SanDisk offers several Professional PRO-READER card readers that are compatible with the PRO-DOCK 4 station. The readers support different media formats to accomodate numerous professional workflow scenarios. Each PRO-READER is able to operate separately without the dock using a USB-C connection. The Multi Card reader tested for this review supports SD, microSD and CompactFlash cards. It supports UHS-I and UHS-II SD cards and CompactFlash cards including UDMA 7.
The Multi Card reader incorporates what SanDisk refers to as QuickFlow technology to improve performance with compatible SD cards. QuickFlow is SanDisk's trademark name for DDR200, a UHS-I mode that surpasses SDR104 (104MB/s) and offers an increased theoretical limit somewhere around 200MB/s. Other brands also offer DDR200 cards and card readers, but SanDisk was the first to use the technology in their SD cards and readers. The performance using various brands of SD cards will be evaluated later in this article.
SanDisk states the Multi Reader supports USB-C 10 Gbit/s and works with Mac and PC computers. SanDisk covers the reader with a 3-year limited warranty. The reader tested is model SDPR3A8-0000-GBAND with UPC 718037891910. The reader is made in China.
The case of the reader is aluminum with plastic ends. On the front, a metal bezel is hinged to act as a handle to remove the reader from the PRO-DOCK station. A single card access light is on the front of the reader. When used as a standalone reader, the rubber feet at the bottom corners help hold the reader in place and also interlock with additional readers when stacked without the dock.
One unique feature of the PRO-READER line is a write-lock switch on the back of the reader to help avoid accidental data loss. The card reader measures 4.5 x 2.4 x 0.75 inches (115 x 60 x 19mm) without any USB cable attached. The reader includes a 1.5-foot long USB-C to USB-C cable. The USB Type-C cable attaches to a USB-C port on the back of the reader.
Opening up the reader reveals a Genesys Logic GL3230S card reader controller. The controller supports UHS-II and UHS-I modes including DDR200 to support UHS-I speeds faster than SDR104. The controller supports USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbit/s) which makes the SanDisk claim of 10 Gbit/s slightly misleading, however 5Gbit/s (625MB/s) is already well beyond the fastest card this reader can support. An Asmedia ASM1543 chip handles switching logic to allow the reversible USB-C connection. A Winbond 25X20CLNIG flash chip provides 215KB memory on the board.
The SanDisk Professional PRO-READER Multi Card Reader was tested using UHS-I and UHS-II SD cards. Using UHS-II cards, the reader reached 304 MB/s sequential read and 261 MB/s sequential write. Using UHS-I cards that support DDR200 provided up to 177 MB/s read and 152 MB/s write speed. The reader was compatible with DDR200 cards from several brands including Samsung, Transcend, Lexar, Acer, Kingston and integral. UHS-I cards in SDR104 mode topped out at 95 MB/s read and 92MB/s write speed.
Reader: SanDisk Professional PRO-READER Multi Card Reader
Benchmark: CrystalDiskMark 8.0.4 x64
Program settings: 1000 MB, 5 passes, random test data
Operating system: Windows 11 Pro
Motherboard: Gigabyte Z690 UD AX DDR4
Processor: Intel Core i5 @ 3.30GHz
RAM: 32GB DDR4 3200
SanDisk Professional PRO-READER Multi Card Reader Card Benchmarks | Sequential Read 1M Q=8 (MB/s) | Sequential Read 1M Q=1 (MB/s) | Sequential Write 1M Q=8 (MB/s) | Sequential Write 1M Q=1 (MB/s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
SanDisk Extreme Pro 300MB/s UHS-II 32GB | 304.466 | 295.643 | 248.924 | 246.777 |
SanDisk Extreme Pro 300MB/s UHS-II 128GB | 299.645 | 293.802 | 222.713 | 218.056 |
SanDisk Extreme Pro 300MB/s UHS-II 64GB | 298.647 | 291.167 | 218.896 | 222.718 |
AData Premier One UHS-II V90 256GB | 279.083 | 274.047 | 226.412 | 228.889 |
Adata Premier One UHS-II V90 64GB | 278.168 | 271.805 | 245.463 | 247.541 |
Lexar Professional 2000x UHS-II Rev E 32GB | 277.825 | 273.679 | 256.883 | 256.188 |
PNY Technologies X-PRO 90 UHS-II 64GB | 277.303 | 273.074 | 261.403 | 255.353 |
Angelbird AV Pro V90 64GB | 277.179 | 270.920 | 246.567 | 232.469 |
Acer SC900 UHS-II 256GB | 275.734 | 269.419 | 254.295 | 250.846 |
