The DJI Avata has 20GB of internal storage to save your videos and pictures on the go. Though it seems like a lot of space, this internal storage isn’t enough to save high-resolution footage.
Knowing this inconvenience, DJI equipped the Avata with a SD port for you to increase its storage capacity with a convenient and powerful little card.
Your DJI Avata and its Goggles work with UHS-I Speed Grade 3 or superior SD cards up to 256GB. According to DJI, the best micro SD cards for the Avata includes the SanDisk, Kingston, and Samsung options you’ll find in the table below:
Although DJI doesn’t make you use these SD cards exclusively, they highly recommend them. Ultimately, those are the cards DJI tested on the Avata.
So which one should you buy?
In this article, we’ll explain the scenarios in which you want to purchase each card and the reasons to have SD cards on your Goggles too.
Finally, we’ll cover SD card best practices to avoid unpleasant experiences like data corruption.
To help, we’ve identified and reviewed the best drone courses for beginners and professionals.
Which recommended SD card is best for me?
DJI makes life simple by giving us seven SD cards for Avata.
You can pick whichever you want, as all these cards will work flawlessly on your Avata.
Consider the following information to get the exact SD card you need.
Are you on a budget?
The writing speed and storage capacity determine the SD card cost. The more speed and storage a SD card has, the pricier it is.
You can find so many variants with confusing price points.
For example, an 32GB card can be pricier than a 64GB card from the same manufacturer. The reason is that the 32GB option is faster when capturing footage.
With a limited budget, you can’t access cards with high writing speeds and lots of storage, but you need a super-fast SD card with crazy storage capacity for your Avata.
Which SD card should you buy?
Best 32GB SD card
If you’re a hobbyist or amateur photographer, 32GB is enough.
Maybe you want to take 1080p footage of your friends doing tricks with your drone, or you’re starting to film some quick videos or mainly using the Avata to take photos.
In scenarios where you don’t need to store long, high-quality videos and you don’t travel, these cards are the way to go.
We recommend the SanDisk Extreme U3 V30 A1 32GB microSDXC.
When you’re a beginner, your Avata can land forcefully and crash. SD cards are susceptible to physical damage due to their small size and thin shape.
This card is durable and cheap, making it perfect for beginners. If you accidentally destroy this SD card, you won’t lose too much money or data.
Best 64GB SD card
A SD card with 64GB hits the sweet spot. It grants you lots of storage for photos and enough to save almost an hour of cinematic videos at 150Mbps.
These cards are for professionals who film in places where transferring data immediately to their devices is easy due to Internet access or hardware like cables.
Our preferred SD card is the Kingston Canvas Go! Plus U3 V30 A2 64GB microSDXC.
It will give you enough writing speed to comply with the max bitrate Avata offers, storing incredible cinematics.
Paired with the Avata’s 20GB of internal storage, you now have plenty of space to record videos at full specs.
Best 128 and 256GB SD cards
The cards with more storage are the best option for professionals that always travel.
These content creators go to places where constantly reloading SD cards isn’t an option. Besides, they tend to take more shots than anticipated, so having extra space for those situations is crucial.
In this case, we advise you to get the Kingston Canvas React Plus U3 V90 A1 128GB microSDXC.
128GB guarantees you up to two hours of cinematic videos with a max bitrate of 150Mbps while you keep all the pictures in Avata’s storage.
If you’re in the mood for absurd storage capacity, go with the Samsung PRO Plus U3 V30 A2 256GB microSDXC.
However, we don’t recommend depending solely on these high-capacity SD cards. They are durable but delicate pieces that can damage easily.
Also, SD cards are susceptible to heat and water.
Avata gets very hot due to its battery and can accumulate moisture in the SD port, even with the card slot cover, resulting in a loss of tons of data due to a damaged card.
SD Card for DJI Goggles
Aside from the Avata, neither Goggles 2 nor FPV Goggles V2 have internal storage.
These Goggles can record their on-screen display view with all the parameters such as speed, distance, altitude, and battery life.
Then it’s crucial to store its recordings in case you lose your drone and want to track it. It’s also helpful to show DJI the information they need from the flights for warranty purposes.
Image quality isn’t as important here, so the Goggles save up to 1080p videos with a max bitrate of 50Mbps. The SanDisk Extreme U3 V30 A1 32GB microSDXC is enough.
If you want more storage for recording video tutorials, use the Kingston Canvas Go! Plus U3 V30 A2 64GB microSDXC.
The idea is to save money and use the best SD cards on your Avata.
SD card best practices
Besides our recommended SD cards, your pick will all depend on your taste in brand, capacity, and speed.
However, there are five practices you should keep in mind while using SD cards on your Avata and Goggles. Let’s go over them now.
Formatting a SD card
You should always format the SD card on the Avata and Goggles. This way, your Avata or Goggles create the correct directory to save the photos and videos.
Dedicated SD cards for each device
Before using an SD card on your devices, you should format it on each device.
Then that SD card should only be used in that device. If you want to use the Goggles card in the Avata, format it first on the Avata before use.
This practice avoids file corruption.
Minimum SD card usage
SD cards wear over time, but there isn’t a specific due time.
You should always keep at least three SD cards handy. You never know when they could break or damage!
Data transfer
As of this writing, we can’t use QuickTransfer with Avata. The fastest option is to use the card reader with our computer.
This is also less prone to corrupt files as you don’t need a steady Internet connection.
Use it continuously
Finally, SD cards are susceptible to ambient conditions. They can wear when stored without notice.
Constantly use your SD cards to check their functionality. This practice will save you a headache.