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.
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-II | 96.111 | 46.996 | 79.164 | 0.752 | 9.314 | 2274.0 | 0.114 | 27.8 | 10.654 | 2601.0 | 0.097 | 23.7 |
SanDisk Extreme Pro SD UHS-II Reader/Writer | 96.006 | 46.126 | 76.298 | 0.826 | 6.403 | 1563.2 | 0.099 | 24.2 | 6.897 | 1683.9 | 0.130 | 31.7 |
SanDisk Extreme Pro UHS-II SD Reader/Writer | 95.743 | 47.064 | 79.490 | 0.754 | 9.893 | 2415.4 | 0.090 | 22.0 | 10.806 | 2638.2 | 0.090 | 22.0 |
Delkin Black Rugged Card Reader | 95.629 | 46.118 | 75.859 | 0.784 | 6.111 | 1491.8 | 0.099 | 24.2 | 6.501 | 1587.2 | 0.095 | 23.2 |
Lexar LRWM04U-7000 UHS-II Reader | 95.464 | 46.893 | 79.307 | 0.729 | 9.923 | 2422.6 | 0.081 | 19.8 | 10.833 | 2644.7 | 0.104 | 25.4 |
Sony S1 High Speed UHS-II Reader/Writer | 95.438 | 46.101 | 75.946 | 0.745 | 6.284 | 1534.1 | 0.099 | 24.2 | 6.729 | 1642.8 | 0.129 | 31.6 |
Kingston MobileLite G4 UHS-II | 95.386 | 47.140 | 79.464 | 0.755 | 9.791 | 2390.4 | 0.090 | 22.0 | 10.822 | 2642.1 | 0.111 | 27.1 |
Transcend Multi-Card Reader RDF9 | 94.731 | 46.891 | 61.151 | 0.712 | 8.607 | 2101.4 | 0.098 | 24.0 | 9.750 | 2380.4 | 0.113 | 27.6 |
Lexar Professional Dual Slot UHS-II Card Reader | 94.714 | 46.981 | 79.503 | 0.778 | 9.183 | 2241.9 | 0.094 | 23.1 | 10.539 | 2572.9 | 0.110 | 26.8 |
Delkin Dual Slot SD UHS-II and CF Card Reader | 94.637 | 47.254 | 79.398 | 0.831 | 9.334 | 2278.9 | 0.101 | 24.6 | 10.638 | 2597.2 | 0.145 | 35.5 |
Lexar Professional Workflow SR1 | 94.517 | 47.011 | 78.565 | 0.795 | 8.412 | 2053.6 | 0.085 | 20.8 | 8.807 | 2150.1 | 0.120 | 29.4 |
Kingston FCR-HS4 Card Reader | 94.466 | 46.956 | 79.047 | 0.756 | 9.373 | 2288.4 | 0.090 | 22.0 | 10.675 | 2606.1 | 0.088 | 21.5 |
Delkin Multi-Card CFast SD UHS-II microSD Reader | 94.347 | 46.183 | 78.892 | 0.786 | 9.195 | 2245.0 | 0.099 | 24.2 | 10.642 | 2598.2 | 0.124 | 30.3 |
SanDisk ImageMate Pro Multi-Card Reader/Writer | 94.271 | 46.132 | 75.734 | 0.748 | 5.726 | 1398.0 | 0.099 | 24.3 | 6.557 | 1600.9 | 0.099 | 24.1 |
Transcend SD Card Reader RDF5 Black | 94.178 | 46.830 | 78.058 | 0.791 | 6.457 | 1576.4 | 0.089 | 21.7 | 6.619 | 1615.9 | 0.105 | 25.6 |
Delkin Travel Reader | 94.152 | 47.009 | 76.908 | 0.789 | 9.249 | 2258.0 | 0.086 | 21.0 | 10.517 | 2567.6 | 0.083 | 20.4 |
Lexar Professional Dual Slot Reader | 93.573 | 47.038 | 78.473 | 0.796 | 8.815 | 2152.1 | 0.108 | 26.4 | 9.271 | 2263.5 | 0.087 | 21.3 |
