Bosch MicroSD 256G SDSDQAF4-256G-I-J

Bosch SD-256G 256GB Industrial MicroSD Card for Surveillance

Overview

The Bosch SD-256G is a 256GB microSD card purpose-built for continuous-recording surveillance environments — not a rebranded consumer card. Where a standard consumer card fails inside a camera running 24/7, the SD-256G is rated for 768 terabytes written (TBW) of endurance, an operating range from -25°C to 85°C, and a 10-year data retention rating at 55°C. These are the specs that matter when you're deploying edge storage inside a dome or bullet camera that won't be touched for years. The SD-256G (often searched as SD 256G) carries CE, FCC, RoHS, and REACH marks — covering commercial deployments across North America and the EU without additional compliance legwork.

Key Features

• 768 TBW Write Endurance: At typical camera bitrates of 3–8 Mbps per channel, 768 TBW translates to years of continuous write cycles before the card approaches end-of-life. Consumer cards rated at 40–100 TBW fail in months under the same load — this is the dividing line between a surveillance-grade card and a desktop card shoehorned into a camera.
• 100 MB/s Sequential Read / 50 MB/s Sequential Write: The read speed matters at incident retrieval — pulling a full day of H.265 footage off the card quickly when you need it. The 50 MB/s write ceiling comfortably handles multi-stream camera bitrates, and the SD6.0 UHS-I 104 interface ensures the host controller isn't the bottleneck.
• V30 / U3 Speed Class Rating: Class 10, U3, and V30 ratings guarantee a minimum sustained write floor of 30 MB/s — the threshold that prevents frame drops on high-resolution video streams. If your camera records at 4K or uses dual-stream storage, V30 is the minimum you should install.
• -25°C to 85°C Operating Temperature: Cameras mounted outdoors in northern climates or in unconditioned mechanical rooms see temperature swings that kill consumer flash. The SD-256G's full industrial temperature range means it won't throttle, refuse to mount, or corrupt data when the enclosure heats up on a summer afternoon or drops below freezing in January.
• 10-Year Data Retention at 55°C: Retained data integrity at elevated temperatures is critical for cameras that write infrequently but need recorded footage to remain readable — staging areas, emergency exits, rarely-triggered motion zones. At 55°C (which is realistic inside a camera enclosure in direct sun), the 10-year retention spec means footage from years ago remains recoverable.
• 256GB Capacity: At a 4 Mbps average bitrate per channel, 256GB holds roughly 5–6 days of continuous footage — enough for most edge buffering use cases where the camera also streams to an NVR. In standalone or edge-only deployments where no NVR is in the loop, 256GB buys meaningful local retention before overwrite.
• RoHS and REACH Compliant: Both EU directives are satisfied out of the box, relevant if you're deploying into government facilities, healthcare, or any project that requires materials compliance documentation in the submittal package.
• Compact Form Factor (32mm x 24mm x 2.1mm, 2g): Standard microSD physical dimensions — fits any camera slot accepting a full-size SD card via included adapter, or directly into microSD slots in compact camera housings. The 2g weight adds nothing measurable to a mounted enclosure.

Integration & Compatibility

The SD-256G uses a standard SD6.0 UHS-I interface, making it compatible with any camera that accepts a full-size SD card. Bosch cameras with onboard SD card slots — including fixed dome and bullet models in the Bosch surveillance line — are the primary target, but the card is not locked to Bosch hardware. Any IP camera accepting Class 10 / UHS-I / SD6.0 media will run it without driver or firmware considerations. When specifying edge storage for a multi-camera deployment, pair this with a network video recorder for central redundancy — the SD card acts as a local buffer during network interruptions, not as the primary archive. For PoE switch planning that affects how cameras with onboard storage are networked, consult a PoE switch selection guide. A surveillance storage planning guide can help you size retention across both edge and centralized storage layers.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What write endurance does the SD-256G carry?

A: The SD-256G is rated for 768 TBW (terabytes written). At typical surveillance bitrates of 4–8 Mbps, this supports years of continuous operation before approaching end-of-life — far beyond what consumer-grade cards offer in the same slot.

Q: What temperature range does the SD-256G support?

A: Operating range is -25°C to 85°C. This covers outdoor installations in cold climates and unconditioned enclosures in summer heat. Data retention is rated for 10 years at 55°C.

Q: Is the SD-256G compatible with cameras other than Bosch models?

A: Yes. It uses the standard SD6.0 UHS-I interface and Class 10 / U3 / V30 ratings, so any camera or recorder accepting a full-size SD card with UHS-I support will work. It is not firmware-locked to Bosch hardware.

Q: Does the SD-256G meet RoHS and REACH requirements?

A: Yes. The card carries RoHS compliance under EU Directive 2011/65/EU and REACH compliance, along with CE, UKCA, FCC, C-tick, EAC, and WEEE marks.

Q: What speed class is the SD-256G rated for?

A: Class 10, U1/U3, and V30 — with sequential read up to 100 MB/s and sequential write up to 50 MB/s. The V30 rating guarantees a minimum 30 MB/s sustained write, sufficient for 4K and dual-stream recording without dropped frames.

Q: How much continuous footage will 256GB hold?

A: At a 4 Mbps average bitrate, 256GB stores approximately 5–6 days of continuous single-stream footage before the card overwrites. Higher bitrates or multi-stream configurations reduce that window proportionally.

Jerry Tildsen

The spec I always check first on a surveillance microSD is TBW endurance, and the SD-256G's 768 TBW rating is what separates it from anything you'd pull off a retail shelf. At a conservative 4 Mbps per channel running 24/7, that's over 480 days of continuous writes before you've consumed even a quarter of the rated endurance — the card will outlast most camera refresh cycles.

Technical Highlights:

• 768 TBW Endurance: Purpose-built for continuous write loads. At 8 Mbps (a realistic H.265 4K stream), the card handles over 10 months of nonstop recording before reaching half its rated write budget — and rated endurance is typically conservative.
• -25°C to 85°C Operating Range: Covers every realistic camera enclosure temperature scenario: winter outdoor installs, rooftop domes baking in summer, unconditioned IDF closets. Consumer cards typically derate or corrupt data outside 0°C–70°C.
• V30 / 50 MB/s Write Speed: The 30 MB/s guaranteed minimum floor from the V30 rating means dual-stream recording (main + sub stream) won't cause buffer drops even at higher resolutions — important if the camera is configured to write both streams locally.

Deployment Considerations:

• The 256GB capacity on a single channel at 4 Mbps gives you roughly 5–6 days of retention before overwrite — plan your NVR polling interval accordingly if you rely on the card as a network-outage buffer rather than a primary archive.
• The card's UHS-I interface caps at 104 MB/s bus speed. If you're specifying a camera that supports UHS-II slots, the SD-256G will operate correctly but won't use the higher-speed bus — not a surveillance concern at current bitrates, but worth noting if the host hardware ever changes.

This card is the right fit for standalone edge deployments and network-outage buffering in distributed camera systems — particularly in industrial or outdoor enclosures where the -25°C to 85°C thermal range is the deciding factor and a failed consumer card means a service call.