The ADATA Premier Pro series of SDXC UHS-I Speed Class 3 (U3) are SD memory cards for top-end camera work. The ADATA Premier Pro cards have read/write speeds of 95/60MB with a minimum constant write speed of 30MB/s allowing efficient large file transfer and editing speeds. Not only does the ADATA Premier Pro cards have fast speeds they also come in high capacity, up to 128GB, to ensure uninterrupted photography and video recording.
The ADATA Premier Pro series of SDXC UHS-I Speed Class 3 (U3) are SD memory cards for top-end camera work. The ADATA Premier Pro cards have read/write speeds of 95/60MB with a minimum constant write speed of 30MB/s allowing efficient large file transfer and editing speeds. Not only does the ADATA Premier Pro cards have fast speeds they also come in high capacity, up to 128GB, to ensure uninterrupted photography and video recording.
As technology moves from Full HD to Ultra HD (4K2K), professionals and enthusiasts need storage that has both high capacity and the performance abilities to support the new speeds. ADATA's Premier Pro memory cards offer a marriage of both capacity and performance. Not only do the cards have high capacities and fast speeds they also come with built-in write-protection, automatic error correcting code, and they are highly durable: being water proof, shock proof, magnet proof, x-ray proof, and extreme temperatures. The ADATA Premier Pro series can support the latest 4K2K digital cameras and camcorders.
The ADATA Premier Pro series of SDXC UHS-I Speed Class 3 (U3) memory cards come with a limited lifetime warranty and in 64GB and 128GB capacities with current street prices of $65 and $110 respectively. Our review unit is the top end 128GB capacity card.
ADATA Premier Pro SDXC UHS-I Speed Class 3 (U3) specifications:
- Type: SDXC Memory Card
- Class: 10
- Interface: UHS-I, compatible with SDXC Card and SDXC USH-I Card enabled host devices
- Capacities: 64GB/128GB
- Performance: Seq Read/Write speed up to 95/60 (MB/s)
- Certifications: FCC, CE, BSMI, VCCI
- Voltage: 2.7~3.6V
- Dimensions (W x H x D): 32mm x 24mm x 2.1mm
- Weight: 2g
- Warranty: Limited Lifetime
Design and Build
The ADATA Premier Pro series of SDXC UHS-I Speed Class 3 (U3) memory cards appear like most other standard size SD cards. It has a blue casing and a black sticker on the front indicating speed, class, and capacity. The top top of the sticker has ADATA branding and logo on it.
On the back of the card one can see the gold pins used to transfer data. At the bottom of the card is the serial number.
Performance
In this review, we will include the following comparables with their respective advertised performance numbers:
- ADATA XPG 64GB (95MB/s Read, 85MB/s Write)
- Samsung 64GB SD PRO (MB-SG64D) (90MB/s Read, 50MB/s Write)
- Samsung EVO (48MB/s Read, "slower than transfer speed" Write)
Using our Consumer Testing Platform, we measured transfer speeds from the 128GB ADATA Premier Pro memory card, which gave us sequential speeds of 90.3MB/s read and 65.3MB/s write. The memory card came in right around the claimed speeds, a little slower on read and a little faster on write, certainly within margin of error. Comparing these speeds to the other memory cards, the cards were much faster than both of the Samsung cards (the 64 GB SD PRO having sequential speeds of 87.4MB/s read and 75.8MB/s write; while the EVO had speeds of 19.0MB/s read and 44.6MB/s write). It was slower than the ADATA XPG as expected, which had sequential speeds of 94.1MB/s read and 81.3MB/s write.
Switching to random large-block transfers, we measured 56.4MB/s read and 2.4MB/s write. These were much lower and came in under the Samsung cards: the 64 GB SD PRO having 81.6MB/s read and 18.1MB/s write and the EVO had 44.0MB/s read and an impressive 31.6MB/s write. Again it came in under the ADATA XPG which measured 56.8MB/s read and 9.1MB/s write.
Conclusion
The ADATA Premier Pro series of SDXC UHS-I Speed Class 3 (U3) is a high capacity SD memory card. The Premier Pro series come in two capacities 64GB and 128GB. The memory cards are compatible with the latest ultra HD (4K2K) cameras and camcorders. And they are highly durable being water, x-ray, extreme temperature, magnet, and shock proof.
When it came time to test the ADATA Premier Pro series of SDXC UHS-I Speed Class 3 (U3) cards, they performed well. Sequential speeds were right around were ADATA claimed: 90.3MB/s read and 65.3MB/s write for the 128GB, 95/60MB being the claim. Switching over to large-block random transfer saw a big drop in speed, falling behind Samsung's recent memory cards. The ADATA XPG had better performance as is intended, but is limited to 64GB in capacity while the Premier Pro goes up to 128GB.
Pros
- High capacity
- Durable
- High performance for sequential speeds
Cons
- Slow random transfer speeds
The Bottom Line
The ADATA Premier Pro series of SDXC UHS-I Speed Class 3 (U3) is a high capacity, high performing SD memory card that is ideal for professionals and enthusiasts using new ultra HD cameras.
ADATA Premier Pro SDXC UHS-I Speed Class 3 (U3) at Amazon
