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What SD Card Do I Need for the DJI Mini SE?

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Even if you’re not new to drones, picking the correct SD card for your DJI Mini SE might be challenging. It’s a terrible sensation when you’re attempting to record a special moment and your SD card isn’t up to the task since it’s not quick enough.

**SD cards of a ‘Micro’ size are the ones required for your DJI Mini SE. They must have a Grade Three-speed and sufficient storage capacity to preserve all the data generated by a full day of recording and photographing, which frequently consists of three full batteries. **

Today, we’ll go over everything you need to know about SD cards for your Mini SE, as well as our top three suggestions. You simply cannot go wrong if you choose one of them.

Let’s get started!

SD Card Types #

There are several types of SD cards, which might be confusing if this is your first encounter with this technology.

Since its invention in 1999, SD cards have developed from being capable of holding only 2 GB of data to storing up to 128 TB!

Photographers used to carry multiple of these SD cards for their work in the early 2000s, but with today’s storage capabilities, one high-capacity SD card will provide for the great majority of demands. Drones are in the same boat.

You’ll only need one SD card for your DJI Mini SE, whether you’re recording video, taking RAW photos, or doing both.

SD cards can be classified in 3 ways:

By their Capacity: This is the most common form of classifying them. You can find them in 4 families.

  • SDSC: The first and most common type of SD card, with a maximum storage capacity of 2 GB.
  • SDHC: It was the first SD card to go above 2GB capacity, and it can hold up to 32 GB of data.
  • SDXC: These SD cards have a huge capacity increase, ranging from over 32 GB to 2 TB.
  • SDUC: These have the greatest storage capacity, from over 2 TB to an astonishing 128 TB.

By their Read Mechanism: You can also categorize SD cards by reading mechanism, which tells us how fast they read.

  • Standard: It has a 12.5 MB/s read speed.
  • High-speed: 25 MB/s (double what the standard SD card offers).
  • UHS-I: 50 MB/s (doubles the speed offered by High-speed cards).
  • UHS-II: 156 MB/s (triples the speed offered by the UHS-I).
  • UHS-III: 312 MB/s full-duplex (doubles the UHS-II), or 624 MB/s half-duplex (four times the speed offered in UHS-II cards).
  • Express: The fastest of them all, delivering speeds of up to 985 MB/s full-duplex (more than three times the speeds offered by UHS-III cards in full-duplex.

By their Dimensions: This is one of the most important features of an SD card that you should be aware of. It won’t fit in your drone if you buy the wrong one! It indicates their physical measurements.

  • Standard: This size used to be the most common, as it is the one used in DSLR cameras, measuring 1.260×0.945×0.083 in (32.0×24.0×2.1 mm).
  • Mini: This type is the one used in old phones (also known as “bricks”). They measure 0.846×0.787×0.055 in (21.5×20.0×1.4 mm).
  • Micro: Lastly, the size of the SD card that you will use in your DJI Mini SE. This is also the size that today’s smartphones use too. It measures 0.591×0.4333×0.039 in (15.0×11.0×1.0 mm).

Knowing exactly what capacity, read mechanism, and size your SD card needs to be is an essential part of preparing your drone for your operations. Keep reading to find out your best options!

Does the DJI Mini SE come with an SD card? #

The DJI Mini SE does not come with an SD card, unlike some other drones such as the Parrot Anafi Extended. It’s not even included in the Fly More Combo. As a result, you must select and purchase the card on your own.

Contrary to what you may be thinking, it is a good thing that DJI is not forcing you to use a specific microSD card, as every pilot’s needs are different.

What SD card do I need for the Mini SE? #

As we have seen, there are many types of SD cards. They can be classified by capacity, read mechanism (speed), or size.

What speed? #

Due to the high demands of reading and writing necessary to shoot high-resolution footage at 2.7K/30FPS, the DJI Mini SE requires a microSD UHS-I with a minimum grade 3 speed.

You can use a faster MicroSD card, but it will be more expensive and pointless.

What MicroSD card capacity do you need? #

To better understand what is the card size that you need for your DJI Mini SE, let’s have a look at the chart below.

Video Duration
2.7K File Size at 30 FPS

60 seconds
300 MB

5 min.
1.5 GB

10 min.
3 GB

30 min.
9 GB

1 h
18 GB

We can estimate that shooting video at 2.7K/30FPS on a full DJI Mini SE battery, which lasts a maximum of 22 minutes, will use roughly 6.6 GB of storage based on this chart, which is built on estimated data.

If you own the Fly More Combo, which includes two more batteries (for a total of three), the MicroSD card would hold roughly 19.8 GB of data if you recorded video at 2.7K/30FPS throughout the length of the batteries.

As you can see, in both these cases, you could use a 32 GB MicroSD and you’d have plenty of storage for your needs.

However, many pilots end up buying more batteries, either to work with their drone professionally, or just for fun.

If you use six batteries and record video at 2.7K/30FPS for their entire duration, you’ll wind up with 39.6 GB of data, requiring a 64 GB MicroSD card.

With a total of 9 batteries, in the same recording conditions, the total data stored would be 59.4 GB. Again, a 64 GB MicroSD card should be enough.

If you are going to use more than 9 batteries, a 128 GB card would be necessary.

Considering that the Mini SE does not offer the possibility of shooting images in RAW, the video format is the most demanding feature for your MicroSD card.

Take a look at the following chart to understand the photo storage needs of a JPG file.

Number of Pictures
JPG File Size in MicroSD Card

1
4 MB

100
400 MB

500
2 GB

1000
4 GB

By comparing the two charts, we can see that even a 32 GB MicroSD card can hold hundreds of photos and many 2.7K/30FPS films.

If you own a Mini SE with just one battery and have no intentions to purchase anymore, a 32 GB MicroSD card should be enough for you.

What SD size does the DJI Mini SE require? #

Drones, as previously mentioned, use MicroSD cards. The majority of them come with an adaptor that allows you to read it in a Mini reader.

When you buy a MicroSD card, it normally comes with an adaptor to convert it to a MiniSD. However, you should double-check that yours comes with it because you never know when you’ll need it.

So, what SD card should I buy? #

Now that we have all the data on top of the table, it is time to tell you crystal clear what SD card you need for your DJI Mini SE.

The best MicroSD cards for your drone are those that offer a minimum of Grade 3 Speed, with a capacity between 32 to 64 GB.

You can use a 128 GB MicroSD card if you want, but you will need a lot of batteries to fill even a 64 GB card.

Continue reading for our top suggestions.

Top 3 SD Cards Officially Recommended for the Mini SE #

The MicroSD market is filled with options. This is why we are going to give you a list of the best cards for your DJI Mini SE, so you only need to worry about actually clicking/tapping on the link and buying it.

Before starting the list, keep in mind that all our recommendations are officially supported by DJI, so you have nothing to worry about in terms of compatibility issues.

Samsung Evo Pro Plus (+ Card Reader) #

The Samsung Evo Pro Plus is one of the most sold and best-reviewed MicroSD cards in the market. This card offers a read speed of 95 MB/s and a write speed of 20 MB/s.

As if the card wasn’t impressive enough, the box also includes an SD card reader. What a fantastic idea! However, if you already have a reader, we are also sharing links to the card on its own.

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