Lexar rolls out the world’s first stainless steel SD cards to join its Armor storage family

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In addition to being resistant to bending they are IP68 certified.

Lexar at IFA
(Image credit: Lexar)

Lexar has taken the wraps off what it claims are the world’s first stainless-steel encased SD cards. Joining the firm’s Armor Series, which already contains products like rugged portable SSDs, the new memory cards boast “bend-resistance,” and are IP68 certified. Two new Armor Series SD cards have been revealed: the Armor Gold SD UHS-II, and Armor Silver Pro SD UHS-II cards.

(Image credit: Lexar)

The best SD cards are naturally quite durable, having no essential moving parts, and are able to survive quite careless handling in general. However, we can’t be the only ones to have seen cards where the case has started to crack open along the seams. If an SD card is mission-critical to you, then a good brand with a reinforced case and official IP rating might be worthwhile.

Lexar uses 316 stainless steel in the construction of the Armor Gold SD UHS-II and Armor Silver Pro SD UHS-II cards. We aren’t sure if they are unibody or constructed from two parts, however, Lexar boasts that these products are bend-resistant and they should be much stronger than common plastic-encased models. Lexar suggests the new Armor SD cards are “ideal for outdoor filming.”

The new cards should also better withstand water and dust ingress compared to most rivals. These storage products feature IP68 waterproofing and dustproofing certification. Hopefully, that will mean it is much less likely that some unwanted substance will enter the SD card shell to possibly corrode the PCB and components within - a data loss risk.

As for performance, we have only seen the numbers printed on the products – with read speeds of up to 280 MB/s on offer, for both Armor Gold and Silver Pro models. Lexar says the new cards feature next-gen PCIe 4.0 performance and are capable of “enabling seamless 8K RAW video shooting.”

(Image credit: Lexar)

If raw performance is the most important aspect of an SD card for you, though, you may be interested in the new Lexar Professional Gold Pro SDXC Express Card, also showcased at IFA (pictured above, right). This model delivers up to 1,700 MB/s data transfer speeds.

The new Lexar Armor Gold SD UHS-II and Armor Silver Pro SD UHS-II cards will be marketed in capacities of 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB. We don’t have retail availability and pricing information at this time.

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Mark Tyson
Mark Tyson
News Editor

Mark Tyson is a news editor at Tom's Hardware. He enjoys covering the full breadth of PC tech; from business and semiconductor design to products approaching the edge of reason.

9 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Li Ken-un
    Surprised that the PCIe 4.0 cards aren’t steel-clad. You’d think that these would run hotter and could use a better heat sink.
    Reply
  • Kamen Rider Blade
    The SD Card makers really should just STOP WASTING their time with the "SD Express" standard.
    Just make CFexpress Type-A & Type-B.

    Those standards were DESIGNED with PCIe connectivity from the base design.

    PCIe on a SD Card is a "KLUDGE" add-on and never worked properly to begin with.

    Ritz Golden Eagle SD Express Card Review: It’s Worse Than We Thought
    SD Express Got an Update But It Still Won’t Make the Format Work
    All The SD Card makers need to focus on getting UHS-III speeds working, adopted alongside CFexpress Type-A ports like Sony did.

    SD Cards should focus on "Cost Effective Capacity".

    Let CFexpress focus on "Transfer Speed w/ 'OK capacity'".

    The SD organization worrying about their existence while trying to kludge a standard into it's existing design that was NEVER designed from it from the outset due to being built before PCIe was a major consideration in the industry.

    KNOCK IT OFF, focus on geting Reliability, Cost Effective Capacity, UHS-III mixed adoption with CFexpress Type-A port adoption on PC's everywhere along with CFexpress Type-B ports as well.

    We can literally turn a hybrid of (Full-Size SD Card / CFxpress Type-A) & CFxpress Type-B into the modern equivalent of the old "A: Drive" & "B: Drive" that the old 5¼" Floppy & 3½" Floppy used to occupy.

