Transcend R:95/W:85 MB/s U3 64GB SDXC Memory Card Review

Introduction

The Transcend 95/85 UHS-I U3 is a high-performance Secure Digital memory card. It provides up to 95MB/s read speed and 85MB/s write speed according to Transcend. It also includes the new UHS Speed Class 3 (U3) rating, meaning it can sustain a minimum of 30 MB/s continuous write as required for recoring Ultra HD 4K video. The 95/85 U3 card is available in 32 and 64 GB capacities. The 64 GB SDXC version is reviewed here.

Internally the card has MLC flash memory. This provides the performance necessary for high read and write speed, and also offers more write cycles compared with the less expensive TLC flash memory. The card is also backed by Transcend's limited lifetime warranty.

Performance

To measure performance, the Transcend 95/85 U3 64GB card was run through a variety of SD card readers for benchmark tests. In these sequential read and write tests it exceeded its ratings, reaching 96.8 MB/s read and 89.9 MB/s write speed.

Card: Transcend R95 W85 U3 64GB
Benchmark: CrystalDiskMark 3.0.3 x64
Program settings: 1000 MB, 5 passes, random test data
Operating system: Windows 10 Pro
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H
Processor: Intel Core i7-3770K @ 4.40GHz
RAM: 32GB DDR3 1600

In camera tests, Transcend 95/85 64GB SDXC card exhibited similar performance to the 32GB SDHC version. It was consistently among the fastest UHS-I cards offered by competitors: not quite as fast as the SanDisk Extreme Pro 95MB/s, but depending on the camera it was in the mix with the Kingston 90/80MB/s U3, Sony 95MB/s U3, and Samsung PRO. Transcend also offers a similar 95/60 MB/s U3 64GB SDXC card with a slightly lower write speed at a much lower price.

Cameras tested with this card: Canon 5D Mark IV, Canon 5Ds, Canon 77D, Canon 80D, Canon EOS M5, Canon Rebel T6i/T6s, Canon Rebel T7i, Fuji X-Pro2, Fuji X-T10, Nikon D500, Nikon D7500, Nikon D7200, Nikon D7100, Nikon D5600, Nikon D5500, Olympus E-M1 II, Olympus E-M5 II, Olympus PEN-F, Panasonic GH5, Pentax K-3 II, Sony A7R II, Sony A9, Sony A6000, Sony A6300

The card is marked Made in Taiwan.

The following table contains information encoded in the SD card.

Available sizes and prices

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