Camera Memory Speed
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Review: Kingston Ultimate 32GB SDHC Memory Card 90MB/s 45MB/s

Kingston Ultimate 32GB SDHC Memory Card Front Kingston Ultimate 32GB SDHC Memory Card Back

Introduction

The Kingston Ultimate (SDA10/32GB) is a high performance Class 10 UHS-I SDHC card supporting UHS Speed Class 1. It offers a good value among cards in the fast 90MB/s (claimed read) category. Kingston's Ultimate line is aimed at professional and enthusiast photographers. Available sizes include 16, 32, 64 and 128 GB capacities. This review is of the 32GB card.

The exterior of the card is typical black plastic with a yellow write lock slider. The front label has simulated a brushed gold appearance and features the Kingston "Phantom" Anti-Counterfeit seal that reveals a head logo depending on viewing angle. The back of the card is engraved with the FCC logo and CE mark in addition to various lot and batch numbers.

Performance

The Ultimate reached a maximum 95.7 MB/s sequential read speed in our USB 3.0 card reader benchmarks. The maximum write speed in a card reader was 47.1MB/s in the Kingston MobileLite G4.

Card: Kingston Ultimate 32GB
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

Kingston Ultimate 32GB
Card Reader Benchmarks
Seq.
Read
1000MB
MB/s
Seq.
Write
1000MB
MB/s
Rand.
Read
512KB
MB/s
Rand.
Write
512KB
MB/s
Rand.
Read
4KB
MB/s
QD1
Rand.
Read
4KB
IOPS
QD1
Rand.
Write
4KB
MB/s
QD1
Rand.
Write
4KB
IOPS
QD1
Rand.
Read
4KB
MB/s
QD32
Rand.
Read
4KB
IOPS
QD32
Rand.
Write
4KB
MB/s
QD32
Rand.
Write
4KB
IOPS
QD32
Lexar Professional Workflow SR2 UHS-II96.11146.99679.1640.7529.3142274.00.11427.810.6542601.00.09723.7
SanDisk Extreme Pro SD UHS-II Reader/Writer96.00646.12676.2980.8266.4031563.20.09924.26.8971683.90.13031.7
SanDisk Extreme Pro UHS-II SD Reader/Writer95.74347.06479.4900.7549.8932415.40.09022.010.8062638.20.09022.0
Delkin Black Rugged Card Reader95.62946.11875.8590.7846.1111491.80.09924.26.5011587.20.09523.2
Lexar LRWM04U-7000 UHS-II Reader95.46446.89379.3070.7299.9232422.60.08119.810.8332644.70.10425.4
Sony S1 High Speed UHS-II Reader/Writer95.43846.10175.9460.7456.2841534.10.09924.26.7291642.80.12931.6
Kingston MobileLite G4 UHS-II95.38647.14079.4640.7559.7912390.40.09022.010.8222642.10.11127.1
Transcend Multi-Card Reader RDF994.73146.89161.1510.7128.6072101.40.09824.09.7502380.40.11327.6
Lexar Professional Dual Slot UHS-II Card Reader94.71446.98179.5030.7789.1832241.90.09423.110.5392572.90.11026.8
Delkin Dual Slot SD UHS-II and CF Card Reader94.63747.25479.3980.8319.3342278.90.10124.610.6382597.20.14535.5
Lexar Professional Workflow SR194.51747.01178.5650.7958.4122053.60.08520.88.8072150.10.12029.4
Kingston FCR-HS4 Card Reader94.46646.95679.0470.7569.3732288.40.09022.010.6752606.10.08821.5
Delkin Multi-Card CFast SD UHS-II microSD Reader94.34746.18378.8920.7869.1952245.00.09924.210.6422598.20.12430.3
SanDisk ImageMate Pro Multi-Card Reader/Writer94.27146.13275.7340.7485.7261398.00.09924.36.5571600.90.09924.1
Transcend SD Card Reader RDF5 Black94.17846.83078.0580.7916.4571576.40.08921.76.6191615.90.10525.6
Delkin Travel Reader94.15247.00976.9080.7899.2492258.00.08621.010.5172567.60.08320.4
Lexar Professional Dual Slot Reader93.57347.03878.4730.7968.8152152.10.10826.49.2712263.50.08721.3
SanDisk ImageMate All-In-One USB 3.093.48946.95272.0550.8385.0091222.80.09122.35.1021245.70.10325.2
Delkin Universal Memory Card Reader92.64747.15077.5570.7928.3452037.40.10024.49.0542210.30.11026.9
Sony MRW-E90 XQD 2.0 / SD UHS-II Card Reader91.48346.39776.0210.7078.1271984.10.09924.29.1162225.50.11327.6
Kingston Multi-Card Reader FCR-HS390.85747.00058.4550.7949.8542405.80.09523.210.7712629.60.10224.9
Transcend Multi-Card Reader RDF8 Black84.63147.01773.0590.7948.6262106.00.10024.59.0952220.50.11528.0

