The best SDXC and CFexpress memory cards

Macworld

CFexpress, SDHC, SDXC, UHS, SD4.0–those terms may sound like mumbo-jumbo but they all refer to the memory cards used mostly in cameras, but in other devices. In this article, we have put a range of SDXC, microSDXC and CFexpress memory cards through their paces on the Mac and in the camera, and selected our top picks.

Most of today’s cameras have a slot for the Secure Digital Memory Card (also known as an SD card). The larger CFexpress card, the successor to the Compact Flash and XQD cards, can also be found in professional and video cameras. If you’re in the market for a new memory card, peruse our picks below. We also provide information on our testing procedure and how we evaluated each card, and explain the important aspects to look for when shopping for one.

UHS-I SD memory cards






Top Pick: Kingston Canvas Go Plus














Pros

Very good price-performance

High read speed


Cons

None


















The Canvas Go Plus is a UHS-I memory card without any weaknesses. It belongs to the top group when it comes to writing and reading. Due to its favorable price, it receives our price-performance tip. Important: If you want to use the maximum read speed, you need a suitable memory card reader.







Lexar Professional Silver Plus














Pros

Good read speed

Lexar Recovery Tool included in the price


Cons

None


















The Professional Silver Plus is an inconspicuous memory card in the best sense of the word. Our test results did not reach the maximum data transfer rate of 205MBps, but it shines with a good price and a free lifetime license for the Lexar Recovery Tool. Please note: If you want to utilize the maximum read speed, you will need a suitable memory card reader.







Samsung Pro Ultimate














Pros

Good price-performance ratio,

High read speed

More favorable price than microSD


Cons

None


















Samsung offers two memory cards in its Pro series designed for photographers and videographers, the Pro Plus with a maximum of 180MBps and the Pro Ultimate tested by us with a maximum of 200MBps. It is also the fastest UHS-I memory card in our roundup. It is not even expensive, on the contrary, as a microSD memory card it is one of the cheapest. It therefore deserves our price-performance tip. Attention: If you want to use the maximum reading speed, you need a suitable memory card reader.







UHS-II V60 SD memory cards






Top Pick: Kingston Canvas React Plus UHS-II V60














Pros

Very good price-performance

Very good write and read speed

Lifetime guarantee


Cons

None


















The V60 Canvas React Plus immediately positions itself in the top rankings for reading. When writing, it is one of the fastest V60 memory cards. The price is a bargain considering the performance. It therefore earns the price-performance tip among the V60 memory cards.







Top Pick: SanDisk Extreme PRO UHS-II V60














Pros

Long warranty

Wide temperature range

Data recovery program

Very good price-performance ratio


Cons

none


















For a V60 memory card, the Extreme Pro V60 is at the upper end of the price scale. However, it offers almost V90-level performance. It is by far the fastest V60 memory card in the benchmark for writing and is only imperceptibly slower than its big brother when reading. It is also a top performer in cameras, outperforming even some V90 memory cards. A very good choice for photographers. The long warranty of 30 years and the data recovery program included speak in favor of a professional product.







Lexar Professional Silver Pro UHS-II V60














Pros

Good price-performance

Very good camera performance


Cons

Not for use in temperatures below 0 degrees


















The new Silver Pro V60 is positioned right at the top of the V60 class when it comes to writing. It falls slightly behind when reading, although 244MBps is not slow. The price and good availability make it a recommendation.







OWC Atlas Pro UHS-II














Pros

Very good price-performance

High read speed

Free software for determining the health status


Cons

None


















The Atlas Pro is a typical V60 memory card. It remains within the class when writing and shines above all when reading out on the Mac with high speed. The favorable price makes it a recommendation. The software from OWC, which can determine the health status of the memory card, is professional.







PNY EliteX-PRO60 UHS-II














Pros

Very favorable price

High read-out speed


Cons

Not for use in temperatures below 0 degrees


















The cheapest UHS-II memory card is the EliteX-PRO60. With its low price, it is only slightly more expensive than the UHS-I memory cards and therefore deserves a recommendation. When writing, it remains in its V60 class, but shines with a high speed when reading on the Mac.







UHS-II V90 SD memory cards






Top Pick: OWC Atlas Ultra UHS-II V90














Pros

Very high write speed

Software for determining the health status


Cons

Pricey

Only a three-year warranty


















With the Atlas Ultra, photographers and videographers get a professional memory card at a professional price. It is currently the fastest memory card for many cameras in our roundup. The software from OWC, which can determine the health status of the memory card, is also professional. The high speed and the software catapult the Atlas Ultra to a performance recommendation. The OWC Atlas Ultra is mainly sold through specialized retailers.







