What Is an SD Card, and Which Ones to Buy

If you own a digital camera — be it a compact, mirrorless or DSLR camera — you need to pair it with an SD in order for it to save your photos and videos. Most digital cameras actually don’t come with an SD card so it’s kind of up to you, the photographer, to buy one that fits your digital camera and your shooting needs.

When searching for an SD card for your digital camera, there are a lot of different options out there and it can get complicated fast. Here are the basics you need to know.

What is an SD card?

An SD (Secure Digital) card is a small removable memory card that can be inserted in a number of different consumer electronics — including digital cameras, printers, laptops, smartphones and video game consoles (like the Nintendo Switch) — to save, store and transfer data. A lot of smartphones have transitioned to using Micro SD cards, which is a smaller (in size and capacity) version of an SD card.

The cards: SD, SDHC or SDCX?

There are a few different types of SD cards —SD, SDHC (Secure Digital High Capacity) and SDXC (Secure Digital Xtra Capacity) — but they all effectively do the same job: add storage to your digital camera. SD cards are older and generally have lower capacities and slower transfer speeds. SDHC and SDXC cards are newer (and better) types of SD cards that have higher storage capacities and faster transfer speeds. And yes, they’re more expensive.

It’s important to check which type of memory card your digital camera is compatible before buying one. Most new digital cameras should support three types of SD cards. If the digital camera is more than 10 years old, there’s a decent chance it won’t support support SDHC cards and SDXC cards because they weren’t around, but that’s a problem that should be pretty uncommon.

Why is speed important?

The speed of the SD card refers to two different speeds: there’s the “write speed” and the “read speed.” The write speed is how quickly the SD card is able to record all the information while you’re taking photo or video with your camera, while the read speed is how fast you can transfer data off of the SD card. The write speed and the read speed are typically the same on most SD cards.

The speed of an SD card is important as a quality-of-life feature, but it’s crucial for people shooting with higher-end digital cameras. Higher-resolution photos and videos require an SD card to be fast so that it can record all the data as fast as possible. Most SD cards with a high-capacities generally also tend to have high speeds, so you don’t have to worry as much about a high capacity card with a low speed.

If you don’t see the speed of the SD card advertised, the other thing you want to look out for is its class rating. The SD Association (the governing body of SD cards) created a class system to help standardize SD card speed ratings, and each SD card is given a class rating. The higher the class rating, the faster the write speeds of the SD card

Here are the various classes and their minimum write speeds: Class 2 (2MB/s), Class 4 (4MB/s), Class 6 (6MB/s) or Class 10 (up to 10MB/s).

Why is capacity important?

SD card capacities are typically measured in gigabytes (GB) and range from just a handful of gigs up to 512GB. When deciding what SD card capacity you should get, you need to have a knowledge of what size photos or videos you’re taking.

If you have a fairly modern mirrorless or DSLR camera, uncompressed RAW photos will take up in the neighborhood of 7 megabytes (MB) apiece. With this knowledge, you can fit about 325 photos on an SD card with a capacity of 16GB, or 650 photos on a 32GB card.

Videos take up more space than photos and complicate things in an additional direction; in addition to resolution and bitrate, you also need to factor in things like video length and aspect ratio. If you’re shooting a 4K video at 60fps (which is pretty standard these days for action cameras, compact shooters and even smartphones), a 16GB card can store about ten 4K 60fps videos.

Lexar

Some buying advice

• If you can, buy the most advanced card that your camera is capable of accepting.

• Buy from a well-known SD card maker, such as SanDisk or Lexar.

• Before buying an SD card, check to see if there are higher-capacity models available — you might be able to get better deal on one.

All that said, here are some great picks.

Lexar Professional Class SDXC (64GB)

Lexar

Lexar Professional Class SDXC (64GB)

amazon.com

$12.99

Best All-Around

The Lexar Professional line of SDXC cards is one of the best you can buy. Its boast Class 10 speeds and a relatively high capacity, and it’s fully capable of handing your camera’s 4K photos and videos. And it’s still really affordable. This line ranges in capacities from 32GB to 1TB.

