For most consumers when they think portable storage they instantly think of the SecureDigital format. Whether it is the massive SDXC card used in their cameras and camcorders, or simply the micro-SD used in everything from Tablets to Phones. Most consumers simply know SD as the format they need to buy.
Unfortunately, even SD’s Ultra High Speed standard is rather lackadaisical by modern standards. After all, 104MB/s might have sounded impressive back when Hard Disk Drives ruled the world, but now with Solid State Drives not only common but inexpensive 104MB/s is rather slow. This goes double when consumers start to realize that next generation standards like CFast 2 or even exotic ones like QXD simply leave SD in the dust. It has gotten to the point where SD is now considered an ‘entry level’ storage medium meant only for entry level cameras, camcorders and the such, instead of the mainstream option it was intended to be.
In an effort to change this perception and bring SecureDigital more in line with what other refreshed/revised standards can offer the SDCA (the governing body of the Secure Digital standards) released a newer more modern standard: UHS-II. Amongst a whole host of improvements two stand out and make it an improvement worth of the name. The first is this new standard allows for speed of up to 312MB/s. This however is only the beginning as unlike CFast vs CF, UHS-II cards are more like USB 3.0 vs 2.0 and are backwards compatible with older UHS-I devices!
Today we will be putting one of the latest UHS-II cards under the microscope to see exactly what it brings to the table. On the surface the Lexar Professional 2000X certainly looks tempting. After all, with read speeds of 300Mb/s and a write speeds of 260Mb/s this new and improved model is actually faster than Lexar’s own CompactFlash models. Mix in a large capacity, guaranteed backwards compatibility, a free UHS-II USB card reader, as well as a lifetime warranty, and the asking price of $135 for the 64GB model this new series does start to seem downright reasonable compared to some other models.
