Lexar Professional 128GB & 256GB UHS-II SD Cards Review

TweakTown Rating: 88%

Our Verdict

If you have a device that can take advantage of the additional performance of UHS-II, the Lexar Professional lineup has something to offer anyone. However, I would recommend the gold lineup over others as it comes with a UHS-II reader in the box.

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UHS-II memory cards have been around for about two years with Sandisk announcing the Extreme Pro in early 2014. We did review that card upon release and you can read that review here. Now two years later, the market has many more players releasing UHS-II solutions, and today we will look at two from Lexar.

The Professional lineup of flash solutions from Lexar is the highest tier in their portfolio. These solutions are categorized in Bronze, Silver, and Gold, and we have a gold 128GB model and 256GB silver solution in house for testing.

Starting with the silver, this solution comes in 16GB to 256GB capacities and offers 150 MB/s write performance. The gold solution comes in capacities ranging from 32GB to 128GB and provides 300 MB/s write performance.

Compatibility extends to UHS-II capable solutions for peak performance but maintains backward compatibility with standard SD slots, with reduced performance. The MSRP for the Lexar Professional 1000x 256GB UHS-II comes in at $139.99 while the 128GB 2000x UHS-II solution comes in at $229.99 and both have a lifetime warranty.

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The packaging for each of these solutions is quite similar, with the main difference being the coloring. The 1000x solutions use a silver packaging.

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The 2000x 128GB solution comes in gold coloring, with a touch of marketing with the 4K and UHS logos on the front of the box. Capacity is at the very top on the hanger.

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The scope of delivery for the 1000x included the card seen above and a few reading materials not pictured. On the front of the card, we have performance and capacity at the very top.

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Flipping the card over, you will find the additional pins for the increase in performance for UHS-II solutions. There is also some regulatory information we can faintly see.

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The 2000x again follows the same design performance and capacity at the top.

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The same set of 17 contacts is present on this solution as well, and the card lock to the right.

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This first run is the 2000x 128GB solution. It's said to reach 300 MB/s write, but as you can see, I was only able to get 255 MB/s with 160 MB/s read.

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The 1000x 256GB card performed right on par with marketing reaching 150 MB/s from 16M to 512K while read performance hovered around 120 MB/s on larger file sizes.

With 4K video and high-res photography, high capacity cards are all the rage. There is also another side of the market that provides high capacity options at some rather impressive speeds, and that is what UHS-II is all about. The Lexar 1000x and 2000x are both well-built and high-quality devices. I can't say I have ever had an issue with a card from Lexar, but if I did, there is peace of mind in the lifetime warranty behind these solutions.

The performance was on par for the 1000x 256GB card tested today. I did reach the advertised 150 MB/s from 512K to 16M file sizes with a bonus 120 MB/s read speed. The 2000x card was not able to reach the 300 MB/s I was hoping for, but instead topped out at 255 MB/s with a 160 MB/s read speed.

With that said, both solutions are tremendous upgrades from standard UHS-I solutions, especially for photogs in the field or those of you filming in 4K. Just the performance of offloading your data will increase three-fold with the included UHS-II reader for the 2000x and double for the 1000x, and that in the end saves a lot of time and get you back in the field doing what you love.

Tyler's Test System Specifications

• Motherboard: ASUS Z170 Premium - Buy from Amazon
• CPU: Intel Core i5 6500 - Buy from Amazon
• Cooler: Noctua NH-U12S - Buy from Amazon / Read our review
• Memory: Klevv CRAS 16GB (4x4) DDR4 3000 - Read our review
• Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 - Buy from Amazon / Read our review
• OS Storage: Intel 730 480GB SSD - Buy from Amazon / Read our review
• Secondary Storage: Intel 750 400GB U.2 SSD - Buy from Amazon / Read our review
• Case: Thermaltake P5 - Buy from Amazon / Read our review
• Power Supply: Thermaltake Toughpower Grand 1200 - Buy from Amazon
• OS: Microsoft Windows 10 - Buy from Amazon