    But have them take their respective "Drive Letter" place inside all modern PC's with the correct 3½" Drive Bay add-on.

    Also bring back 3½" Drive Bays & 5¼" Drive Bays.

    Those are awesome for Storage Expansion and general Expandability of the modern PC Case.
    Reply
  • Conor Stewart
    Kamen Rider Blade said:
    The SD Card makers really should just STOP WASTING their time with the "SD Express" standard.
    Just make CFexpress Type-A & Type-B.

    Those standards were DESIGNED with PCIe connectivity from the base design.

    PCIe on a SD Card is a "KLUDGE" add-on and never worked properly to begin with.

    Ritz Golden Eagle SD Express Card Review: It’s Worse Than We Thought
    SD Express Got an Update But It Still Won’t Make the Format Work
    All The SD Card makers need to focus on getting UHS-III speeds working, adopted alongside CFexpress Type-A ports like Sony did.

    SD Cards should focus on "Cost Effective Capacity".

    Let CFexpress focus on "Transfer Speed w/ 'OK capacity'".

    The SD organization worrying about their existence while trying to kludge a standard into it's existing design that was NEVER designed from it from the outset due to being built before PCIe was a major consideration in the industry.

    KNOCK IT OFF, focus on geting Reliability, Cost Effective Capacity, UHS-III mixed adoption with CFexpress Type-A port adoption on PC's everywhere along with CFexpress Type-B ports as well.

    We can literally turn a hybrid of (Full-Size SD Card / CFxpress Type-A) & CFxpress Type-B into the modern equivalent of the old "A: Drive" & "B: Drive" that the old 5¼" Floppy & 3½" Floppy used to occupy.

    But have them take their respective "Drive Letter" place inside all modern PC's with the correct 3½" Drive Bay add-on.

    Also bring back 3½" Drive Bays & 5¼" Drive Bays.

    Those are awesome for Storage Expansion and general Expandability of the modern PC Case.
    Most people are perfectly fine with not having huge drive bays on the front of their PC cases that they will never use. If you really want a case with external drive bays then buy an old case or there are a few made that still have them.

    Why does CFexpress need adopted on PCs everywhere anyway? It is a very niche use case and most people who use PCs will never have even heard of CFexpress, let alone have had to use it.

    It seems you think your very niche and unusual wants and needs are what everyone should have or want when they really aren't.
    Reply
  • Misgar
    Conor Stewart said:
    Most people are perfectly fine with not having huge drive bays on the front of their PC cases that they will never use. If you really want a case with external drive bays then buy an old case or there are a few made that still have them.

    Why does CFexpress need adopted on PCs everywhere anyway? It is a very niche use case and most people who use PCs will never have even heard of CFexpress, let alone have had to use it.

    It seems you think your very niche and unusual wants and needs are what everyone should have or want when they really aren't.
    All the computer cases in my large collection have at least one 5.25in and one 3.25in bay, including the media PCs. Some of my tower cases have up to nine 5.25in front bays, making them handy for multiple hot-swap SAS (Serial Attached SCSI) hard disk bays in TrueNAS servers. I steer well clear of modern computer cases covered in fans and unnecessary blinking lights.

    I use CF cards in my pro DSLRs and find SD cards far more "delicate" when inserting or removing them with gloved hands in cold conditions. Reinforced SD cards (and microSD hopefully?) would be welcome. My first digital camera (Kodak) used 8MB CF cards and it was several years before I bought a camera using SD.

