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Test Drive: Lexar 200-GB 633x MicroSDXC UHS-I
21 April 2016
Lexar recently announced the 200-GB 633x microSDXC UHS-I card and reader , its highest capacity microSDXC card, joining the 64-GB and 128-GB versions. The new capacity along with fast transfer speeds approaches hard drive storage dimensions, providing some interesting new possibilities.
Penny Not Included. But you do get the fingernail-sized microSDXC card and the USB 3.0 reader.
The company sent a review unit to us and we've been testing it in a variety of devices for a few weeks now.
SPECIFICATIONS
Specifications for the new product include:
LEXAR 633x microSDXC UHS-I CARD SPECIFICATIONS Card Type microSDXC Storage 200-GB Speed Class 10 UHS Speed Class U1 Speed Rating 633x Bus Interface Speed UHS Class I Data Transfer Reads up to 95-MB per second
Minimum transfer rate of 20-MB per secondCapacity 200-GB providing approximately 17 hours of HD video, 33,000 photos or 28,000 songs Accessories Includes a USB 3.0 reader
Backward compatible with USB 2.0Software Includes Image Rescue lifetime license Warranty One year limited warranty IMAGE RESCUE
The lifetime license for Image Rescue [MW] eluded us. You can download the software from Lexar but you need a serial number to activate it in anything other than Demo mode.
We thought we might register the card to get the serial number but we didn't find a registration page. So we contacted Bryan via a Chat session:
Bryan: Thank you for contacting Lexar.com. How may I help you today?
Mike: I have a 633x microSDXC card, which comes with a lifetime license to Image Rescue. How do I get a serial number for Image Rescue?
Bryan: The Micro SDXC cards do not come with Image Rescue. Only the "Professional" line of cards do.
Bryan: Do you have any Lexar card that says "Professional" on it?
Mike: Well, that's not what the press release for the 633x card said. "The 200-GB Lexar High-Performance 633x microSDXC UHS-I card comes with a limited lifetime warranty and includes a lifetime copy of Image Rescue software."
Bryan: Do you have a link to this by chance?
Mike: http://mikepasini.com/corners/2016/03/23-lexar-200gb.htm
Bryan: One moment please.
Bryan: Reviewing, please bear with me.
Bryan: To confirm you did obtain the 200GB card?
Mike: Yes, I'm writing a review of it right now, in fact. Which is how this came up.
Bryan: No worries. I just found on our site where it does state that. Let me grab you the information you will need. One moment please.
Bryan: I have just sent you via email what we will need to generate you a new code.
Bryan: It requires a bit of information about you and the card along with pictures of said card.
Mike: Can you point me to the page on the site that confirms Image Rescue is included?
Bryan: I'm sorry I was not aware that the 200GB came with it. However with it being so new its not something I've run across yet.
Bryan: All other versions do not come with Image Rescue, only the 200GB.
Mike: Thanks for clarifying. The link is to the press release, I see, but how would someone who purchased the 200-GB card get the serial number? I don't see any link on the site other than to do what I did.
Bryan: Typically any card that comes with Image Rescue has a leaflet in the package itself that contains the serial number for the code.
Bryan: It would also normally be listed on the package itself.
Mike: Yeah, I looked on the package without finding it and there was nothing inside but the card in a case and the reader. Hence the trip to the site for a link.
Bryan: No problem. Sorry for the confusion. Do you have any other questions for me today?
Mike: No, thanks for your help. I see the email has arrived...
Bryan: Sounds good. Thank you for contacting Lexar and you have a great day, Mike!
Apparently Lexar does state Image Rescue is included with the 20-GB version of 633x card only. But that's just the press release.
As it stands, you have to contact support to generate the email with the information request.
We filled that out, took photos of the card as directed and sent the information to Lexar. A few hours later, the company provided a download link to Image Rescue 5 as well as a keycode to activate it.
Image Rescue 5. Both Mac and Windows versions are in the .zip file.
We didn't complete a scan of the card because, after a few minutes, it had only gotten through a tiny percentage of the card. That's one drawback to a large card. It takes a lot longer to scan for recovery.
COMPATIBILITY
Lexar said its product designs "undergo extensive testing in the Lexar Quality Labs to validate performance, quality, compatibility and reliability with more than 1,100 digital devices."
That's actually a small percentage of the universe of digital devices. We feel like we've reviewed at least half a million digicams, although we may still be dazed.
But before getting too excited about having 200-GB in a microSD format, check the size limitations of your devices. Our Micro Four Thirds camera, for example, can only address 32-GB cards. Beyond that it just reports, "Card Error."
Adaptable. The microSD card in a microSD adapter that fits in the SD card slot of the MobileLite.
But we did find a couple of devices that could handle that much capacity:
- The Kingston MobileLite G2 with a microSD adapter, which was included with the MobileLite
- The SanDisk Flash Drive, which has a microSD port on the side
Plus you can just use the included USB reader to turn the microSD card into a capacious thumbdrive.
CAPACITY
We're used to using 32-GB cards, finding that plenty of space for holding 1)what we don't want to store on our table and phone and 2) what we want to share without duplicating.
So 200-GB makes us think of backing things up.
It took a few minutes to copy our photos from 2015 and 2016 to the card but that was pretty quick. Mere documents went by in the blink of an eye. And this was over USB 2.0.
Reader. Card inserted into USB reader.
So if you want and can handle capacity, don't worry about the compatibility of USB 2.0 and older form factors.
On the Lexar site there's a Capacity Calculator to show how much of various size cards are consumed by photos, minutes of HD video, song and movies (which you adjust with sliders). But it hasn't been updated to include the 200-GB card yet. Capacities available are 16-GB, 32-GB, 64-GB and 128-GB, which is enough to give you some idea of how much storage your data requires.
BEYOND US
GoPro has included Lexar 633x cards with at least one of its video capture devices, presumably for its 95-MB/second transfer speed. Video eats up storage fast and 200-MB provides about 17 hours of HD video.
That's a good reason to stick one of these in the microSD slot of your Android or Windows phone, too. You take video with your phone, right?
Those applications are a bit beyond us (neither our phone or table has a microSD slot). But they're feasible uses for a card of this capacity.
AT WORK
After testing the Lexar in the San Disk Flash Drive, we reverted to the 32-GB SanDisk microSD card because it simply wasn't full yet so the 200-GB Lexar didn't add anything to the package.
But it added quite a bit to the MobileLite where we typically share what we've copied to 8-GB SD cards.
In addition to two years of high resolution photos, we dropped important documents and a wedding movie we shot a few years ago.
And we still had plenty of room.
PRICE, AVAILABILITY
The microSDXC card is available now at both Adorama and B&H for $99.95, which is 24 percent off the list price.