Best Memory Card GoPro Hero 9

With the new 5k H.265 recording modes in the GoPro Hero 9, you may be wondering what memory cards are best for the camera.

This guide will walk you through the different requirements and recording modes of the GoPro Hero 9 to help you find the best memory cards for the most stable performance.

Best SD Cards GoPro Hero9 Black

Before buying memory cards for the Hero9 there are a few things you should know.

The camera uses a single UHS-I micro SD memory card slot. You don’t need to buy a UHS-II card, but you should stick with the U3 speed class to avoid any problems.

The Hero9 has a memory card size of up to 256GB. It’s not recommended to use bigger cards.

Top 5 Recommendation SD Cards

These are the best memory cards with their corresponding performance take from an Android smartphone.

The GoPro Hero9 can take memory cards up to 256GB, but 128GB cards work very well for normal usage.

The bitrate of even the 5k recording mode in the Hero 9 is only up to 100Mbps which is 12.5MB/s so you don’t actually need an ultra-fast micro sd memory card, just one that comes rated with a minimum of a U3 spec. U3 means the card will maintain a minimum write speed of 30MB/s.

GoPro Hero 9 Capacity

The GoPro Hero9 Black takes micro sd memory cards up to 256GB in size. It is not recommended to use cards larger than this.

GoPro Hero 9 Memory Card Compatibility

The GoPro Hero9 takes micro SD memory cards with a U3 speed class.

After testing memory cards in GoPro cameras since the Hero5, I discovered a trend with GoPro cameras where you can get strange errors or problems if you’re using the wrong or incompatible card. A lot of people think this is the camera’s fault, maybe so, but usually, most strange issues are cleared up by switching out your memory card. This has improved dramatically over the years, but occasionally you’ll still see some issues with things like camera locking up, lagging, clips getting corrupted, or battery draining when the camera is off, if you’re using a memory card the camera doesn’t like. Like the Nintendo Switch Sandisk cards as an example – GoPros hate those.

If you experience lost clips, errors, abnormally bad battery life, laggy interface, etc, try switching out your card first.

Can You Use UHS-II cards?

Only buy UHS-II micro SD cards if you want very fast transfer speeds from your card to your computer with a micro UHS-II reader. They will give you no benefit in the camera.

SD Card Related Camera Specs

Info About Our Top Recommended Cards

Of all these cards, the Sandisk Extreme and Extreme Plus cards are pretty much guaranteed to work. But there are some other great options, especially if you want to use your camera on other devices, and there is even a new Delkin Black card that offers a tougher build quality.

Sandisk Extreme UHS-I V30 A2 This is the best memory card you can buy for the GoPro Hero 9. It works in all GoPros and Sandisk Extreme cards have always been the cards bundled with the cameras and sold by GoPro themselves. If for whatever reason you can’t get this card then there are a few other great options below.

You can also see GoPro’s official memory considerations. I have made sure the cards I’ve recommended here work in my GoPro without any issues, but are also on GoPro’s official considerations page to further reduce any problems, minus the Netac which they have not tested. 

Best Size Memory Card For GoPro Hero9

With the maximum micro SD card size for the GoPro Hero 9 being 256GB, at 5k 100Mbps, you will be limited to about 341 minutes of video per card.

With the higher bitrate of the Hero 9 compared to the older cameras, I find myself often getting halfway through a 64GB card, with the high bitrate doing things like going to SeaWorld with the kids. I almost never use the full capacity of a 128GB card on a weekend trip, but I do recommend 128GB if you can afford them as they allow you to go a few days without worry about running out of space.

Do you need an SD Card Bigger than the 32GB the Hero 9 ship with?

Now that the Hero 9 is capable of shooting 30p at 100Mbps, you may want a card bigger than 32GB. At 100Mbps, a 32GB card will only give you 43 minutes of recording.

GoPro Hero 9 Bitrates

These are the bitrates you can expect to find in the different record modes.

Use the Bitrate Calculator to see how much time each bitrate will record.

Micro SD Memory Card Speed Tests

We tested each SD memory card to get find their read and write speeds using the Samsung Galaxy S10+. This smartphone is great because it has a micro  SD card reader and allows us to see the results from smaller devices powered by ARM processors, with smaller components, similar to what our GoPro’s are using, versus a USB reader plugged into a PC.

The GoPro has moved the Hero 9 bitrate up to 100Mbps and is now shooting 5k. To shoot 5k at 100Mbps you will need a memory card with a minimum write speed of 12.5MB/s which means the SD Card must be a U3 rating. You should no longer be using U1 memory cards.

This table shows the results of our micro SD memory read and write speeds tests.

Best Memory Cards GoPro Hero9 | Conclusions

While it seems like there is a lot to worry about with memory cards in the GoPro, most of the problems come from using off-brands, or specialty cards like the Sandisk Nintendo Switch cards and high endurance cards.

GoPro cameras have been configured to run very well with Sandisk cards and Samsung micro SD cards. The Sandisk Extreme cards really are the way to go, but I have found Extreme Pro, Ultra, and Plus cards all work great as well.

If you are still having strange issues with camera lockups or sluggish performance, it’s almost certainly your memory card and the firsts thing you should always try is to swap out memory cards to something different than what you were using.

Have an older GoPro?

Check out this guide to the Best Micro SD Cards For GoPro Cameras.