SanDisk Extreme SD (16GB)

SanDisk

SanDisk Extreme SD (16GB)

SanDisk amazon.com

$8.50

Best Budget

The SanDisk Extreme SD line is a great affordable option. Despite its price, it still delivers relatively Class 10 speeds (up to 90MB/s) that are only a slight drop off from the Lexar Professional SDXC line (above). It’s available in a range of capacities, from 16GB to 256GB.

SanDisk Extreme PRO SD UHS-II (64GB)

SanDisk

SanDisk Extreme PRO SD UHS-II (64GB)

amazon.com

$190.38

$107.25 (44% off)

Best Upgrade

The SanDisk Extreme Pro is a beast of SDXC card. Its extreme fast read and write speeds — Class 10 — have made it a go-to choice for professional photographers and videographers who shoot in the highest resolution. It’s available in capacities up to 128GB.

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io

Should You Get a Tube Amp For Your Headphones?

So you’ve made the decision to buy an external headphone amplifier for your desktop setup. Awesome. It’s an easy way to make your nice pair of wired headphones sound better (because your computer’s built-in amp just frankly isn’t very good) — and you want that. Now you just need to decide which one to buy.

There are two main types of headphone amplifiers out there. A solid-state amplifier amplifies the electrical signal using transistor circuits, while a vacuum tube amplifier does the same thing with vacuum tubes. The do effectively the same job, just in different ways. The thing is that there are more solid-state headphone amplifiers in the sub-$200 range because they have less moving parts and are cheaper to make.

Schiit

Schiit Audio Vali 2+

schiit.com

$149.00

Tube amps just sound different

A vacuum tube amp can definitely be considered the “elevated option.” They’re more expensive because they’re more complicated to make, but you find still models that are relatively affordable vacuum tube amplifiers, like Schiit Audio’s Vali ($149) or Vahalla ($349) . That said, a vacuum tube amplifier isn’t definitely make your headphones sound better than if you had a solid-state amplifier — it’s just a different sound.

“Some people (including me) think there is something ‘better’ about the sound of tube amplification,” said Jason Stoddard, cofounder of Schiit Audio, a California-based audio company that sells both kinds of amplifiers. “We don’t really talk about perceived sound, but many audiophiles have commented on tube sound being somewhat more ‘liquid’ or ‘natural’ through the midrange. This is what I perceive as well, though this is not measurable in terms of frequency response.”

The other thing with vacuum tube amplifiers is that you can swap out and try them with different tubes, which changes how they sound. It’s an allure for tinkers (which audiophiles inherently are), in much the same way how people try out different preamps, photo cartridges, styluses (and more) with their turntable setups to customize the sound.

Schiit Audio

Schiit Audio Valhalla

schiit.com

$349.00

The design is undeniably cool

So the sound quality is admittedly subjective. The design of the two kinds of amplifiers is also subjective. If you ask me (and I think most people), vacuum tube amplifiers have a “wow” factor that solid-state amplifiers can’t compete with. The tubes stick out and glow when you’re listening music. It just looks cool — and admittedly a little intimidating.

Vacuum tube amplifiers aren’t reserved for audiophiles, but if you’re somebody who is thinking about buying one, there are definitely a few words of caution. First, with their exposed glass tubes, they’re definitely more fragile. And two, they require more maintenance; the glass tubes of a vacuum tube amplifier will eventually need to be replaced (Stoddard says after about 5,000 hours of run time).

A vacuum tube amps isn’t a set-it-and-forget-it option. It requires more maintenance, but it also allows for more customization. But are great-yet-different options. “If you really don’t want to deal with things, get solid-state,” Stoddard said. “If you like playing and experimenting a bit, go tubes.”

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io

Bose May Finally Be Updating Its QuietComfort Headphones

It looks like Bose is gearing up to release new QuietComfort wireless headphones. As first reported by PhoneArena‘s Doroteya Borisova, the new headphones just passed their FCC certification. The filing showed the first real world images of the headphones as even told us what they’re going to be called: the Bose QuietComfort 45.

