In today’s digital world the SD card is often taken for granted. These memory cards help capture treasured photo or video memories so choosing a reliable, speedy card is always an important consideration. As the quality and format of photos and video capturing devices improve, the need for faster SD cards becomes readily apparent.

Kingston recently updated their SDHC/SDXC UHS-I U3 line with the addition of 128GB and 256 GB cards. Today we will be looking at one of these larger capacity cards. The Kingston SDXC cards take advantage of UHS-I Class 3 write speed performance making them ideal for capturing the latest 3D and 4K2K video formats. More info on this specification can be found here.

These cards have advertised read speeds of 90 MB/sec and write speeds of 80 MB/s. This is a nine fold improvement over standard Class 10 SD cards in terms of read speeds with an eight times increase in write speeds. When used in non- UHS-I capable devices they default to class 10 performance.

 

Unboxing

The Kingston SDXC UHS-I U3 128 GB memory card arrives on a cardboard blister cardboard packaging. The back lists the compatibility of the card.

 

 

Opening the package we find the SD card. Kingston does not provide a protective plastic case for the card, which seems to be the norm with a lot of SD cards these days.

Externally the Kingston looks like every other SD card on the market in terms of form factor. Kingston does include hologram on the label to help prevent counterfeiting of the card that has become a notorious problem in the memory card world.

 

 

Kingston offers both SDHC and SDXC versions in sizes ranging from 16 GB, 32 GB, 64 GB, 128 GB up to 256 GB. For today’s review we will be looking at the 128 GB capacity memory card.

Specifications and Features

Kingston SDHC/SDXC UHS-I U3 128gb SD Memory Card

Use: Professional HD video and photography

Ideal for high-performance D-SLR and D-SLM cameras and 4K camcorders

Impressive UHS-I Class 3 performance for 4K or 2K video

Storage capacities from 16–256GB for thousands of photos and hours of video

Lifetime warranty, free technical support

Faster speeds to capture 4K2K HD video.

Move to faster performance with Kingston’s SDHC/SDXC UHS-I U3 Flash card. With speeds of 90MB/s read and 80MB/s write, it reads up to 9x faster and writes up to 8x faster than standard Class 10 SD cards. It meets the SD Association’s latest specification release, UHS-I U3 (Ultra High-Speed Bus, Speed Class 3), which guarantees performance of at least 30MB/s and enough bandwidth to record and playback 4K2K video without interruption. Users can capture cinema-quality Full HD (1080p), Ultra HD (2160p), 3D and 4K2K videos on high-performance cameras such as Digital Single Lens Reflex (D-SLR), Digital Single Lens Mirrorless (D-SLM), camcorders and video cameras. It’s ideal for television recordings as well as live broadcasts, plus it lets you edit files faster and provides faster upload times, especially when using USB 3.0 card readers. Its higher sustained write speeds ensure video integrity by reducing stutter and allow photographers to shoot in continuous burst mode. Available in 16GB, 32GB, 64GB, 128GB and 256GB capacities, SDHC/SDXC UHS-I U3 lets users record more video without changing cards and lets photographers shoot high-density image files, such as RAW or JPEG, without running out of space. SDHC/SDXC UHS-I U3 is backed by a lifetime warranty, free technical support and legendary Kingston® reliability.

> Impressive UHS-I Speed Class 3 performance for 4K or 2K video

> Ideal for use with D-SLR or D-SLM cameras and 4K camcorders

> High capacities up to 256GB to store thousands of photos and hours of HD video

FEATURES/BENEFITS

> Versatile — Class 10 performance when used in a non-

> Compliant — with the SD Card Association specification

> Secure — built-in write-protect switch prevents accidental data loss

> Compatible — with SDHC & SDXC host devices; SDXC cards are not compatible with SDHC-enabled devices/readers

> File format — FAT32 (SDHC 16GB, 32GB), exFAT (SDXC 64GB, 128GB, 256GB)

> Guaranteed — lifetime warranty, free technical support

SPECIFICATIONS

> Capacities 16GB, 32GB, 64GB, 128GB, 256GB

> Dimensions 24mm x 32mm x 2.1mm

> Performance up to 90MB/s read and 80MB/s write, UHS-I Speed Class 3 (U3)

Price: $104.96 (from Amazon at time of review)

The Review

For testing the following platform was used:

CPU: Intel Core i7 2600K

Motherboard: Asus P8P67 PRO with USB 3.0

Memory: 16GB Kingston

Video Card: ATI Sapphire HD 7870

Hard Drive: Kingston HyperX 256 GB SSD, Western Digital 250GB 7200RPM, Samsung 1 TB 7200 RPM

PSU: Ultra X-Finity 1000-Watt Power Supply

Kingston Mobile Lite G4 (USB 3.0 card reader)

 

For benchmarking ATTO Disk Benchmark and Crystal Disk Mark were used. As a basis for comparison the following SD cards were used: Kingston SDXC 128 GB Class 10, Kingston UHS-I SDXC 64 GB and Super Talent Brand 16 GB SDHC Class 10.

Looking at the ATTO benchmarks we see the Super Talent with writes around 15 MB/s and reads in the 23 MB/s range, the Kingston 128 GB SDXC is around 14 MB/s for writes with 43 MB/s reads, the Kingston UHS-I SDXC 64 GB at 37 MB/s writes and 63 MB/s for reads and the latest Kingston SDXC UHS-I U3 128 GB at 78 MB/s writes and reads in the 95 MBs/s range.

 

  

 

Next the tests with Crystal Disk Mark reveal the Super Talent SDHC and the Kingston SDXC 128 GB both with equivalent write speeds of 15.53 MB/s while the Kingston edges out the SuperTalent on read speeds with 42 MB/s vs 23 MB/s. The Kingston SDXC 64 GB had read speeds of 58.17 MB/s and write speeds of 38.65. While the Kingston SDXC UHS-I U3 128 GB showcases impressive 94.88 MB/s read and 80.62 MB/s write speeds.

 

  

 

For real world testing I brought the Kingston SDXC UHS-I U3 128 GB card along with my Canon 60D and Sony RX100 out for shooting video and photos. It is important to remember that the hardware used with the SD card will have an impact on card performance. For instance on my Canon 60D the camera’s buffer was the rate limiting factor when capturing burst shot images. I am happy to report that the SDXC UHS-I U3 128 GB card work perfectly with both my cameras in shooting pictures and video. Although I did not have 3D and 4K2K video shooting as my equipment lacked that capacity.

Kingston provides a useful table that reveals the photo, video and storage capacity of each size SD card here.

Conclusion

Kingston’s SDXC UHS-I U3 128 GB is an ideal card for both the consumer and professional as its speeds are one of the fastest on the market. While read speeds are great for transferring media off the SD card the real potential of an SD card is the write speeds and the SDXC UHS-I U3 128 GB does not disappoint as it hits the 80 MB/s mark that Kingston advertises.

The Kingston SDXC UHS-I U3 128 GB is currently competitively priced at $100 it is in line with other SDXC UHS-I U3 cards. Another great feature is that the card is backed by Kingston’s lifetime warranty giving the user peace of mind.

Pros:
+Available in numerous capacities
+Optimal SD card especially for the most modern cameras
+Backwards compatible with Class 10 devices
+Includes Lifetime Warranty

Cons:
-Expensive compared to slower speed but similar capacity SD cards

 

Grading	Scores Out of 10
Overall
Design / Aesthetic
Value / Price
Performance / Usage

Disclosure: This product was given to us for review by the company for review purposes only, and is not considered by us as payment for the review.

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