When buying a dash cam system for your vehicle, many people tend to forget one hugely important item: the microSD card. MicroSD card usage in a dash cam is so vital because some cards fail very quickly and you may lose crucial footage in case of an accident.
When we talk about Class 10 and MLC rating, we’re referring to the speed rating of the SD card.
Class 10 is a class of rank on the write speed of the SD card; the number 10 stands for 10 megabytes per second. Generally, what we see with the more affordable cards are slower read (download) and write (upload) speeds. This leads to recording issues or literal skips in the recording.
On average, 2-channel dash cams write 16GB/hour and 1-channel dash cams write 8GB/hour.
Having a reliable, fast, and durable SD card can help ensure that you’re always protected. That being said, “faster SD cards” won’t necessarily improve video quality nor durability. Remember that dash cams don’t require the highest speed rating - rather, they require durability.
The best MicroSD cards to use for your dash cam should be at least a class 10 rank for speed and durability
The amount of space is important for your everyday dash cam use. However, the size of SD cards may vary depending on your use of the dash cam.
A 32GB card is great for value for those who use their dash cams for driving recording. Typically this translates to about 3-4 hours of 1080P recording, which is more than enough for most drivers.
If you’re using a parking mode dash cam, a 64GB size and higher improves durability and gives you extended parking recording. Most parking modes also have multiple recording modes to conserve space on the SD card, such as time-lapse mode which generally condenses 30 minutes of recording into 5 minute clips, or impact/motion detection which only records when one of the two are detected. Still, a larger SD card will prove helpful as the camera stays active through the night.
Our most popular cards are the 128GB option, since most customers prefer the peace of mind that footage won’t be overwritten so quickly. In addition, memory partition feature separates video files based on the recording to offer you additional forms of protection.
Rideshare drivers may want to use the larger 256GB card so as to keep the most amount of video storage in case of any issues with previous customers. These cards are significantly more expensive per gigabyte but most find them to be of value. This is especially true if running a 3-channel setup, as recording on 3 devices at once will take up more space.
As some Rideshare drivers or Fleets may want multiple days worth of backlogged footage, the fact that dash cams generally overwrite footage naturally can be a detriment. If this is the case, then using this larger card, and swapping it out for another after a shift is recommended, while offloading footage to a local storage device or PC. Such a fleet may want to consider remote storage as well with a cloud plan. Check out BlackVue's Over the Cloud feature here.
How much video can an SD card hold?
This is a question we get all the time and the answer depends on two factors: the SD card size and the dash cam's bit rate.
This show the available recording quality settings, corresponding bitrates and recording time for the Thinkware U1000.
Note: These numbers are just an approximation.
16GB
1 hour 15 mins
50 mins
32GB
2 hours 35 min
1 hour 30mins
64GB
5 hours 10 min
3 hours 5 mins
128GB
10 hours 25 mins
6 hours 5 mins
These tables show the available recording quality settings, corresponding bitrates and recording time for our bestselling BlackVue dashcams.
Note:
1. These numbers are just an approximation.
2. BlackVue has a comprehensive Video Quality Settings and Recording Time for the available recording quality settings and time for all BlackVue dash cams.
16GB
3 hours 50 mins
3 hours
2 hours 35 mins
1 hour 15 mins
32GB
7 hours 40 mins
6 hours
5 hours 10 mins
2 hours 30 mins
64GB
15 hours 20 mins
12 hours
10 hours 20 mins
5 hours
128GB
30 hours 40 mins
24 hours
20 hours 40 mins
10 hours
256GB
61 hours 20 mins
48 hours
41 hours 20 mins
20 hours
16GB
2 hours 10 mins
1 hour 40 mins
1 hour 20 mins
55 mins
32GB
4 hours 20 mins
3 hours 20 mins
2 hours 40 mins
1 hour 50 mins
64GB
8 hours 40 mins
6 hours 40 mins
5 hours 20 mins
3 hours 40 mins
128GB
17 hours 20 mins
13 hours 20 mins
10 hours 40 mins
7 hours 20 mins
256GB
24 hours 40 mins
26 hours 40 mins
21 hours 20 mins
14 hours 40 mins
16GB
2 hours 45 mins
1 hour 25 mins
1 hour 20 mins
55 mins
32GB
5 hours 30 mins
2 hours 50 mins
2 hours 40 mins
1 hour 50 mins
64GB
11 hours
5 hours 40 mins
5 hours 20 mins
3 hours 40 mins
128GB
22 hours
11 hours 20 mins
10 hours 40 mins
7 hours 20 mins
256GB
44 hours
22 hour 40 mins
21 hours 20 mins
14 hours 40 mins
16GB
4 hours
3 hours 15 mins
2 hours 45 mins
32GB
8 hours
6 hours 30 mins
5 hours 30 mins
64GB
16 hours
13 hours
11 hours
128GB
32 hours
26 hours
22 hours
256GB
64 hours
52 hours
44 hours
16GB
2 hours 20 mins
1 hour 50 mins
1 hour 25 mins
32GB
4 hours 40 mins
3 hours 40 mins
2 hours 50 mins
64GB
9 hours 20 mins
7 hours 20 mins
5 hours 40 mins
128GB
18 hours 40 mins
15 hours 40 mins
11 hours 20 mins
256GB
37 hours 20 mins
31 hours 20 mins
22 hours 40 miins
These tables show the available recording quality settings, corresponding bitrates and recording time for our bestselling VIOFO dashcams.