SanDisk ImageMate All-In-One USB 3.0 | 93.489 | 46.952 | 72.055 | 0.838 | 5.009 | 1222.8 | 0.091 | 22.3 | 5.102 | 1245.7 | 0.103 | 25.2 |
Delkin Universal Memory Card Reader | 92.647 | 47.150 | 77.557 | 0.792 | 8.345 | 2037.4 | 0.100 | 24.4 | 9.054 | 2210.3 | 0.110 | 26.9 |
Sony MRW-E90 XQD 2.0 / SD UHS-II Card Reader | 91.483 | 46.397 | 76.021 | 0.707 | 8.127 | 1984.1 | 0.099 | 24.2 | 9.116 | 2225.5 | 0.113 | 27.6 |
Kingston Multi-Card Reader FCR-HS3 | 90.857 | 47.000 | 58.455 | 0.794 | 9.854 | 2405.8 | 0.095 | 23.2 | 10.771 | 2629.6 | 0.102 | 24.9 |
Transcend Multi-Card Reader RDF8 Black | 84.631 | 47.017 | 73.059 | 0.794 | 8.626 | 2106.0 | 0.100 | 24.5 | 9.095 | 2220.5 | 0.115 | 28.0 |
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 77D | 44.6 |
Canon Rebel T7i | 44.6 |
Canon 80D | 44.5 |
Sony A9 | 44.2 |
Canon EOS M5 | 44.1 |
Canon 5D Mark IV | 44.0 |
Canon Rebel T6i/T6s | 43.7 |
Nikon D7500 | 43.1 |
Nikon D500 | 42.9 |
Fuji X-Pro2 | 41.9 |
Nikon D5600 | 41.3 |
Canon 5Ds | 41.3 |
Canon 7D Mark II | 41.2 |
Nikon D7200 | 40.8 |
Nikon D7100 | 40.3 |
Nikon D5500 | 39.9 |
Nikon D750 | 38.9 |
Olympus E-M1 II | 38.9 |
Nikon D3300 | 38.7 |
Nikon D810 | 38.7 |
Samsung NX1 | 38.1 |
Olympus PEN-F | 38.0 |
Fuji X-T10 | 36.4 |
Olympus E-M5 II | 36.2 |
Panasonic GH5 | 34.4 |
Sony A7R II | 34.1 |
Sony A6300 | 33.6 |
Pentax K-3 II | 33.5 |
Sony A6000 | 33.5 |
Canon 70D | 33.4 |
Canon 6D | 33.1 |
Nikon D5300 | 31.6 |
Olympus E-M1 | 31.2 |
Nikon D600 | 30.8 |
Olympus E-M10 | 30.0 |
Nikon D800 | 27.9 |
Olympus E-M5 | 26.5 |
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 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 Revision | 3.0 |
Manufacturer ID (MID) | 0x000041 |
OEM ID (OID) | 42 |
Manufacture Date (MDT) | 06/2014 |
Total capacity | 32,090,619,904 bytes |
Compare prices on the Kingston Ultimate SD card. The lowest prices are highlighted in the table below. Prices are updated daily.
Card | Size GB | Lowest $ / GB | Prices | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Amazon | B&H Photo | Adorama | |||
Kingston Ultimate SD | 16 | N/A | Check price | Check price | Check price |
Kingston Ultimate SD | 32 | N/A | Check price | Check price | Check price |
Kingston Ultimate SD | 64 | $0.57 | $36.38 | Check price | Check price |
Kingston Ultimate SD | 128 | N/A | Check price | Check price | Check price |
Kingston Ultimate SD | 256 | $0.63 | $161.52 | Check price | Check price |
Kingston Ultimate SD | 512 | $0.94 | $481.28 | Check price | Check price |