ADATA Premier ONE UHS-II














Pros

Very good read and write speed

Lifetime guarantee


Cons

None


















The Premier ONE is one of the fastest UHS-II memory cards, both when reading and in the camera. Only in the Canon EOS R7 does it not belong to the top group. In terms of price, it is one of the cheapest V90 memory cards and therefore wins our price-performance tip for V90 memory cards. The Premier ONE is also available in microSDXC format.







Angelbird AV Pro SD UHS-II V90














Pros

High write speed

Data recovery service

Wide temperature range


Cons

Pricey

Only three-year warranty


















The Angelbird AV Pro V90 is one of the fastest memory cards. The focus on professionals is also evident in the service, as the customer has access to a professional data recovery service for three years.







Kingston Canvas React Plus UHS-II V90














Pros

Very good price-performance

Wery good write and read speed

Lifetime guarantee


Cons

Currently difficult to obtain


















The Canvas React Plus has been on the market for some time and has no weaknesses. It is one of the fastest memory cards in the test. Unfortunately, it is currently difficult to obtain, otherwise it would win the price-performance tip. The Canvas React Plus is also available in microSDXC format.







ProGrade UHS-II V90














Pros

High speeds on the Mac and in the camera

Software for determining the state of health


Cons

Only three years warranty


















The top SD memory card from ProGrade is in the top group in the camera test, meeting professional requirements. It also shines when read out on a Mac. The price is reasonable for the professional performance. The warranty is too short for a professional memory card, but it shines with free software for reading the health status.







SanDisk Extreme PRO UHS-II V90














Pros

Long warranty

Wide temperature range

Data recovery programm

Good price-performance ratio


Cons

None


















The V90 Extreme PRO is a perennial favorite on the market. Even if it is not the fastest in all measurements, it still delivers very good results. The long warranty of 30 years and the data recovery program speak in favor of a professional product. The good price-performance ratio also speaks in favor of the Extreme Pro.







CFexpress memory cards






Top Pick: OWC Atlas Pro CFexpress 4.0














Pros

Very good price-performance

Very high speed

Software for determining the health status


Cons

Only three-year warranty


















The Atlas Pro is the cheapest and at the same time one of the fastest CFexpress memory cards. Together with the software for determining the health status, this makes it an unbeatable offer and is therefore our price-performance tip. The Atlas Pro is mainly sold through specialist retailers.







Top Pick: ProGrade Gold CFexpress 4.0 512GB














Pros

Very good price-performance

Software for determining the state of health


Cons

Only 3 years warranty


















The new Prograde Gold belongs to the latest CFexpress generation 4.0, which is clearly noticeable when reading out data with transfer rates of over 3000MBps. So it is no wonder that it is also one of the absolute top performers in the camera. The price is favorable considering the performance. The software for determining the health status is a plus point.







OWC Atlas Ultra CFexpress 4.0














Pros

Fastest memory card

Software for determining the state of health


Cons

Only a three-year guarantee


















If you are looking for the fastest CFexpress memory card, you will find it with the Atlas Ultra. The included software for determining the health status is also great. The short warranty is not like a professional card, but it is not the most expensive CFexpress memory card in our comparison. The Atlas Ultra is mainly sold via specialist retailers.







ProGrade Gold CFexpress 2.0














Pros

Good price-performance ratio

Software for determining the state of health


Cons

Only a three-year warranty


















The Gold still belongs to the old CFexpress generation 2.0, which is clearly noticeable when reading out data. In the camera it ranks in the middle of the pack. The price is okay, especially the 2TB variant. The software for determining the health status is a plus. The new Gold Generation 4.0 is the faster and cheaper alternative with 512GB.







SanDisk Extreme Pro CFexpress 2.0














Pros

Good speed

Long warranty


Cons

High price


















The Extreme Pro is a typical Generation 2.0 memory card with good mid-range performance. Compared to its competitors, the price is a little too high. On the other hand, it shines with a long warranty.







Only very few memory cards come with a sturdy box.

Our test selection

We obtained a range of memory cards that cover the typical spectrum for use in action cams, drones, digital system cameras, and professional digital cameras for film and photography.

The Kingston Canvas Go Plus, the Lexar Professional Silver Plus, and the Samsung Pro Ultimate are in the UHS-I V30 class. These memory cards are available in large SD and microSD formats for action cams and drones. All manufacturers include a suitable SD card adapter.

Professional UHS-II memory cards are divided into two classes of speed: V60 and V90. MicroSDXC UHS-II memory cards are also available, but as few professional cameras use these small memory cards, their use is limited to fast readout.

The V60 class includes: Kingston Canvas React Plus V60, Lexar Professional Silver Pro, OWC Atlas Pro, PNY EliteX-PRO60 UHS-II, and SanDisk Extreme Pro V60.

In the V90 class: ADATA Premier ONE, Angelbird AV Pro V90, Kingston Canvas React Plus V90, OWC Atlas Ultra, Prograde V90, and SanDisk Extreme Pro V90.

