SanDisk Professional PRO-READER Multi Card Reader

Introduction

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.

Performance

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

Packaging

Compare prices on the SanDisk Professional PRO-READER Multi Card reader. The lowest prices are highlighted in the table below.