SanDisk Extreme PRO Cfexpress Card Type B comes ultra-fast reading speeds. The SanDisk Extreme Pro CFexpress cards are designed to work with current and next-generation 4K cameras and camcorders thanks to its consistent and dependable performance capabilities. Now it is user friendly to work with 4K video captures with minimal latency while recording, being considerably faster than existing SanDisk cards. This series of CFexpress cards are backward compatible with select XQD cameras that have firmware enabling CFexpress. SanDisk Extreme PRO Cfexpress Card Type B also allows existing devices to work with future releases. It also has RescuePRO Deluxe data recovery software download offer to give you a more convenient way of retrieving files that were accidentally deleted.
SanDisk Extreme PRO Cfexpress Card specs
- Speeds That Surpass Other Cards
- Smooth 4K Video Performance
- XQD Compatibility
- Easy File Recovery with RescuePRO Deluxe Software
- Capacity: Holds 128GB
- Card Type: XQD Card
- Package Count: Single Pack
- Speed Compliance: 1200MB/s (8000x)
| Capacities | 64GB, 128GB, 256GB, 512GB |
| Read and Write Performance | 512GB: Up to 1700MB/s read and 1400MB/s write speeds 256GB: Up to 1700MB/s read and 1200MB/s write speeds 128GB: Up to 1700MB/s read and 1200MB/s write speeds 64GB: Up to 1500MB/s read and 800MB/s write speeds |
| Compatibility | Backwards-compatible with select current XQD® host devices (please consult your host device manufacturer for details on CFexpress card compatibility). |
| Temperature | -10°C to 70°C (14°F to 158°F) |
| Warranty | Limited lifetime warranty |
| Support | RescuePRO® Deluxe data recovery software downloadable offer |
What is good in SanDisk Extreme PRO Cfexpress Card?
Higher speed than other cards
High-speed, consistent recording and enhanced workflow efficiency far beyond existing SanDisk cards.
Discover deleted files
The card comes with a RescuePRO Deluxe3 data recovery software download offer. This software makes it easy to recover files that have been accidently deleted (download required.)
Working with 4K VIDEO is easy
The CFexpress form factor captures RAW 4K video with sustainable, lowlatency performance in your video recording.
XQD Compatibility
The card is backwards-compatible with select XQD cameras that adopt firmware enabling CFexpress®,2 the CFexpress Card Type B bridges existing devices with the future of technology.
Comes with Warranty
Enjoy the peace of mind a limited lifetime warranty brings when it comes from SanDisk, a leading brand in imaging card performance.
SanDisk Extreme PRO Cfexpress Card Type B video review
SanDisk Extreme PRO Cfexpress Card Type B card reader full review
Design
Sandisk’s CFexpress card reader is discreetly styled, but has a pleasantly weighty feel, which combined with its grippy base keeps it anchored to your desk. This isn’t a dual/multi format reader though, so if you also use other card formats, you’ll need an additional card reader for these. Rather than simply pressing the CFexpress card into the reader like most SD or CompactFlash readers, the Sandisk Extreme Pro CFexpress reader uses a sprung click-in, click-out mechanism that gives a more positive docking feel.
Ports and connectivity
The reader is supplied with a short USB Type-C to Type-C cable, and you’ll need to use this rather than an older Type-A connection to ensure faster data transfer speeds. The reader utilises a USB 3.1 Gen 2 connection specification, meaning it can transfer at up to 10 gigabits per second. However, do the maths and even this isn’t fast enough to achieve the claimed maximum transfer speeds of a CFexpress card. 10Gbps equates to 1250 Megabytes per second – some way short of the 1700MB/s claimed maximum read speed of the SanDisk Extreme Pro CFexpress card.
SanDisk Extreme PRO Cfexpress Card Type B performance review
Pro Duo is equipped with a blazing fast Intel Optane H10 storage drive utilising the latest PCIe NVMe 3.0 x4 interface. This makes it capable of up to 2400MB/s read and 1800MB/s write speeds, therefore exceeding the maximum CFexpress card transfer rates. Combine this with the Pro Duo’s Thunderbolt 3 USB Type-C connection that can transfer at up to 40Gbps (5000 Megabytes per second) and it’s safe to say our test computer would not be bottlenecking the CFexpress card or reader.
We connected our Extreme Pro CFexpress reader to a brand new Asus ZenBook Pro Duo UX581G laptop to put card and reader through their paces. The ZenBook Pro Duo is an ultra high-end laptop boasting the very best hardware specifications. We rate it as one of the best laptops for photographers, so it shouldn’t introduce any bottlenecks in our CFexpress card speed testing.
We tested using repeated real-world transfers of a large folder of image files (multiple small files will always take longer to copy/paste than a single video of the same total file size), as well as a single large 4K video file, to determine the maximum possible real-world sustained transfer speeds you’re likely to achieve. Finally, to test theoretical maximum possible transfer speeds of the card, we used CrystalDiskMark’s storage benchmarking software, specifically the sequential read/write setting.
After repeated test runs, we found the Extreme Pro CFexpress 128GB Type B card and Extreme Pro CFexpress reader delivered average speeds of:
| Read | Write | |
|---|---|---|
| Images | 534MB/s | 410MB/s |
| Video | 718MB/s | 438MB/s |
| CrystalDiskMark | 1678MB/s | 591MB/s |
On the one hand these figures are hugely impressive results that eclipse any other memory card we’ve ever tested. However, aside from the 1678MB/s theoretical read speed score we achieved, which comes very close to the 1700MB/s claimed by Sandisk, in every other respect our CFexpress card didn’t reach its claimed maximum speeds.
But this may well be no fault of the card, or indeed Sandisk’s marketing department. While the physical hardware of CFexpress is doubtless capable of such stunning performance, other limiting factors inevitably come into play. A computer’s operating system, the type, size and quantity of files being transferred, the connection between card and computer, and finally the computer’s internal mass storage device (SSD or HDD) will all play a part in determining the maximum file transfer speed you can achieve.
if we’re to speculate on what may have limited our real-world image and video transfer speeds, the likely culprit could be the CFexpress reader. Its USB 3.1 Gen 2 connection, though unusually fast in the card reader market, still isn’t enough to maximise the potential of CFexpress. However even with this accounted for, we’d have still expected slightly higher maximum video read rates than we actually got.
Does Nikon Camera support SanDisk Extreme PRO Cfexpress Card?
At present only a few stills cameras support CFexpress out of the box, most notably the Canon EOS-1D X Mark III, but this could soon change. With CFexpress cards sharing the same physical form factor as the existing XQD card format, it’s possible for older XQD cameras such as the Nikon D850, Z 6 and Z 7 to be firmware-updated to support CFexpress cards.
This not only opens up possibilities for compatibility with newer, faster cards, it could also save you money. As any Z 6 or Z 7 owner will know, XQD cards are far from cheap, mainly because Sony has a stranglehold on the market. CFexpress on the other hand is an open-source standard and the usual big names in the memory card business are queuing up to offer CFexpress cards.
Which one is better – Sony vs SanDisk?
Compared to Sony’s G series XQD cards that boast maximum read/write speeds of 440/400 MB/s, our Sandisk 128GB CFexpress card claims to be capable of stunning 1700/1200MB/s read/write speeds, making it by far the fastest consumer memory card we’ve ever encountered, even eclipsing the previous (and sadly failed) CFast 2.0 format.