Transcend Ultimate 64GB SDXC Memory Card Review

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As HD video recording becomes increasingly popular, the need for high density storage follows. For this reason, we have seen many manufacturers start to increase the capacity of their SD and Compact Flash cards to accommodate this demand. One of these companies is Transcend, which has sent over one of its latest top tier offerings in the Ultimate line-up.

Today I will be going over the 64GB Ultimate SDXC memory card from Transcend. This card carries both a Class 10 and UHS-I speed rating, with marketing specifications of 90 MB/s read. Additionally, as with all Transcend memory products, you will find yourself with a free copy of RecoveRX, along with the SDXC card backed by a lifetime warranty.

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The Transcend Ultimate was delivered to us in its retail form, which you can see in its entirety above the review text. Here we found the card inside plastic packaging.

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Looking at the card, we first notice the capacity at 64GB printed on the card in bold font. Above this, we find the Class 10 and UHS I logos, and of course the SDXC and 600x as well.

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The bottom or back of the card shows the nine pin connection, which is standard for the SD format.

To test SD cards we utilize the same benchmarks we use for Flash Drives. These include CrystalDiskMark, ATTO and DiskBench. The card reader utilized in these test is the SanDisk ImageMate AIO. We have also included Price/Performance to aide in your purchase decision. All prices are updated for each review and come from reputable retailers listed on the manufacturers "Where to Buy" list.

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Our first look over the card shows its storage capacity of 59.8GB formatted in the exFAT file system.

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In ATTO, the Transcend was able to exceed marketing specifications coming in at 96 MB/s read and 63 MB/s write.

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Following up our ATTO testing, we move on to CDM, where we find similar results from the Ultimate SDXC. Here we find sequential result at 95 MB/s read and 64 MB/s write, while large block random reads come in at 89 MB/s and writes at 22 MB/s.

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In our chart above, we find the Transcend did quite well with both AVCHD and RAW formats at 58 MB/s and 56 MB/s respectively. This effectively puts the Transcend Ultimate right with the 64GB microSDXC from SanDisk.

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Offering ample performance is one way to get the average consumer to purchase your products, the other is pricing it competitively. Here you will find the Transcend Ultimate at the top of the list by quite a margin, thanks to the card's performance and excellent pricing at 0.78 cents per GB.

The Transcend Ultimate 64GB SDXC is a testament to the right mix of performance, capacity and market research. With this, Transcend has come out of the gates offering Full HD capable storage at a price point that makes this 64GB SDXC the fastest memory card on the market at this capacity and price point.

Performance of the Ultimate SDXC was quite compelling. For instance, in both ATTO and CDM, we reached 95 MB/s read, followed by 65 MB/s write, while DiskBench had the card on par with comparable products like the 64GB SanDisk Extreme Pro.

At the time of writing, the Transcend Ultimate 64GB SDXC is priced at $59.99 and backed by a lifetime warranty. Comparable products make this SDXC from Transcend a real treat coming in at half the price ($59.99) of the much more expensive SanDisk Extreme Pro 64GB SDXC ($129.99), and that makes it one to put on the short list.

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