PNY Elite 512GB microSD Review

PNY increases their top capacity offering to 512GB!

PNY Elite 512GB microSD
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In Loving Memory
Published
Updated
Manufactured by PNY
2 minutes & 45 seconds read time
TweakTown Rating: 79%

Our Verdict

PNY has the capacity and in a pinch will certainly do the job but to be a real competitor pricing needs adjusted.
PNY Elite 512GB microSD Review 99

While PNY doesn't have the reputation of producing the highest performing memory solutions, they do have value on their side, and with their latest microSD solution, they have added capacity.

The Elite microSD family is PNY mainstream solution for point and shoot cameras, drones, and increasing your phone's storage capacity. Options include 16GB through 512GB with the latter in house for review. Marketing performance is slated to reach 90MB/s under speed class 10, U1 and UHS-I.

With its high capacity, the 512GB PNY Elite is capable of storing 80 hours of FullHD video, 100K pictures or 100K MP3s. Compatibility includes all solution that utilizes the microSD form factor. MSRP of the PNY Elite 512GB microSD comes in at $199.99 with a lifetime warranty.

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The packaging is standard for microSD cards; we have capacity listed at the top along with performance and down below compatibility and branding. In the center, we have the bubble packaging showing the card and its included adapter.

PNY Elite 512GB microSD Review 03
Photo of the PNY U3 Pro Elite MicroSD Card - 512GB
Best Deals: PNY U3 Pro Elite MicroSD Card - 512GB
Today7 days ago30 days ago
$34.99 USD-
$52.22 CAD-
£32.27-
$34.99 USD-
* Prices last scanned on 6/16/2025 at 12:41 am CDT - prices may not be accurate, click links above for the latest price. We may earn an affiliate commission from any sales.

The back offers durability information along with warranty and product features.

PNY Elite 512GB microSD Review 04

As you could have guessed the card follows the microSD format and features a grey and green colorway. Capacity is listed on the card along with its speed classes. This solution does include an adapter for use with DSLR cameras or any device that takes advantage of full SD solutions.

PNY Elite 512GB microSD Review 05

The backside of the card offers model identification and regulatory information.

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As for performance, the PNY Elite 512GB didn't reach its full "marketing" potential in my testing but instead 70 MB/s read, and 21 MB/s write. That said, it's only rated as a Class 10, V10 solution so this performance does fall in line with those specifications.

Closing this review, the PNY isn't the highest performing card we have seen, the Samsung EVO Plus pretty much dances all over it, but in a pinch, it's not a terrible card, so long as the intended task isn't write intensive. With read heavy tasks, like loading mobile games or apps, the card should perform quite well as its only 10-15 MB/s slower than the fastest cards.

As for durability, that has yet to be seen but in my testing, the card handled everything with no hiccups or oddball issues, and that brings us to pricing, which is the only area PNY really needs to address. At $199.99 the Elite in the same capacity is $50 more than an EVO Plus and on par with a Sandisk Extreme, a card that can double its performance. For PNY to be competitive in the current market the Elite needs to shed a few $$ and match Samsung bringing their Elite Pro into competition and on par with the Sandisk Extreme.

Tyler's Test System Specifications

Performance

81%

Quality

75%

Features

80%

Value

78%

Overall

79%

Our Verdict

PNY has the capacity and in a pinch will certainly do the job but to be a real competitor pricing needs adjusted.

Photo of the PNY U3 Pro Elite MicroSD Card - 512GB
Best Deals: PNY U3 Pro Elite MicroSD Card - 512GB
Today7 days ago30 days ago
$34.99 USD-
$52.22 CAD-
£32.27-
$34.99 USD-
* Prices last scanned on 6/16/2025 at 12:41 am CDT - prices may not be accurate, click links above for the latest price. We may earn an affiliate commission from any sales.