Difference between 32K and 64K SIM Cards


SIM stands for Subscriber Identity Module. A SIM card is a tiny chip used in mobile devices to recognize a user’s identity uniquely to the mobile network. A SIM card helps a mobile device user to perform various functions, such as voice calling, video calling, messaging, accessing internet services, etc.

SIM Card has a small memory to contain the details related to the user, such as contact numbers, text messages, and Meta data of the SIM card user.

SIM cards require different voltage supplies like 1.8 V, 3 V, 5 V, etc. to work. In context of SIM cards, the term “K” defines the memory capacity of SIM card in Kilobytes. For example, a 32K SIM card has a memory of capacity of 32 Kilobytes.

Overall, a SIM card is a very small and portable device used in mobile devices to store information related to user’s identity.

The following are the important types of SIM cards available in the market −

  • Full Size SIM Cards − The full size sim cards were first developed in the year 1991. The physical size of these SIM cards was nearly equal to a credit card. This SIM design was also termed as 1FF, i.e. the First Form Factor. Over time, the size of these sim cards was reduced to their more compact form.

  • Mini SIM Cards − The Mini SIM Cards were first developed in the year 1996. Mini SIM card is the normal SIM card. It is also called regular SIM card.

  • Micro SIM Cards − The micro SIM cards are smaller than the Mini SIM cards. However, they work in the same way.

  • Nano SIM Cards − The nano SIM cards are the smallest sim cards till date.

  • e-SIM Cards − These days, a new SIM card technology is being used called e-SIM.

Now, let us discuss briefly the 32K SIM Card and 64K SIM Card individually.

What is a 32K SIM Card?

A type of SIM card which has a memory of storage capacity of 32 kilobytes is termed as a 32K SIM card. Therefore, in the 32K SIM card, the term 32K refers to the memory capacity to store information like contact numbers, messages, etc.

The 32K SIM cards were developed in the starting days of mobile phone development. These SIM cards were the large memory SIM cards at that time. However, today we have SIM cards with larger storage capacities.

32K SIM cards come in different physical sizes such as regular SIM card, micro SIM card, nano SIM card depending on the type of device in which they are supposed to use.

What is a 64K SIM Card?

A type of SIM card that has a memory capacity of 64 kilobytes to store information such as contact numbers, messages, etc. is referred to as a 64K SIM card.

Therefore, a 64K SIM card can store more information as compared to a 32K SIM card. It basically an improved version of a 32K SIM card. It was developed to meet the increasing demand of data with the advancement in mobile device technologies.

Similar to the 32K SIM cards, the 64K SIM cards also come in different physical sizes, such as regular SIM card, micro SIM card, nano SIM card, etc.

After getting insights into the basics of SIM cards, 32K and 64K SIM card, let us now discuss the important differences between 32K SIM card and 64K SIM card.

Difference between 32K SIM Card and 64K SIM Card

The following table highlights all the major differences between 32K and 64K SIM cards −

Parameter

32K SIM Card

64K SIM Card

Basic

A type of SIM card that has 32 kilobytes of memory capacity is called a 32K SIM card.

A type of SIM card that has 64 kilobytes of memory capacity is called a 64K SIM card.

Storage capacity

32K SIM card has a storage capacity of 32 kilobytes to store information like contact numbers, text messages, etc.

64K SIM card has a storage capacity of 64 kilobytes to store information like contact numbers, text messages, etc.

Number of contacts

32K SIM card stores less number of contacts.

64K SIM cards can store more number of contacts than a 32K SIM card which allow users to save more contact numbers.

Number of SMS Messages

32K SIM card can store lesser number of SMS messages.

64K SIM card can store more number of SMS messages as compared to a 32K SIM card.

Compatibility with older devices

34K SIM cards are compatible with older mobile devices.

64K SIM cards may not compatible with older mobile devices.

Compatible with mobile networks

32K SIM cards are compatible with older as well as newer mobile networks.

64K SIM cards are not much compatible with older networks as they use more advanced network technologies.

Speed of data transfer

32K SIM cards have slower data transfer speed.

64K SIM cards have faster data transfer speed as compared to 32K SIM cards.

International roaming compatibility

32K SIM cards are less compatible with international roaming services.

64K SIM cards are more compatible with international roaming services as compared to the 32K SIM cards.

Mobile internet accessibility

32K SIM cards provide relatively poor access to mobile internet services.

64K SIM cards provide better mobile internet accessibility as compared to 32K SIM cards.

Memory consumption on device

32K SIM cards consume lesser memory resources on the mobile device.

64K SIM cards consume more memory resources than 32K SIM cards.

Availability of network services

Some of the mobile network services are not available on a 32K SIM card.

64K SIM cards support more number of network services than 32K SIM cards.

Security features

32K SIM cards offer relatively poorer security features.

64K SIM cards offer more security features like encryption.

Cost

32K SIM cards are less costly.

64K SIM cards are more costly than 32K SIM cards as they offer more storage capacity and advanced features.

Conclusion

The most important point that you should note here is that a 32K SIM card provides a memory capacity of 32 kilobytes to store information like contact numbers, messages, etc., while a 64K SIM card provides a memory capacity of 64 kilobytes.

Updated on: 21-Apr-2023

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