In cameras, the Kingston 32GB averaged between 30-40 MB/s write in a majority of cameras. In the latest UHS-I capabale cameras (Nikon D3300, D7100, D810) it reached 38-39MB/s, and in the Canon 7D Mark II it reached 41.2MB/s write speed. Its performance would be adequate for most photographic purposes. Fast continuous shooting applications may require a card capable of higher write speed, such as the Kingston 90/80 U3 card, for maximum performance.

Kingston Ultimate 32GB
Tested in Camera
Write Speed
(MB/s)
Canon 77D44.6
Canon Rebel T7i44.6
Canon 80D44.5
Sony A944.2
Canon EOS M544.1
Canon 5D Mark IV44.0
Canon Rebel T6i/T6s43.7
Nikon D750043.1
Nikon D50042.9
Fuji X-Pro241.9
Nikon D560041.3
Canon 5Ds41.3
Canon 7D Mark II41.2
Nikon D720040.8
Nikon D710040.3
Nikon D550039.9
Nikon D75038.9
Olympus E-M1 II38.9
Nikon D330038.7
Nikon D81038.7
Samsung NX138.1
Olympus PEN-F38.0
Fuji X-T1036.4
Olympus E-M5 II36.2
Panasonic GH534.4
Sony A7R II34.1
Sony A630033.6
Pentax K-3 II33.5
Sony A600033.5
Canon 70D33.4
Canon 6D33.1
Nikon D530031.6
Olympus E-M131.2
Nikon D60030.8
Olympus E-M1030.0
Nikon D80027.9
Olympus E-M526.5

Cameras tested with this card: Canon 5D Mark IV, Canon 5Ds, Canon 6D, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon 70D, Canon 77D, Canon 80D, Canon EOS M5, Canon Rebel T6i/T6s, Canon Rebel T7i, Fuji X-Pro2, Fuji X-T10, Nikon D500, Nikon D750, Nikon D810, Nikon D800, Nikon D600, Nikon D7500, Nikon D7200, Nikon D7100, Nikon D5600, Nikon D5500, Nikon D5300, Nikon D3300, Olympus E-M1, Olympus E-M1 II, Olympus E-M5, Olympus E-M5 II, Olympus PEN-F, Olympus E-M10, Panasonic GH5, Pentax K-3 II, Samsung NX1, Sony A7R II, Sony A9, Sony A6000, Sony A6300

Kingston Ultimate 32GB SDHC Memory Card Package Front
Kingston Ultimate 32GB SDHC Memory Card Package Back

Kingston was founded in 1987 in Fountain Valley, California. Today it produces a variety of memory modules including DRAM, flash drives, solid state drives and memory cards and has wordwide annual sales of $6 billion US (2013).

Kingston memory cards carry a lifetime warranty.

Assembled in Taiwan.

The following table contains information encoded in the SD card.

Kingston Ultimate 32GB SD — Internal Card Information
Serial number (PSN)23594878
Product Name (PNM)SD32G
Product Revision3.0
Manufacturer ID (MID)0x000041
OEM ID (OID)42
Manufacture Date (MDT)06/2014
Total capacity32,090,619,904 bytes

Available sizes and prices

Compare prices on the Kingston Ultimate SD card. The lowest prices are highlighted in the table below. Prices are updated daily.

CardSize
GB
Lowest
$ / GB
Prices
AmazonB&H PhotoAdorama
Kingston Ultimate SD16N/ACheck price Check priceCheck price
Kingston Ultimate SD32N/ACheck price Check priceCheck price
Kingston Ultimate SD64$0.57$36.38Check priceCheck price
Kingston Ultimate SD128N/ACheck price Check priceCheck price
Kingston Ultimate SD256$0.63$161.52Check priceCheck price
Kingston Ultimate SD512$0.94$481.28Check priceCheck price