The Bose QuietComfort 45 are poised to be the true successor to the Bose QuietComfort 35, which were first released five years ago (in 2016) and then updated a year later in 2017; the updated model, QuietComfort 35 II, added a button to quickly summon Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa, but were otherwise exactly the same.

The upcoming QuietComfort 45 appear will have a very similar design to the QuietComfort 35 II, with the one major improvement being that they’ll have a USB-C charging port, as the current QuietComfort 35 II still use an old micro-USB port, which very few modern gadgets still use.

The lack of design update might sound anti-climatic, but the QuietComfort 35 II are still some of lighting and most comfortable noise-canceling headphones you can buy and, if you ask me, they don’t need a design overhaul. Plus, Bose released the Headphones 700, noise-canceling headphones in late 2019, which have a completely new design and a more expensive price tag.

The upcoming QuietComfort 45 are expected to replace the QuietComfort 35 II in the company’s headphone lineup. We expect them to cost around $300, which would mean that they’d still be a more affordable alternative to the Headphones 700, which originally were priced at $399, but are regularly on sale for $379.

At this time, we don’t know when the Bose is going to announced (or release) the QuietComfort 45.

LEARN MORE

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io

Should You Buy Apple’s MagSafe Battery Pack for Your iPhone 12?

This week, Apple announced the MagSafe Battery Pack, which is its first portable battery that works with MagSafe — it magnetically sticks to the back of your iPhone 12 and gives it extra power throughout the day. The problem is that it costs $99 and you can buy similar alternatives, like the Mophie Snap+ Juice Pack Mini ($50) or the Belkin Magnetic Wireless Power Bank 2.5K ($50), for significantly cheaper.

But Apple is known for making its accessories work better within its ecosystem. Its line of MagSafe wireless chargers are the only ones that can fast-charge an iPhone 12 at 15-watts, while all other wireless chargers charge an iPhone 12 at a max of 7.5-watts. And it has given some similar powers to its first-party MagSafe Battery Pack. The MagSafe Battery Pack has three big advantages over those cheaper third-party alternatives. Whether that makes it worth the extra cost is up to you.

First, the MagSafe Battery Pack charges via Lightning. This means that you can use the same charging cable with your iPhone 12 and your portable battery. You can also stick the MagSafe Battery Pack to the back of your iPhone 12, plug the Lightning cable into either device and it’ll charge both. (It will fully charge the iPhone 12 first, then charge the MagSafe Battery Pack).

Second, when the MagSafe Battery Pack is plugged into the wall, it effectively turns into a turn MagSafe wireless charger. This means that it can fast-charge any iPhone 12 at 15-watts (aside from the mini, which maxes out at 12 watts), which is twice as fast as non-MagSafe wireless chargers.

Finally, you can easily tell the battery life of the MagSafe Battery Pack because, when connected to your iPhone 12, its battery life can be seen from the Lock Screen and from the Batteries widget. If you’ve ever used a portable battery before, you’ll know that it’s not always that easy to tell how much juice it has left. But Apple has made that easy with the MagSafe Battery Pack.

At the time of writing, Apple has not said what the exact capacity of the MagSafe Battery Pack actually is, though it looks to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 5,000mAh based on its size and other chargers. If it is actually larger, that could be another key advantage over its much-cheaper competitors.

The MagSafe Battery Pack is available for preorder right now and will start shipping next week. It will work with the entire iPhone 12 family.

Apple

MagSafe Battery Pack

Apple apple.com

$99.00

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io

The 5 Best New Features Coming to Your Mac

Apple announced macOS Monterey, the next big software update coming to the Mac, in early June at WWDC. It’s not going to be available until the fall — unless you download the public beta (available now) — but it promises to bring a bunch of cool new features that you’ll actually use.

