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ProGrade Digital has announced the PGM0.5, a new SD and microSD card reader. This compact card reader uses a USB-C interface that’s designed to be paired with mobile devices, such as Android smartphones and Apple iPad models.
The UHS-II SD card reader offers transfer speeds up to 625MB/s through its USB-C (USB 3.2, Gen. 1) port, which is integrated directly into the body of the reader. While UHS-II SD and microSD cards top out at 312MB/s, this data rate provided by ProGrade Digital suggests it can read from two UHS-II cards at once, giving a total throughput of roughly 625MB/s.
This reader can be used for macOS and PC computers, the reader is clearly made with mobile devices in mind, as the compact form factor and integrated USB-C connector looks right at home plugged into an Android smartphone or tablet, as well as Apple’s USB-C and Thunderbolt iPad models.
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In its testing with the PGM0.5, DIY Photography discovered something interesting about this new card reader. According to its research, the card reader appears to support SanDisk’s protocol that enables SanDisk Extreme Pro UHS-I SD and microSD cards to have read and write speeds up to 100MB/s and 164MB/s, respectively. Until now, you needed to use specific card readers available only from SanDisk to achieve these speeds from SanDisk cards, as SanDisk’s proprietary protocol technically fell outside the bounds of the SD specification. It’s unclear at this time whether ProGrade Digital was able to reverse-engineer this compatibility or is licensing the technology from SanDisk, but it a welcomed addition, regardless.
As for its UHS-II performance, however, DIY Photography did note performance was marginally slower with read speeds than the company’s desktop SD card reader, although the difference was only by 20MB/s or so, which likely won’t make or break your workflow.
The ProGrade Digital PGM05 card reader is available to purchase starting today for $35. It comes with a two-year warranty.
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This article comes from DP Review and can be read on the original site.
