Review: Adafruit’s Low-profile microSD card adapter for Raspberry Pi.

I always come back from from a Raspberry Jamboree with more geek stuff and trinkets , let’s face it it would be rude not to. The latest CamJam was no exception, and I will actually review some of it here starting with Adafruit’s Low-profile microSD card adapter for Raspberry Pi. It is a very low cost , high-tech adapter – enabling the use of Micro-SD cards – for good or for bad. The build quality as with most things Adafruit is very good and the Micro SD card inserts into the adapter with a very well engineered and satisfying click. At  about £6 ($5.95 from the US) it is a very well priced accessory.

The Build Quality of the Adafruit adapter is great, very well engineered.

  So that’s it then , all good – end of story . . . . . . errr well not quite, the main purpose of the adapter is to create a more low profile SD card adapter reducing the risk of breakages and accidents damaging the SD card socket. Which  it does, it is not protruding much more than 3 mm from the RaspberryPi when properly inserted. This is great for when you use the RaspberryPi without any cover, case or enclosure – the risk of tearing the SD card out is minimal, BUT what if you want a highly desirable PiBow wrapping your precious Pi ?? Well the adapter unfortunately adds 2mm to the thickness of the SD card slot rendering a lot of Raspberry Pi cases unusable without modification. (Pimoroni offers replacement bottom layers)

 

 

PiBow Ninja case clearly shows a 1 mm gap between the 2 bottom sections, also you can not reach the Micro SD. This could be modified if you’re handy with needle files & wet/dry abrasive paper just remember Acrylic cracks very easily. Pimoroni also offers replacement PiBow bottom layers to fit the  MicroSD card Adapter at a  measly  £2.

Clear Element14 case will not shut as Adapter / Micro SD rubs on bottom lip, this could  be modified to work a lot easier – with a bit of filing and sanding on the bottom lip.

So would I recommend the Adafruit Adapter ?? Yes absolutely albeit a bit to chunky – if you are NOT protecting your RaspberryPi with a standard fit case or enclosure and you mainly deal with Micro SD cards. For those of you looking to pimp your Pi I would probably look at something like the  Shortening microSD adapter for Raspberry Pi – again from Adafruit or ThePiHut with a lower thickness profile. As already mentioned replacement bottom layers are available for all PiBow cases. Please share you’re own experiences, leave comments below if your have come across different solutions.