Delkin Power 2000x UHS-II V90 64GB | 275.688 | 267.477 | 216.329 | 214.893 |
Sabrent Rocket V90 UHS-II 64GB | 275.260 | 272.336 | 253.276 | 253.926 |
Lexar Professional 1667x UHS-II 256GB | 275.112 | 267.347 | 122.220 | 123.379 |
Integral UltimaPro X2 UHS-II V90 64GB | 274.705 | 265.348 | 235.633 | 243.542 |
Transcend 700S UHS-II V90 64GB | 274.124 | 268.499 | 195.588 | 193.225 |
Kingston Canvas React Plus 64GB | 273.727 | 268.451 | 258.778 | 254.991 |
Kodak V90 UHS-II 64GB | 273.198 | 270.018 | 258.152 | 252.650 |
Delkin Power UHS-II V90 128GB | 272.405 | 268.637 | 215.543 | 214.715 |
Hoodman Steel UHS-II 64GB | 272.305 | 266.468 | 184.223 | 182.819 |
Sony Tough UHS-II 64GB | 271.908 | 263.207 | 202.459 | 242.946 |
Lexar Professional 2000x UHS-II Rev B 128GB | 271.841 | 263.464 | 215.998 | 214.744 |
Lexar Professional 2000x UHS-II Rev E 64GB | 271.408 | 264.795 | 254.315 | 255.040 |
Wise Advanced SD-N UHS-II 128GB | 270.864 | 266.694 | 255.914 | 253.329 |
Verbatim Pro II Plus UHS-II V90 64GB | 270.040 | 267.698 | 234.503 | 243.190 |
ProGrade 250MB/s UHS-II V90 64GB | 266.910 | 262.032 | 248.934 | 240.521 |
Sony SF-G 300MB/s UHS-II 64GB | 266.731 | 260.627 | 248.600 | 244.975 |
Delkin Prime UHS-II V60 64GB | 266.002 | 258.419 | 83.820 | 86.561 |
Sony SF-G 300MB/s UHS-II 128GB | 260.797 | 257.949 | 248.014 | 245.639 |
Sony SF-G 300MB/s UHS-II 32GB | 260.394 | 256.563 | 247.705 | 244.744 |
Kioxia Exceria Pro UHS-II V90 64GB | 259.035 | 252.103 | 227.467 | 230.486 |
Integral UltimaPro X2 260MB/s UHS-II V60 128GB | 258.302 | 253.609 | 100.411 | 100.647 |
TeamGroup Xtreem UHS-II U3 V60 256GB | 251.372 | 248.228 | 176.918 | 174.731 |
SanDisk Extreme Pro 170MB/s 1TB | 177.370 | 174.272 | 103.465 | 103.176 |
SanDisk Extreme Pro 170MB/s 64GB | 177.360 | 176.484 | 98.765 | 99.593 |
SanDisk Extreme Pro 170MB/s 128GB | 177.188 | 176.124 | 97.107 | 97.276 |
SanDisk Extreme Pro 170MB/s 512GB | 177.023 | 177.025 | 137.747 | 139.373 |
SanDisk Extreme Pro 200MB/s 256GB | 176.927 | 174.190 | 138.641 | 137.256 |
SanDisk Extreme 180MB/s 256GB | 176.785 | 175.145 | 129.978 | 130.335 |
SanDisk Extreme Pro 170MB/s 256GB | 176.717 | 176.420 | 97.876 | 99.581 |
Integral Ultima Pro 180MB/s 256GB | 175.329 | 174.690 | 151.960 | 149.645 |
Silicon Power Superior UHS-I U3 V30 256GB | 166.647 | 164.538 | 83.838 | 83.916 |
ProGrade 200MB/s UHS-II V60 64GB | 164.653 | 163.969 | 101.673 | 103.686 |
Kingston Canvas Go! Plus 64GB | 164.344 | 164.635 | 116.966 | 118.153 |
Angelbird AV Pro V60 64GB | 164.174 | 164.025 | 101.240 | 104.932 |
Acer SC300 UHS-I 256GB | 159.020 | 159.258 | 114.321 | 114.851 |
Samsung Pro Plus 160/120 256GB | 158.653 | 158.984 | 118.243 | 116.535 |
Lexar Professional 1666x UHS-I 256GB | 157.301 | 157.695 | 120.370 | 119.397 |
Transcend 340S UHS- I U3 V30 A2 256GB | 156.874 | 156.925 | 82.222 | 82.619 |
Samsung Pro Plus 160/120 128GB | 156.793 | 156.797 | 121.180 | 120.521 |
SanDisk Extreme 150MB/s 64GB | 153.272 | 153.273 | 65.385 | 66.782 |
SanDisk Extreme Plus 150MB/s 64GB | 151.825 | 152.031 | 63.370 | 62.674 |
SanDisk Extreme 150MB/s 128GB | 151.347 | 151.708 | 78.173 | 79.061 |
SanDisk Extreme 150MB 256GB | 150.985 | 151.630 | 76.861 | 78.072 |
SanDisk Extreme Plus 150MB/s 128GB | 148.678 | 150.996 | 76.751 | 75.665 |
Samsung EVO Plus UHS-I 256GB | 131.053 | 131.206 | 121.153 | 121.101 |
V7 UHS-I V30 A1 64GB | 95.171 | 95.425 | 67.628 | 68.437 |
Verbatim Pro Plus V30 64GB | 94.132 | 94.278 | 65.352 | 71.616 |
Transcend 500S V30 128GB | 93.058 | 93.061 | 66.615 | 66.824 |
Transcend 500S V30 64GB | 93.047 | 93.174 | 61.134 | 61.954 |
Delock SD Express 256GB | 92.894 | 93.383 | 91.695 | 89.503 |
RitzGear Golden Eagle Express SD 256GB | 92.871 | 92.968 | 91.900 | 90.666 |
Kingston Canvas Select Plus 64GB | 91.812 | 94.935 | 77.863 | 79.196 |
Transcend 500S 64GB Card 2 | 89.847 | 88.711 | 66.716 | 65.793 |
Compare prices on the SanDisk Professional PRO-READER Multi Card reader. The lowest prices are highlighted in the table below.
Card Reader | Connection | Model Number | Prices | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Amazon | B&H Photo | Adorama | |||
SanDisk Professional PRO-READER Multi Card Reader | USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C | SDPR3A8-0000-GBAND | $72.99 | $79.99 | $79.99 |