You never know what you are going to get when you go generic. Sometimes, a generic product can surprise you and actually prove to be better than the brand/product it is imitating. This isn’t always the case though. Many times, it is a cheap imitation, or even a fake counterfeit trying to masquerade as the real thing.
SD cards are a common topic when it comes to this. There are so many counterfeits out there pretending to come from companies like SanDisk, making it difficult for unknowing consumers who try to buy them from places like eBay. They even find their way into market places likes Amazon where they are able to offload a decent load of the product before Amazon catches onto it and takes them down.
Then you have the many brands that balance the line between “sort of” looking like the name brand, but just different enough. Either way, both look-a-like, and counterfeit options are littered with bad experiences as you don’t always get what you expect. Some of these cards are re-branded to look like newer models when they are actually a fraction of the size they claim to be. We have seen generic 128GB cards that were actually 8GB cards with a new sticker.
In other cases, you run into other anomalies. The card in the images above, for example, looks like a normal SD card on the outside (this is a BOYMXU 64GB 95MB/s SD Card). Normally, you wouldn’t bat an eye at it as long as it performs as it should. In this case, it actually does perform as it should we have been able to get an average read speed of around 95.26MB/s from it in our tests, and it does show as 64GB capacity. We think, hey we found a winner! The price is right at around $12 to be competitive enough. At least until we pop it open.
Rats! Once again, deceived. It really isn’t an SD card at all. It is a 64GB MicroSD card inside of an adapter that is disguised to be a normal shell. On top of that, the series of MicroSD card is less than what you are supposedly getting with the SD. Just look at the variables printed on both (UHS speed class/rating is less, etc).
What’s odd is if you benchmark the MicroSD card, you get speeds of around 6MB/s (both read and write), which makes sense for its speed class/rating. Put it back into the shell and test it again, and you get 95MB/s (read) and 39MB/s (write). Both scenarios tested using the same TB3 solution capable of reading cards up to 300MB/s and more. So as long as you don’t take the MicroSD card out from the adapter, it appears to operate just fine. Although there is no telling on how the adaptation is improving the speed or if this is putting additional wear on the card inside or not.
So it works! That’s nice, however, they are still deceiving the customer. Firstly, they are selling one product as something else without disclosing this to the customer. It’s an odd scenario, but it is still deception nonetheless and considered bait-and-switch. Second, they are still piggybacking off of the design and reputation of another brand. I think who that is is pretty clear, but in case you didn’t figure it out, I matched it in the image above. Third, their “1000x” does not match up to the speed they are claiming to imitate (95MB/s vs 150MB/s). So although the card does indeed work as promised by the speed on the label, it is still breaking so many rules and what are you actually paying for in the end? The specs of that card are incredibly deceiving/confusing.
It proves to say that you do get what you pay for in many ways. Not all, but many. Sure, Lexar’s 1000x-series cards are a bit more expensive, but you are also getting more out of it. Speed, quality of materials, and likely a longer lifespan (and Lexar’s SD cards are actually SD cards vs hiding MicroSD inside).
How this other brand hasn’t been eliminated by Lexar’s lawyers yet is a mystery. I’d say that likeness is more than obvious (beyond a reasonable doubt) between the two brands for them to feel threatened by it. Something like this affects the reputation of both brands since unknowing consumers may see the resemblance and relate their experiences to both brands assuming they are one and the same. So if the generic resulted in a terrible experience, they may share the same thoughts about Lexar, not knowing any better.
So do your research, and study the reviews of what you are about to buy. When it comes to certain products, going name brand can go a long way (SD is one of those). Understand that when you buy from eBay, you have an increased chance of getting a counterfeit. I am not saying eBay is bad, as we all enjoy using their platform, but their history has proven this over the years when it comes to SD cards (that they don’t enforce anti-counterfeit policies as hard as others).
