Adata ups the SD speed ante to UHS-1 Speed Class 3

Updated: Up to 95MBps read, 85MBps write for 4K video

May 12, 2014 by

Adata logoAdata just upped the SD card ante with three UHS-1 Speed Class 3 (U3) offerings across two lines. You can now get flash from the company in XPG and Premier Pro SDXC lines.

The press release was a bit confusing listing XPG at 64 and 128GB sizes and Premier Pro at 128GB in some places, and XPG at 64GB with Premier Pro at 64 and 128GB in others. Parsing the text closely and then the respective sites for XPG and Premier Pro makes it clear the latter interpretation is correct. In any case neither one is slow or cheap, but if you need speedy storage, it is well worth the premium

Adata Premier Pro UHS-1 SC3 SDXC flash card

Note the logos on the packaging, they make a real difference

The Premier Pro models are ‘only’ rated at 95MBps read, 60Mbps write speeds while the XPG 64GB model will push 95MBps read, 85MBps write. That is pretty darn fast indeed, especially if you consider how thermally constrained the SD form factor is. For most devices your reader and it’s interface is probably going to be the bottleneck.

Why would you want this kind of speed? 4K video is ostensibly the driver but anyone with a DSLR knows how burst mode can chew up bandwidth in a hurry. It never hurts to have faster storage in a camera or video camera, it is one of the few places where more is still universally better. The list prices for the trio is $64.99, $109.99, and $129.99 respectively, our guess is it is for the 64GB XPG, 64GB Premier Pro, and 128GB Premier Pro respectively. As a user of the previous Adata UHS-1 Speed Class 1 SDXC cards, I can’t wait to try these new ones out.S|A

Update May 12, 2014 @1:15pm: Changed typo of GBps to MBps in subhead.

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Charlie Demerjian

Roving engine of chaos and snide remarks at SemiAccurate
Charlie Demerjian is the founder of Stone Arch Networking Services and SemiAccurate.com. SemiAccurate.com is a technology news site; addressing hardware design, software selection, customization, securing and maintenance, with over one million views per month. He is a technologist and analyst specializing in semiconductors, system and network architecture. As head writer of SemiAccurate.com, he regularly advises writers, analysts, and industry executives on technical matters and long lead industry trends. Charlie is also available through Guidepoint and Mosaic. FullyAccurate