25Feb Transcend 128GB SDXC card speed test

Right now the Transcend 128GB UHS-3 SDXC cards are down to $69. That makes them a pretty decent price for that capacity and claimed speed. The prominently displayed “ULTIMATE” logo on the package proclaims greatness and the “UHS-3” label is supposed to guarantee a minimum continuous speed of 30MB/s. While Sandisk has taught me to distrust overly enthusiastic adjectives, I still felt the Transcend 128GB SDXC card was worth a look.

First let’s take a look at the competition. This is the test result in CrystalDiskmark from the Sandisk 32GB “extreme pro” SDHC card. At $39.95 a piece the extreme pro’s cost per about $1.25 a GB, which makes them substantially more expensive than Transcend’s 55 cents a GB pricing. For that price you end up with Sequential read speeds of 78MB/s and write speeds of 71MB/s. While it’s not the 90MB/s and 95MB/s that’s advertised, Sandisk does use the modifier “up to” in the description. Even though it’s a ways off from the mark, these read/write speeds are still very respectable.

Looking at the Transcend 128GB UHS-3 SDXC cards, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the write speed hit 63MB/s. That’s actually higher than the advertised 60MB/s label and the 86MB/s read speed is closer to the advertised speed than the Sandisk card.

The Transcend 128GB UHS-3 SDXC cards might actually be the first card i’ve tested that surpased it’s write speed label. It doesn’t write as fast as the extreme pro, but it also doesn’t make the claim of 95MB/s writes.

I think I’ll be sliding this card into my regular rotation. If the Transcend 128GB SDXC card doesn’t fail or drop out after a few months, I might even buy a couple more. I’ve had pretty good luck with Transcend cards in the past, but I have heard a few horror stories from others. That might be why Transcend is now offering “lifetime warranties” and “free recovery software”. With these speeds, it might be time to give Transcend a second chance.

Tags: Sandisk Extreme pro, SDXC, Transcend 128GB SDXC