GoPro Memory Card Recommendations

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These are the best memory cards for GoPro cameras, and their performance is measured on a MacBook Pro.

GoPro officially recommends and tests SanDisk, Samsung, Delkin, AmazonBasics, PNY, and Gigastone cards. Still, many other brands work well with the new camera models.

 If you experience freezes, glitches, or crashes, it is very often a problem with SD card compatibility, and swapping to a different card can usually fix these issues.

GoPro SD Card Compatibility

All the latest GoPro cameras use microSD memory cards. The GoPro Hero 8 to the Hero 11 will perform best with U3 memory cards, which have a maximum capacity of 256GB. The Hero 11 was reported to take cards up to 2TB, but all other GoPro cameras since then are limited to 1TB.

U3 vs U1: This is your memory card, speed class. U1 has a minimum write speed of 10 MB/s, and U3 has a minimum write speed of 30 MB/s. To guarantee performance with the Hero 8 or the Hero 9, you must use a U3-speed memory card, since the camera writes at about 12 MB/s, above the U1 spec.

SDXC vs SDHC: SDXC and SDHC refer to the file structure. 32-bit vs 64-bit. SDHC is always in 32GB cards and smaller, whereas SDXC is always found with 64GB cards and larger. The 32-bit file structure in the 32 GB cards means you cannot record clips larger than 4GB. However, today, GoPro cameras still only record clips with a 4GB limit, which is known as chaptering. Regardless of which camera you use, it won’t matter whether you choose SDHC or SDXC memory cards.

UHS-I vs. UHS-II: UHS-II memory cards are now available, but the GoPro cameras do not have the hardware to take advantage of them. They will still work, but they will just run at UHS-I speeds.

GoPro SD Card Capacity

The memory card size you can use for your GoPro depends on which model you have.

The New GoPro cameras can use memory cards up to 1TB.

Older GoPro cameras, such as the GoPro Hero7, can use 256GB memory cards, but they can cause problems when mounted to the Karma gimbal, so you would have to drop down to a 64GB card.

This list shows the memory card reviews for each GoPro model and the maximum SD card capacity for GoPro cameras.

 What Size Memory Card Is Best for GoPro?

The maximum memory card size depends on the GoPro model (see the chart above). Also, starting with the Hero 9, GoPro cameras now offer higher bitrates of 100 Mbps, with an average bitrate of around 96 Mbps, and, starting with the Hero 13, they offer a bitrate of 150 Mbps.

GoPro Hero Record Times | Chart

Here is a handy chart of minute record times for the different record formats.

You can record at a higher or lower bitrate on most GoPro cameras today. However, the camera defaults to a lower bitrate on many presets, so turn that up when programming your recording preset.