If you bought a Mac within the last several years, there’s a good chance that it will be able to run macOS Monterey. Apple claims that MacBook Airs, MacBook Pros and iMacs that are 2015 or later will support it. (Others like the MacBook, Mac Pro and Mac Mini vary, so you’ll want to check compatibility on Apple’s website.)

That said, there’s a little bit of a catch because Intel-based Macs won’t get access to all the features that macOS Monterey promises. For features like Portrait Mode on FaceTime and the new globe view on Apple Maps, you’ll need a newer M1-based Mac. All the below features will be available on all compatible Macs.

You can finally AirPlay to a Mac

AppleApple

To date, it’s been nearly impossible to AirPlay something from your iPhone or iPad to your Mac. That’s changing with macOS Monterey’s AirPlay to Mac feature. It turns your Mac into an AirPlay output device that will appear just like any other device that supports AirPlay. Like before, the two devices will have to be on the same Wi-Fi network.

This will be a valuable for sharing both video and audio. You’ll be able to easily share your iPhone’s screen to watch a video or presentation. If you want to listen to a song on your Mac’s better-quality speakers, you’ll be able to quickly stream it over AirPlay.

An easier iPad-to-Mac experience

Apple

One of the most highly-anticipated features coming with macOS Monterey is Universal Control. It’s going to allow you to seamless use your keyboard and mouse (or trackpad) with both your Mac and iPad. This is big deal because it will allow you to easily transfer files and photos between your devices — just drag and drop — without having to go through a cloud-based service (like iCloud or Dropbox) or a hard drive. It promises to save you a lot of time, plus you won’t have to deal with pairing and repairing your wireless devices (even if they support multi-point Bluetooth).

Watch movies with friends over FaceTime

Apple

FaceTime on the Mac will be getting a lot of new features when macOS Monterey rolls out. You’ll be able to create sharable FaceTime links so that anybody hop in and join video chat, making it feel a lot like Zoom or Google Hangouts. (This means people on a Windows or Android device will be able to join your FaceTime call.) Video calls will support spatial audio (if you’re wearing AirPods Pro or AirPods Max). And, if you’re using an M1-based Mac, there’s Portrait Mode effect that you will be able to use.

That said, the most-hyped new feature is definitely SharePlay. This will allow you to share your screen over FaceTime with multiple people, which is obviously great for presentations. More intriguingly, it will watch parties for movies and shows and group listening sessions for music, where anybody in the FaceTime being able to control playback or queue up songs. Not every streaming app will support SharePlay at launch, but the API is open so popular services like Disney+, Netflix, HBO Max and Spotify will theoretically be able to take advantage of it. At launch, mostly Apple’s services are expected to support it.

A much-improved Notes app.

Apple

The new software will introduce a bunch of new features to the Notes app, including a new Activity view that will tell you who (and when) somebody last edited a shared note. You’ll also be able to organize your notes with hashtags. The start new feature, however, is called Quick Note.

Quick Note is a feature that will allow you to quickly create a note in the Notes app. When browsing the web (or in a supported app), you’ll be able to highlight a word, phase or paragraph, then right click and select “New Quick Note”; the selected text and a hyperlink to the source will then appear in the Quick Notes section of your Notes app. These Quick Notes will sync across all your Apple devices.

A new-look Safari

Apple

If Safari is your web browser of choice, the new macOS is going to give it quite the face lift. The most drastic difference is that Apple is doing away with the traditional tab bar and instead replacing it with combination of the toolbar and the search field, in which the tabs will appear to float within the browser. It’s an interesting design choice that puts an emphasis of the new Tab groups feature (which allows you to group tabs together for easy organization), but it will likely frustrate those who normally like to have 10+ tabs open at one time.

There’s a new Focus mode that’s essentially a more customizable Do Not Disturb mode. You’ll be able to set schedules for when certain apps can sent you smart notifications, and you’ll be able to set various statuses (such as “Work” or “Sleep”), which you can again customize which apps can send you smart notifications. The other cool thing is that your status will appear as work of an “away message” in the Messages app that your contacts can see, so they’ll know if it’s a good time to text or call you. You’ll also be able to set your Focus mode status across all (or just one) of your Apple devices.

