Legit Reviews

Transcend USB 3.0 Memory Card Reader Review

Transcend says that you can unlock the full potential of your high-speed memory cards with the RDF8 USB 3.0 multi-card reader. We take a quick look at the Transcend RDF8 USB 3.0 memory card reader and put it to the test with a UHS-1 speed rated 32GB SDHC card. Read on to find out how the Transcend RDF8 performs and what issues, if any, that we ran into!

By plugging in the Transcend RDF8 USB 3.0 Memory Card Reader into one of the available USB 3.0 ports on the ASUS UX31A we found performance increased nicely. The sequential read and write speeds jumped up to 81MB/s and 45MB/s, respectively. Speed aside it also supports other memory card formats that we previously couldn't do, so you get more than just a speed boost!

Article Title: Transcend USB 3.0 Memory Card Reader Review
Article URL: http://www.legitreviews.com/article/2152/1/
Pricing At Time of Print: $15.99 shipped

In case anyone is curious about the difference a firmware update would make on a memory card reader. I didn't put this in the review as I didn't want to confuse people, but here are the results for those that are interested.

Transcend RDF8 USB 3.0 Reader w/ Firmware TS15:



Transcend RDF8 USB 3.0 Reader w/ Firmware TS21:



Pretty big difference on the write side!

About a month ago I picked up a Kingston FCR-HS3 USB 3.0 card reader. I was cruising the website a few weeks back and noticed a firmware update for the reader. I applied the update without a hiccup but I did find it strange there was a firmware update for a card reader. I guess this adds compatibility with newer UHS-1 cards? I see in this case that Transcend tweaked some algorithm to bring up the write speeds.

Major_A wrote:About a month ago I picked up a Kingston FCR-HS3 USB 3.0 card reader. I was cruising the website a few weeks back and noticed a firmware update for the reader. I applied the update without a hiccup but I did find it strange there was a firmware update for a card reader. I guess this adds compatibility with newer UHS-1 cards? I see in this case that Transcend tweaked some algorithm to bring up the write speeds.

You got it... Some of the newer standards required a firmware update. Transcends also improved performance and fixed some bugs.

Crazy all the firwmare updates you have to do these days...

On my PC I've updated the firmware on my burner, USB 3.0 controller, SSD and memory card reader. I've also updated the BIOS on my video card and my motherboard...

A few months back I did a firmware update for my sister's KIA radio. Firmware updates everywhere, and the sad part is most non-tech savvy people won't know to even look.

Firmware upgrades are kinda like finding easter eggs

I just saw that Firmware TS22 came out for this drive a number of months ago and updated without any issues. There is no change log, so not sure what the firmware does for the Transcend RDF8.