Today you have very fast memory cards for your cameras and phones and you need a way to transfer your photos and video from those devices to your PC. You can always use a build-in port with a cable, but it is not always the fastest way to do it. The best way to do it is using a card reader, and there are a bunch of such devices available. The vast majority of them are very show though. If you are looking for a way to speed up the process you must consider a fast card reader. Today we will be looking at the Sandberg USB 3.0 Multi Card Reader. The device costs 24.99 € and allows you to read and write to several different types of memory cards: SD, SDHC, XD, MS, CF, MMC and T-Flash/Micro SD/M2 with no adapter needed.
With the card reader in the USB port you can read and write to a memory card just as you would to a hard disk. This allows you, for example, to see the images from your digital camera in a matter of seconds.
The coolest part about this card reader is the USB 3.0 interface that supports high transfer speeds with a small factor casing and ease of use.
Packaging and Specifications
Sandberg USB 3.0 Multi Card Reader comes packed in a 19×12.5×3 cm black and blue package with the Sandberg logo on top and the image of the card reader in the middle.
Inside the box we have the USB 3.0 Multi Card Reader, one 1 meter USB 3.0 connection cable and one quick install and use guide.
The card reader is small in size, it measures 8.5 cm on the width, 1.5 cm on the height and 5 cm on the depth and, while it has an aluminium top casing, it only weights 46 grams.
Closer look
Sandberg USB 3.0 Multi Card Reader is a small piece of hardware that packs a lot of features in a very compact design. The top of the case is made of an aluminium plate with the Sandberg logo on top.
The front of the reader has 4 slots for the CompactFlash, MemoryStick, XD and SD cards.
The back of the reader has 2 slots for MemoryStick M2 and MicroSD/TransFlash cards, as well as the USB 3.0 port for data transfer.
Performance
The Sandberg USB 3.0 Multi Card Reader supports USB 3.0 SuperSpeed (5 Gbit/sec) USB 2.0 Hi-Speed (480 Mbit/s) and USB 1.1 Full-Speed (12 Mbit/s) transfer rates, but this all depends on the cards you have, so in order to get a better understanding of how the hub works we need to do two tests on the cards: one with the card plugged in the device directly and one plugged into the card reader. For testing we will be measuring the time needed to copy from the device to pc and vice-versa.
Copying from the device (action camera) delivered a speed of 55 Mb/s, while copying from the device delivered a speed of 84 Mb/s.
Conclusion
The Sandberg USB 3.0 Multi Card Reader is a nice tool to have. It’s small, lightweight and allows you to transfer data from and to virtually all types of media cards available right now. The connection is done through the USB 3.0 port, which offers a speed boost over the previous generation and transfer speeds are good. The card reader is available directly from the Sandberg online store for 24.99 €.
