Transcend 64GB Ultimate SDXC UHS-I U:3 Memory Card Review

Features
Handling
Performance
Verdict


The Transcend Ultimate SDXC UHS-1 (U:3) Class 10 64GB card is the premium SDXC card from Transcend and promises speeds up to 95MB/s read, 85MB/s write, a lifetime warranty and includes recovery software. Being a UHS-I U:3 card means it is certified for 4K video recording.

Transcend Ultimate SDXC UHS-1 Class 10 Features

The front of the card features Transcends logo as well as the card ratings:Class 10, UHS-I, and U:3. The red colour designates that this is an "Ultimate" card, however, it would have been helpful if this was labelled on the card to help when viewing the cards on shopping sites.

It's even more exciting on the back, featuring stylish black plastic, and large clear CE text, it tells you exactly where it's made. Taiwan. The free recovery software has to be downloaded here from Transcends website, which means the packaging is kept to a minimum.

Features:

• Class 10 / UHS-1 / U:3 Card
• Up to 95MB/s read, 85MB/s write
• Great for 4K Ultra HD Recording
• Lifetime Warranty
• Free RecoveRX software

Transcend Ultimate SDXC UHS-1 Class 10 Handling

The ridges that separate the contacts on the card are a weakness of some cards, however, these seem firmly in place and the card feels sturdy with very little flexibility under gentle testing. The lock on the card is firm which should mean it's difficult to accidentally lock the card.

Transcend Ultimate SDXC UHS-1 Class 10 Performance

Tested with CrystalDiskMark: Read is the speed at which you can access images / files, for example in playback on the camera or when copying the images to your computer. Write is the speed at which you can record files to the card, or the speed at which the camera can write files to the card. The faster the better, and in our opinion, the write speeds are the most important factor when considering a card for high speed use.

The Transcend card performs extremely well with the fastest read and write speeds. As you can see from the results, simply having a "Class 10" card doesn't mean you're going to get a high-speed card. Class 10 simply means the card is capable of up to 20MB/s read speed with no guarantee of anything quicker than this, and write speeds can be even slower, as is the case with the card we tested. Test settings were:50mb to emulate size of RAW files (Sequential), USB3 reader, USB3 port, Windows 7 64bit.

Value For Money - The Transcend Ultimate SDXC UHS-I 90/80 card is available for £65 from Amazon UK, compared to £86 for a Sandisk 64GB Extreme Pro card, making the Transcend cheaper than the Sandisk UHS-I (upto 95MB/s card) and around the same price as the 600x / 90MB/s Lexar UHS-I card. As the Transcend UHS-I card is a fast card, this makes it good value for money.

Transcend Ultimate SDXC UHS-1 Class 10 Verdict

Fast cards with lifetime guarantees are good, even better is when they come with recovery software. So for this the Transcend scores highly. Value for money is good and is priced less than some competitors. The card feels sturdy and other Transcend cards we have used have lasted well.

	The Transcend Ultimate SDXC UHS-I performs quickly, has a lifetime warranty and comes with recovery software.

Transcend Ultimate SDXC UHS-1 Class 10 Pros
Easy open cardboard packaging
Recovery software
Lifetime warranty
Solid construction
High speed read/write

Transcend Ultimate SDXC UHS-1 Class 10 Cons
Not waterproof / shockproof

FEATURES
HANDLING
PERFORMANCE
VALUE FOR MONEY
OVERALL