    Many professional photographers use external USB card readers from Lexar, Kingston, Nikon, etc., to copy files from CF, SD and microSD cards to laptops and desktop computers. There must be tens of thousands of people in the world using CF Express, but no doubt there are many millons of gamers who wouldn't recognise a CF card if they trod on it. It takes all sorts to make a world.
    Reply
  • annymmo
    Groundbreaking stainless “Super Steel” generates sustainable hydrogen production from seawater
    Stainless steel for hydrogen paved the way for cost-effective and corrosion-resistant structural components in water electrolysis systems
    Joseph Shavit Published Nov 22, 2023 11:07 PM PST
    https://www.thebrighterside.news/post/groundbreaking-stainless-super-steel-generates-sustainable-hydrogen-production-from-seawater/
    The development, known as stainless steel for hydrogen (SS-H2)

    Professor Huang's team achieved this feat through what they term a "sequential dual-passivation" strategy. Contrary to conventional wisdom, this innovative approach combines two passivation layers, one based on chromium (Cr) and the other on manganese (Mn), resulting in a stainless steel alloy with unparalleled corrosion resistance. The Mn-based layer forms on top of the Cr-based layer, effectively preventing corrosion in chloride media up to an ultra-high potential of 1700 mV. This represents a fundamental breakthrough in stainless steel technology, addressing a long-standing limitation in conventional stainless steel.
    Reply
  • Kamen Rider Blade
    Conor Stewart said:
    Most people are perfectly fine with not having huge drive bays on the front of their PC cases that they will never use. If you really want a case with external drive bays then buy an old case or there are a few made that still have them.
    I already have a few of those, but I want a modernized design that is mass produced.
    Most people will find value once they see the convenience of Front Panel SATA/SAS/PCie Storage Enclosure Drive Planes/Bay for their Storage needs.

    Conor Stewart said:
    Why does CFexpress need adopted on PCs everywhere anyway? It is a very niche use case and most people who use PCs will never have even heard of CFexpress, let alone have had to use it.
    More like having a portable Physical Media based Storage Device that is Convenient & Popular.

    Conor Stewart said:
    It seems you think your very niche and unusual wants and needs are what everyone should have or want when they really aren't.
    To quote the infamous 'Steve Jobs':
    "because customers don't know what they want until we've shown them"

    They don't realize how nice it is to have compact massive storage in a standardized format.

    If you've lived through those times, having a compact Physical Media Storage format was great.

    Time has moved on, we need higher capacity compact Physical Media.

    It's time to introduce the masses to it and let them all enjoy the benefits of having a BOAT LOAD of storage that is reasonably fast or very fast in a physically tiny form factor.
    Reply
  • 8086
    Li Ken-un said:
    Surprised that the PCIe 4.0 cards aren’t steel-clad. You’d think that these would run hotter and could use a better heat sink.
    Except that stainless steel is almost an heat insulator or very poor conductor of heat, this is why it's often used in insulated drink bottles.
    Reply
  • Li Ken-un
    8086 said:
    Except that stainless steel is almost an heat insulator or very poor conductor of heat, this is why it's often used in insulated drink bottles.
    You wanna back that up? The metal construction of insulated drink bottles is never for insulation…
    Reply
  • Misgar
    8086 said:
    Except that stainless steel is almost an heat insulator or very poor conductor of heat, this is why it's often used in insulated drink bottles.
    I looked up the thermal conductivity of Stainless Steel and it's significantly lower than "normal" Steel.

    This chart shows thermal conductivity of Stainless Steel can be as low as 16.2 W/m·K (9.4 Btu/ft·h·°F) at 100 °C (212 °F), depending on alloy type.
    https://www.theworldmaterial.com/thermal-conductivity-of-stainless-steel/
    Contrast this with thermal conductivities for Tool Steel, which vary between 30.5 and 38.9 W/m·K (more than double the figure for Stainless Steel) or 51.9 to 92 W/m·K for Intermediate British Steels (at various temperatures).
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_thermal_conductivities
    Pyrex 7740 Glass is only 1.22 W/m·K at 372.3K (100 °C) and is a much better insulator than Stainless Steel, but far more likely to break if subjected to shock.

    My old vacuum flasks were made from silvered glass inside a plastic shroud. My new vacuum flasks are made of metal. I'd often wondered which was better.

    Obviously glass is best for heat retention, but glass is fragile. Stainless Steel is more robust but but your tea/coffee will probably cool down faster.

    For all I know, there are plastic alternatives to glass or steel for vacuum flasks. Anyone know?
    Reply