At first we would like to thank Lexar for sending out a sample of their Professional 1800x microSDHC UHS-II 32GB Card for testing and reviewing.

 

 

 

About Lexar:

 

“Lexar. A world leader in reliable, award-winning memory solutions.

 

Whether shooting photos, capturing video, watching movies on a tablet, or simply transferring and sharing files on the go, Lexar® memory solutions provide the performance and reliability needed to get the most from your digital device.

 

As our award-winning lineup and 15 years in the memory business will attest, we know memory. Our strong retail, e-tail, and OEM presence make Lexar a global player in every major customer channel, including value-added resellers, system builders, and e-commerce. And we’ve built a name synonymous with quality, innovation, and customer service.

 

With a comprehensive portfolio of high-performance, award-winning products in every major memory category, including memory cards, card readers, and USB flash drives, Lexar products are backed by outstanding customer support, industry-leading warranties, and an ever-expanding selection of products that are designed to meet the growing needs of our customers. What’s more, all Lexar product designs undergo extensive testing in the Lexar Quality Labs, facilities with more than 800 digital devices, to ensure performance, quality, compatibility, and reliability.

 

Lexar is a leading global brand of Micron Consumer Products Group, Inc., a subsidiary of Micron Technology, Inc. Micron is one of the largest memory manufacturers in the world, and our relationship allows us to leverage more than 30 years of experience and expertise to offer industry-leading technology.

 

Lexar. When Memory Matters.™”

 

High-speed performance—leverages UHS-II technology (U3) for a read transfer speed up to 270MB/s (1800x)

 

 

Includes microSD™ UHS-II reader for high-speed file transfer from card to computer, dramatically accelerating workflow

 

 

Includes an SD™ UHS-II adapter for easy transfer between devices

 

 

Premium memory solution for sports camcorders, tablets, and smartphones

 

 

Designed for high-speed capture of high-quality images and extended lengths of 1080p full-HD, 3D, and 4K video

 

 

Backwards compatible with UHS-I devices, performing up to the maximum thresholds of UHS-I speed capabilities (SDR104)

 

 

Verified to be compatible with GoPro® cameras

 

 

Accelerates workflow, so you can save time, beat your deadline, and gain competitive advantage

 

 

Includes lifetime copy of downloadable Image Rescue® software

 

 

Backed by expert technical support

 

 

Limited lifetime warranty on card and one-year limited warranty on reader and adapter

 

 

The last microSDHC/microSDXC cards we have tested in our labs were featuring UHS-I speed rating and we have seen real-life performances up to 93MB/s for reads and 80MB/s for writes (Toshiba EXCERIA PRO M401). The product we are going to take a look in this article is taking performance to the next level, with rated speeds up to 270MB/s, which is ideal for playback and recording of 1080p FHD, 3D and 4K video content.

In order to profit from these new speeds, we also need to use compatible hardware, otherwise the card will run at UHS-I speeds (SDR104). Of course, the Lexar Professional 1800x cards can also operate with non UHS-I devices, in the case they will perform at Class 10 speeds.

The Lexar Professional 1800x card is offered in a small-sized cardboard enclosure, which does show potential compatible equipment like high-end drones which can shoot in 4K, cameras, security cameras, smartphones and more:

 

 

 

A small product description can be found on the back side of the box, in multiple languages; the “Works with GoPro” logo can be also spotted nearby, which assures the fact that the Lexar Professional 1800x has been pre-tested with their action cameras:

 

 

 

Inside the enclosure, we will get to see the card with its bundle, but also a leaflet with downloadable software details (Image Rescue 5 with product code):

 

 

 

 

While the microSDHC card can be used as-is, it can be also inserted into a supplied Lexar card reader, which is UHS-II compatible:

 

 

 

The card reader is also provided with a small hole for fitting a lanyard:

 

 

 

On the back side of the USB 3.0 product, we can see its code name and revision:

 

 

 

The card is also supplied with an UHS-II SD adapter, inside a transparent plastic enclosure:

 

 

 

A quick look does not reveal any physical differences versus an UHS-I adapter:

 

 

 

The story changes if we turn the product on the other side, which reveals an additional row of golden contacts:

 

 

 

The Lexar Professional 1800x microSDHC card retains the same footprint as the lower specced products:

 

 

 

On its back side though, we will spot two rows of gold plated contacts, which represent the newer UHS-II standard; the first-row pins are used for the normal speed, high speed and UHS-I bus interface signals to provide interoperability with existing non-UHS-II host devices:

 

 

 

Installing the card into the adapters takes only a few seconds:

 

 

 

 

Lexar Professional 1800x is also supplied with a free license of the Image Rescue 5 Software, which costs about $34 on the manufacturers’ website:

 

 

 

The software will detect the connected Lexar card right away and display it. With the utility, we are able to simply Format the card, Secure Format so data won’t be recovered, but also scan for previously deleted image files:

 

 

 

The scanning process will take some time to finish (it also depends on the size of the card):

 

 

 

Our previously deleted photos were displayed after the scan has been completed, which tells us that the software is operating as intended:

 

 

 

We can select only the photos we are interested in having recovered and afterwards we will be prompted for a folder to save them to:

 

 

 

 

The testbench was composed from the following hardware:

 

CPU: Intel I5 4690K Retail @ stock

Motherboard: BIOSTAR GAMING Z97X

RAM: GeIL Black Dragon 4x4GB DDR2133 (@1600)

Video: Sparkle GTX 470 with stock and OMNI A.L.C.

Power Supply: Nexus RX-8500 850W modular

HDD: OCZ Vertex 4 240GB SSD

Case: Thermaltake Armor+ LCS, stock cooling

OS: Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 x64

The Lexar Professional 1800x microSDHC UHS-II 32GB Card comes formatted FAT32:

 

 

 

To determine the flash drive read speeds, the HD Tune v5 utility was used:

 

 

HD Tune File Benchmark

 

 

Summary Graph (Read Performance)

 

To measure the real life performance, we have used the Total Commander application to copy to the card and from the card the same file and recorded the transfer speeds, when they have stabilized.

 

File Copy

File Read

Summary Graph (Real-life performance)

 

 

The Professional 1800x microSDHC card from Lexar is able to provide very good read/write performances in order to be used with high-end devices as camcorders, sport camcorders, tablets, smartphones, drones, PCs and more. Thanks to the new UHS-II standard, we can record high-quality multimedia content in 3D, 4K or 1080p Full-HD while for easy switching between devices, the product is also compatible with UHS-I.

 

The product appears in the compatibility list of the GoPro action cameras and for added value, Lexar has also thrown in a free copy of their Image Rescue 5 software, which is available standalone for about $34. The card is backed up by expert technical support during its limited lifetime warranty period. The card reader and the adapter do only have a year of warranty though.

 

Since we are dealing with a high-end product for its segment, the prices are also specific: the 32GB model, as tested can be found online for about 39.7 Euros. If you need more storage space on the same card, you can always go with the 64GB one which can be found for about 67.27 Euros, while the 128GB model can be had for about 120.9 Euros.

 

Lexar Professional 1800x microSDHC UHS-II 32GB Card is Recommended for:

 

 

We would like to thank again to Lexar for making this review possible!