USB3 card readers

[Phil V]

Asking here as I'm sure someone has the figures off the top of their heads.

I'm currently using quite a fast USBC card reader, but my new laptop is arriving today and I wonder if there's any point in upgrading to a faster interface for the card reader?

I'm guessing that it comes down to the speed of cards (and I'm not obsessive about buying superfast SD cards), and whether they're quicker than USB-C, and a quick look at Amazon, suggests there may be no point.

 

[Musicman]

There are broadly three parts in the chain (assuming your computer is equipped with a USB 3.2 port)

SD card
SD card reader
USB connection

The fastest UHS-II cards read at a (theoretical) maximum of 312MBps

To take advantage of that, you will need a UHS-II card reader*

In the real world, you are not going to get above 300 MBps read speeds, probably below 295 MBps.

USB 3.0 tops out at 600 MBs (4.8 Gbps) which has plenty of headroom over UHS-II

USB 3.1 and 3.2 broadly double that with each iteration at 10 Gbps and 20 Gbps respectively, but you get no benefit from a USB 3.1 or 3.2 UHS-II reader over one with just USB 3.0. UHS-II is your limiting factor.

* Edit: Some UHS-II card readers are faster than others

Best UHS-II Memory Card Readers - Speed Comparison | Alik Griffin

Some memory card readers are faster than others and on different operating systems. To find out which reader is the best, I put all the most popular USB 3.0 UHS-II memory card readers to the test.

alikgriffin.com

 

[Musicman]

It seems the SanDisk Extreme PRO SD UHS-II USB-C Card Reader can nudge above 300 MBps with the right card

SanDisk Extreme Pro SD UHS-II USB 3.1 Type-C Reader SDDR-389 Review - Camera Memory Speed Comparison & Performance tests for SD and CF cards

Review of the SanDisk Extreme Pro SD UHS-II USB-C Reader model SDDR-389 with read and write speed benchmarks

www.cameramemoryspeed.com