Note: These numbers are just an approximation.
16GB
2 hours 25 mins
1 hour 10 mins
55 mins
35 mins
32GB
4 hours 45 mins
2 hours 25 mins
1 hour 40 mins
1 hour 10 mins
64GB
9 hours 30 mins
4 hours 45 min
3 hours 25 mins
2 hours 25 mins
128GB
19 hours
9 hours 35 mins
6 hours 55 mins
4 hours 45 mins
256GB
38 hours 5 mins
19 hours 10 mins
13 hours 40 mins
9 hours 40 mins
16GB
2 hours 40 mins
1 hour 35 mins
1 hour 5 mins
40 mins
32GB
5 hours 15 mins
3 hours 15 mins
2 hours 5 mins
1 hour 25 mins
64GB
10 hours 35 mins
6 hours 30 mins
4 hours 10 mins
2 hours 45 mins
128GB
21 hours 15 mins
13 hours
6 hours 25 mins
5 hours 35 mins
256GB
42 hours 30 mins
26 hours
12 hours 25 mins
11 hours 10 mins
16GB
1 hour 25 mins
55 mins
35 mins
30 mins
32GB
2 hours 45 mins
2 hours 25 mins
1 hour 15 mins
1 hour
64GB
5 hours 40 mins
3 hours 25 mins
2 hour 35 mins
1 hour 55 mins
128GB
11 hours 25 mins
6 hours 55 mins
5 hours 5 mins
3 hours 45 mins
256GB
22 hours 45 mins
13 hours 40 mins
10 hours 15 mins
7 hours 35 mins
16GB
1 hour 35 mins
1 hour 5 mins
45 mins
30 mins
32GB
3 hours 15 mins
2 hours 10 mins
1 hour 35 mins
1 hour 5 mins
64GB
6 hours 30 mins
4 hours 32 mins
3 hours 5 mins
2 hours 10 mins
128GB
13 hours
8 hours 55 mins
6 hours 10 mins
4 hours 25 mins
256GB
26 hours
17 hours 45 mins
12 hours 25 mins
8 hours 40 mins
32GB
2 hours 45 mins
2 hours 25 mins
64GB
5 hours 30 mins
4 hours 40 mins
128GB
11 hours 5 mins
5 hours 30 mins
256GB
22 hours 5 mins
18 hours 55 mins
Nearly all dash cams out there are constantly recording to the SD card over the course of your drive, protecting you from anything unexpected on the road. Dash cams perform drastically more recording when compared to a standard use camera.
This combined with the constant video looping and high image quality of many units will result in eventually consuming a standard issue SD card. Of course, cheap SD card brands will be consumed quicker, this is why we recommend reliable brands such as SanDisk or Samsung brand SD cards.
An SD card will last on average of 1-2 years in a dash cam. This is perfectly normal, and one reason a backup SD card is recommended, leading us to our next point.
In addition, we recommend all of our customers to purchase a smaller 16GB or 32GB card to be kept in your vehicle at all times. The reason is because they can be used in case your SD card in the unit fails or you’re away on a trip and won’t be able to save or review the footage in time before it gets overwritten.
You’ll be able to swap your cards out instantly and keep recording without worrying that important footage will be deleted.
BlackboxMyCar is proud to say that all the microSD cards we offer have been rigorously tested to ensure compatibility and to offer the longest lifespan as well.
Our third-party microSD cards go through the same quality testing and are a more affordable option for SD card options. No matter what card you buy from us, all of these are covered under a 1-year in-house warranty so you can be rest assured that we’ll resolve any issues that you may come across.
Due to Dash Cam's naturally aggressive read/write cycles, use of an SD card inside will very frequently invalidate the manufacturer's warranty. But not ours! Rest assured you'll still be covered when shopping with BlackboxMyCar
If you have any further questions, comments or suggestions, then don't hesitate to reach out to our product experts today!
Not to fret, our in-house product experts are here to help. We have spent years curating helpful content and video guides, helping customers with their dash cams, but we understand that we can always do better. Contact us using the form below and we'll get back to you as soon as we can. We love what we do, because we're here to help you make the most informed purchasing decision.