LEARN MORE

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io

6 Cool Gadgets to Keep on Your Radar

This week, Apple released the first public betas of iOS 15, iPadOS 15 and watchOS 8 (you can check them out, here). United Airlines announced that it was adding Bluetooth to some of its airplanes, allowing passengers to use their wireless headphones while watching in-flight movies. And LG is bringing Dolby Vision 120Hz support, which is ideal for next-gen gaming, to some of its most popular OLED TVs. A bunch of cool new gadgets were announced, too.

Nikon Z FC

Nikon

The Nikon Z FC is the company’s newest mirrorless camera and the most interesting thing about is that, well, it doesn’t look like a new camera. It fact its design to look similar to one of the company’s most beloved cameras, the FM2, which first came out in the early ’80s. But the Z FC definitely doesn’t shoot like a vintage film camera. It packs a 20.9-megapixel APS-C sensor and a Z-mount, so it fit any of the Z6’s and Z7’s full-frame lenses. It also packs the usual modern upgrades: electronic viewfinder, touchscreen display and USB-C charging.

Price: $960 (body only) — $1,200 (with 28mm lens)

SHOP NOW

Klipsch Cinema 1200 and 800 Soundbars

Klipsch

Klipsch announced its first two Dolby Atmos soundbars. The Cinema 120o ($1,499) is a 5.1.4 surround sound system (which is able to decode Atmos in full 7.1.​4) and the Cinema 800 ($799) is a more traditional soundbar-and-subwoofer combo. Other than the size and power of the soundbar and wireless woofer (and the fact that the Cinema 800 doesn’t with satellite speakers), the two systems are very similar. They both connect to your TV via an eARC-enabled HDMI 2.1 port (which supports the passthrough of up to 8K HDR and Dolby Vision). And they have built-in Bluetooth and support Alexa and Google Assistant.

Price: $799 — $1,499

LEARN MORE

Lenovo Smart Clock 2

Lenovo

Lenovo’s second-generation Smart Clock sports the same 4-inch display as its predecessor and still comes integrated with Google Assistant. It does have a better speaker (that plays stereo) and, more significantly, a taller design that makes it compatible with a wireless charging pad. The wireless charging pad is sold separately, but you’ll likely want to get it because it has a built-in USB port (so you charge another device) and it has a neat nightlight feature. The Smart Clock 2 will start at $90 and it’s expected to be released this coming September.

Price: $90

LEARN MORE

Dell UltraSharp Webcam

Dell

Dell announced a high-end webcam that can work with either Windows 10 PCs or Macs. The UltraSharp Webcam is a true 4K webcam (a rarity) that connects to your computer via USB-C. You can adjust the resolution and the frame rates of the captured video — it can capture 4K at 30fps or 24 fps, and 1080p video at up to 60fps — and it also has some neat AI tricks to keep you in frame and in focus. The only real downside is that, considering its steep price, it lacks a mic.

Price: $200

SHOP NOW

LG QNED Mini LED TVs

LG

Early this year LG has announced a new type of TV — called a QNED Mini LED TV — that’s a sort of a middle ground between its OLED TVs and NanoCell LCD TVs. In a nutshell, they use a similar NanoCell and quantum dot technologies as are in LG’s NanoCell LCD TVs, but they also have Mini LED backlighting so they deliver better contrast (even if it’s not quite at the same level as its OLED TVs). This week, LG officially announced the pricing and availability for these QNED Mini LED TVs. A 65-inch model will cost $1,999. A 75-inch model will cost $2,999. And a 86-inch model will cost $3,999. They will be available starting this July.