The CFexpress type B memory cards for professional cameras are also divided into two classes: CFexpress 2.0 and CFexpress 4.0. Included in the testing: OWC Atlas Pro 4.0, OWC Atlas Ultra 4.0, ProGrade Gold 2.0, ProGrade Gold 4.0 and the SanDisk Extreme Pro.

A new turbo class has been established in the UHS-I memory card class. Around 100MBps is the usual maximum read speed for the UHS-I standard. Kingston, Lexar, and Samsung push this limit up to 200MBps with the memory cards we tested. As the read speed is particularly important when transferring to a Mac, this is a big plus for the now-established memory cards. However, this luxury requires a compatible memory card reader.

The Mac Studio, for example, can utilize the potential of memory cards just like many other UHS-II memory card readers. With the Pro-Reader, SanDisk offers an adapted UHS-I memory card reader for the standard QuickFlow cards baptized by SanDisk. The UHS-II memory card readers from our memory card reader tests are also compatible: the Anker PowerExpand, the Dockcase Studio Smart USB-C Hub 8-in-1, the ProGrade PG05.5, and the Ugreen SD4.0 Card Reader. The Kingston Workflow Station only works with the company’s own memory card.

Test results: Data transfer (read) to the Mac

For our lab test, we used the Aja System Test Lite app to measure each memory card with the ProGrade PG05.5 memory card reader. The most important value of a memory card in this case is the read speed.

The manufacturers not only specify the write speed class for their memory cards, such as V90, but also the maximum values for reading and writing. However, the values specified by the manufacturers are often not achieved, but they can be close. In general, however, it can be said that if a manufacturer specifies high values, the memory card is also faster than other memory cards.

UHS-I SD memory cards: Read test results






Results are megabytes per second. Longer bars/higher results are faster.

In the case of UHS-I memory cards, manufacturers specify up to 200MBs. We did not achieve this in our testing. Nevertheless, 173MBps or 145MBps are not bad values, either. The Kingston Canvas Go Plus and the Samsung Pro Ultimate were the fastest in our test.

UHS-II SD memory cards: Read test results






Results are megabytes per second. Longer bars/higher results are faster.

The UHS-II memory cards shine with read rates of well over 200MBps. But even here, the values specified by the manufacturers, such as 300MBps, are not achieved. Most memory cards achieve values above 250MBps, which is very pleasant when sitting in front of the Mac. The top value in the benchmark is achieved by the SDXC Adata with 292MBps.

In practice, it has to be said that most memory cards fulfill the expectations placed on them. Whether this is measured as 258MBps or 274 MBps, the differences are difficult to notice (if they’re noticeable at all) when sitting in front of a Mac.

CFexpress memory cards: Read test results






Results are megabytes per second. Longer bars/higher results are faster.

With CFexpress memory cards, the generation change from CFexpress 2.0 to 4.0 is particularly noticeable. The new standard ensures over 3000MBps when reading data. Users can only benefit from this plus if they use a fast memory card reader with a USB4 connection. Otherwise, the limit of the USB interface of less than 1000 MBps remains. For this reason, we provide the benchmarks for the OWC Atlas USB4 CFexpress Reader and the Prograde PG05.5.

Test results: Data transfer (write) from a Mac

Although the memory cards are hardly ever written to on a Mac in practice, we have also carried out benchmark tests here. The cheaper V60 memory cards naturally stand out because they “only” achieve around 100MBps. These are values that even the best UHS-I memory cards achieve. The positive outlier among the V60 memory cards is the SanDisk Extreme Pro V60 with 198MBps. The fastest V90 memory cards with over 250MBps are the Adata Premiere One, the Angelbird AV Pro SD V90, the Kingston Canvas React Plus V90, and the OWC Atlas Ultra. In the case of CFexpress memory cards, the 4.0 generation memory cards from OWC and ProGrade exceed 2000MBps, as expected.

Memory cards Mac write benchmarks






Results are megabytes per second. Longer bars/higher results are faster.

Test results: Data transfer (write) from a camera

However, these values are not necessarily indicative of the behavior in the digital camera. We therefore measured all SDXC UHS-I, UHS-II and CFexpress memory cards in digital cameras. In the absence of a suitable digital camera with a microSD memory card slot, we measured these memory cards using the adapters supplied.

If the memory card can’t keep up with the camera, the frame rate slows down and the camera slows down. When taking photos, the camera first fills the camera’s internal buffer memory and at the same time moves the photos to the memory card. Ideally, the frame rate is only reduced by a few frames per second; in the worst case, you have to take a break.

This is why fast cameras also have a slot for fast UHS-II or CFexpress memory cards. For our test, we used the Canon EOS R5, Canon EOS R7, Fujifilm X-T5, Leica Q3, and Leica SL3 cameras. We measured the