Card size and formatting questions

[Satyaa]

Hi. I have had mostly bad luck with micro sd cards in phones. Several died early (all top brands). Some others give frequent errors. I also have same brand cards in security camera for past four years, and they have no problems.

Most recently I bought a SP 1TB card. It performs OK in a card reader and on Windows PC. It does not read well in Android phone. The phone frequently refuses to recognize it but for short periods it works fine.

[Edit: There is no problem with the phone. It works fine with lower capacity cards. I need at least 256GB.]

I am now planning to get a 512GB card for my android phone. The intent is to get the largest capacity that will work. It will store photos for viewing, and music for frequent listening.

Two questions:

1. What is the largest size that works without problems on Android phones?

The phone is a MotoG 5G (2022) running Android 13. There is no SIM card in it. I bought it only for listening to my music collection because it has a headphone socket.

2. What is the best way to format the cards for phone use?

Thanks.

--
See my profile (About me) for gear and my posting policy. My profile picture is of the first film camera I used in the early 80s, photo credit the internet.

 

[Rodolfo]

I've used Samsung microSD cards for several years. I currently am using a 256gb one in a Microsoft Surface Pro, and also have two 512gb Samsung Evo Pro cards installed: one in a Samsung S10e, with all sorts of files on it, and the other in a HiBy Digital M300 DAP for music files, exclusively, and most are larger FLAC files. All three cards have run flawlessly and they've all been formatted, as needed, using one of a few Samsung SD card adapters that I connect into a USB A port through an older ~$10 Transcend card reader using Windows Explorer formatting routine that pops up on insertion of any card and reader. Nothing sophisticated or special at all.

Good luck with your effort. Unfortunately, I don't have any experience with your phone or brand for more direct advise, but I've used the same cards and formatting practice with Sony phones and other devices successfully for decades. I used to use SanDisk cards and I don't recall formatting any micro or full-size SD card in any other way since these cards have been in vogue. I probably have formatted with a device's OS from time to time, but those would have been exceptions. I don't recall any particular method being problematic. (Not that there not other methods, perhaps superior or preferred)

Finally, I have never required a card bigger than 512gb, and I recommend prompt and redundant backing up, especially with these larger capacities.

 

[Satyaa]

I know that there are several recommendations for card use in cameras. For example, the common recommendation is to use 'SD Card Formatter'. Another is to always format the card in camera, especially if it was formatted by Windows or Mac default programs.

I was curious if there is something like that for phone use.

After my post above, I formatted the 1TB card using 'SD Card Formatter'. The 'Overwrite format' took around 24 hours (probably more).

Then I inserted the card into the phone and formatted again using Android's Storage app.

I copied all my audio and photos files again to it. It seems to be working for now. It says 377GB used. So, a 512GB card would work if this failed again.

I am not worried about backup because this is for use on the phone. All the original content is on external HDDs.

Thanks.