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TF card vs SD card: what is it and 9 easy ways to help you tell their differences

By Goraud Mazanec 2019-06-20 19639 1

TF card (T-Flash card or Micro SD card) and SD card (Secure Digital card) are two common memory cards widely used on small electronic devices such as smartphones, digital cameras, game consoles, etc. However, they are also different in many aspects, such as size, application, price, etc. Now, this guide will help you get full understanding about the two types of memory cards.

What is TF card?

TF card (TransFLash card) is also known as Micro SD card, was jointly developed by Motorola and SANDISK and was launched in 2004. It is a ultra-small card (11x15x1mm) and just has a quarter of the size of SD card, so the TF card can be considered as the smallest memory card.

Meanwhile, Trans-Flash Card is a member of SD Card product. Besides, the TF card can work with SD adapter and it is compatible with any SD card reader. TF card can be also used as SD card after it is converted by SD card adapter.

The T-Flash card is the smallest flash card on the market and is suitable for a number of multimedia applications. As TF card adopt the design of SD structure, so the SD Association officially renamed it as Micro SD at the end of 2004 to make it a member of SD products.

What is SD card?

SD card(Secure Digital card) is a new generation memory device based on Semiconductor Flash memory. It was jointly launched by Panasonic, Toshiba and SanDisk and released in August 1999. Because of its small size, fast data transmission speed, hot swappable and other excellent characteristics, the SD card is widely used in portable devices, such as digital camera, personal digital assistant, multimedia player and so on.

What are the differences between TF card and SD card?

Many people don’t know the difference between TF card and SD card. Now, let’s show you up to 9 easy ways to distinguish them.

1.Different name

SD card, that is, Secure Digital Memory Card, Chinese translation into secure digital card.

TF card (T-Flash), also known as MicroSD, is a kind of memory card. It was later renamed TransFlash; and renamed MicroSD because it was adopted by the SD Association (SDA). Other memory cards taken by SDA include miniSD and SD cards.

2.Different definition

SD card is a new generation of memory device based on semiconductor flash memory.

TF card is a very small flash memory card, which adopts the latest NAND MLC technology and controller technology of SanDisk.

3.Different origin

The SD card was jointly developed by Panasonic, Toshiba and SanDisk in August 1999.

TF cards are the latest generation of memory card specifications jointly launched by Motorola and SanDisk and was launched in 2004.

4.Different size and appearance

TF card and SD card are designed with different size. The volume of SD card is 24mm x 32mm x 2.1mm; The volume of TF card is 15mm x 11mm x 1mm. Besides, they also look different. Please see the pictures below.

5.Different application

SD cards are widely used in portable devices, such as digital cameras, personal digital assistants (PDA) and multimedia players.

TF cards are mainly used in mobile phones, but because of its extremely small size, with increasing capacity, TF cards have gradually begun to be used in GPS devices, portable music players and some flash memory disks.