UtechSmart USB 3.0 Card Reader 8-in-1

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With so many devices using MicroSD cards sometimes it is easier to just pop out the MicroSD or SDCard and plug it into your laptop or PC than to lug all the various USB cables to fit your various electronics.  But not all USB Card Readers are all the same, so when UtechSmart asked me to review their 8-in-1 USB 3.0 Card Reader they know I would be putting it up against other SD Card readers to see how it fared.

First, know this, USB 3.0 can transfer data far faster than a MicroSD card, and actually so can USB 2, so this means for this test as I only had a MicroSD card on me I couldn’t really see how fast it could match USB 3.0 speeds.  A MicroSD card comes in various classes, and class determines its max transfer rate.

For purposes of this testing I was using a Kingston Class 10 32GB MicroSD card, this has a transfer rate of 10MB/s (that is 10 Megabytes per second not megabits).  USB 3.0 can transfer theoretically up to 5Gb/s which is over 600 MB/s so there was no way this USB 3 card reader was going to push anything like that for a MicroSD card, so if you see the transfer rates are low, know that these are the limitations of a MicroSD card no the USB card reader itself.

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The Utechsmart 8-in-1 USB 3 Card reader comes with a cover for both sides of the reader, the USB plug and the card reader side, so it kind of looks like a flat pill shape and is easily transported sliding in a bag pocket for travel.

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It’s dimentions allow it to stick out of a laptop or desktop with ease, as it is pretty thin and won’t block a port behind or in front, but if you have 2 USB ports side by side, it is too wide and will block any USB ports on the side of it.

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I tested with the MicroSD card plugged into an SD Card adapter, and a MicroSD card plugged directly into the UtechSmart 8-in-1 USB 3 Card Reader.

Transfer rates were very good for MicroSD card transfers, and consistently showed 13MB/s transfer rates for this Class 10 Kingston 32GB MicroSD card.

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Now, compare this to the Kingston MicroSD USB card reader which couldn’t get above 11MB/s and you can see this card actually transfers faster than the MicroSD to USB reader that Kingston provides with the MicroSD Card.

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I repeated the transfer again and again, and got the same general range of 13MB/s to 13.4MB/s

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This is actually a little faster than the 10MB/s that a MicroSD card is rated for, so was surprised to see it that high actually.  So my opinion is that if you need a USB card reader, then the UtechSmart 8 in 1 USB 3 Card Reader is an excellent choice and it is well worth the $10 dollars.

Disclaimer:  UtechSmart provided me with the UtechSmart 8-in-1 USB 3.0 Card Reader so that I could do a thorough and accurate review of the product.  The opinions expressed are 100% mine and mine alone.

 

We are influencers and brand affiliates.  This post contains affiliate links, most which go to Amazon and are Geo-Affiliate links to nearest Amazon store.