Price: $1,999 — $3,999

SHOP NOW

Satechi Stand & Hub for Mac Mini with SSD Enclosure

Satechi

This is Satechi’s new stand-and-hub combo that’s optimized for the M1 Mac mini. It has a hidden enclosure for M.2 SATA SSD storage (which all recent Macs have), meaning you can more affordably add storage (rather than buying an external SSD). The stand-and-hub combo sits flush underneath your M1 Mac mini, connects via a single USB-C connection, and adds a bunch of much-need ports, including a USB-C data port (5Gbps), three USB-A ports (5Gbps), both micro SD and SD card readers, and a headphone jack. It’s available right now.

Price: $100

SHOP NOW

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io

Windows 11 Is Coming: Here’s What You Need to Know

Microsoft has officially announced Windows 11, the next major software update that will be coming to all compatible PCs later this year. It’s a big deal because it’s promising a ton of new features, including an all-new layout (that actually looks very similar to a Mac), the ability to run Android apps on your PC, and an all-around better gaming experience. Also, Windows 11 is going to be free.

What are the best new features of Windows 11?

One of the most notable changes with Windows 11 is how it looks. The Start menu is no longer in the bottom-left corner of your screen, but it the center. The Taskbar is now centered at the bottom of the screen, making it look similar to the Dock on a Mac, and it has a cleaner look (no more Live Tiles). You’ll be able to access your personalized Widgets directly from the Taskbar, too.

As far as features, there are a lot. You’ll be able to install and run Android apps natively on Windows 11. The gaming experience will be all-around better thanks to a new Xbox app support for features for on Xbox consoles, such as Auto HDR and DirectStorage, which should make games look better and load faster. And Microsoft Teams is going to be more easily accessible (directly from the Taskbar) and integrated into more apps.

Courtesy

When is Windows 11 going to be released?

Microsoft hasn’t given us an exact release date for Windows 11 just yet, but some leaked press images indicated that the release date is October 20. Microsoft’s official webpage says “coming later this year.”

If you’re chomping at the bit and want to get an early access to Windows 11, and you’re a member of the Windows Insider Program, you can download the Insider Preview build right now. The public beta for all other people is expected to arrive sometime in July (this month).

Will my computer be able to run Windows 11?

If your PC is already running Windows 10, there’s a pretty good chance that it will be compatible with Windows 11. But to be sure, you can download the PC Health Check app right now and it will be able to tell you if your specific machine will be compatible. Once compatible, you’ll be able to download Windows 11 for free when it’s available later this year.

You can check the minimum requirements needed for a device to run Windows 11 on Microsoft’s website, here.

LEARN MORE

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io

This Powerful Dock Might Be the Ultimate Mac Mini Accessory

Satechi just announced a new stand-and-hub combo that’s optimized for the M1 Mac mini, but it also has a neat trick. As its name gives away, the brand-new Stand & Hub for Mac mini with SSD Enclosure ($100) has a hidden enclosure for M.2 SATA SSD storage (which all recent Macs have). This means you can more affordably add storage to your Mac mini — because M.2 SATA SSD storage is typically cheaper than buying an external hard drive — and you can hide it so it won’t cluttering up your desk space.

The other reason that Satechi claims that its stand-and-hub combo is optimized for the M1 Mac mini is that comes in a silver finish, which is the exact same silver finish as the M1 Mac mini. Other than that, the new stand-and-hub is exactly the same as the previous stand-and-hub combo that Satechi announced in 2019 — which you can buy on Amazon for $80, which is $20 cheaper than the new model.

Like that previous model, the stand-and-hub combo sits flush underneath your M1 Mac mini, connects via a single USB-C connection, and adds a bunch of much-need ports, including a USB-C data port (5Gbps), three USB-A ports (5Gbps), both micro SD and SD card readers, and a headphone jack.

Lastly, Satechi is running a 15-percent off deal on the new Stand & Hub for Mac mini with SSD Enclosure, which drops the price to a more manageable $85. The deal, whcih runs through July 7, only works if you order from Satechi’s website (not Amazon) and you apply the code MACMINISSD at checkout.

Satechi

Satechi Stand & Hub for Mac mini with SSD Enclosure

amazon.com

$100.00

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io