Sony's Tough memory cards aren't tough enough; partially recalled in Japan

When the going gets tough… the tough get recalled by the manufacturer. 

Sony Japan has issued a recall and repair program for batches of its Tough CFexpress Type A cards, which have a very unfortunate fault given the nature of the products. 

The company markets its Tough cards as being ultra-rugged and reliable, promising that "you can rely on CFexpress Type A memory cards to work faultlessly in extreme temperatures" among other challenging conditions.

Unfortunately, some cards have been found to experience faults in extreme temperatures. 

"We have discovered that in some CFexpress Type A memory cards in the CEA-G series, there are rare cases where the card is not recognized or writing does not finish in low-temperature environments near the lower limit of operating temperature (-10°C [14°F])," reads the notice on the Sony website. 

"Therefore, we will repair the affected products free of charge during the free repair period below. If you are using an affected memory card product, please check whether your product is eligible for free repair, and if so, apply via the website below or contact us at the address below."

Currently, the issue has only been identified in Japan and the repair scheme is only being offered in the region. I've reached out to Sony to see if it will also be offered in the USA and UK. I'll update this article when I have confirmation.

"We apologize for any inconvenience caused to customers using the affected products," adds Sony. "We appreciate your continued patronage of our products."

Affected products

Tough CFexpress cards of all capacities – 80GB, 160GB, 320GB and 640GB – are affected by the issue, though it is limited to specific batch numbers. 

The following serial numbers have been identified as experiencing the issue:

CEA-G80T
1) Products with 8-digit numbers 22030050 to 23050157, except for products with the following numbers: 22030077, 22030094 , 22040022, 22050028, 22050067, 22070075, 22110010, 22110015, 22110029, 22110037, 22110103
2) Products with the nine-digit number 220300500 to 230501570

CEA-G160T
1) Products with 8-digit numbers 22030127 to 24029999, except for products with the following numbers: 22040025, 22040068, 22050029 , 22050068, 22070076
2) Products with a 9-digit number between 220301270 and 240299990

CEA-G320T
1) Products with 8-digit numbers between 22090001 and 24029999
2) Products with a 9-digit number between 220900010 and 240299990

CEA-G640T
1) Products with 8-digit numbers between 23010001 and 24029999
2) Products with a 9-digit number between 230100010 and 240299990

Take a look at the best CFexpress cards, and don't forget to pick up one of the best memory card readers to maximize the great transfer speeds.