, but that is another story.
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