INTRODUCTION

   Smartphones, tablets, action cameras, camcorders and of course cameras have but one thing in common, they all use memory cards as their storage medium. Now as I’ve probably mentioned in the past each week i take anything from 2000 to 3500 pictures using either one of my two Nikon D3500 DSLRs or my CANON 800D (although the CANON i use for regular every day pictures and not my reviews) so i always like to have them equipped with the fastest and most durable memory cards available. Unfortunately, since neither of the 2 models support the new and much faster UHS-II memory cards (mostly mirrorless models do) I can only use UHS-I cards and so I'm always interested in new models. Today with me i have 2 such cards and more specifically the Professional 1066x SILVER SDXC 256GB and PLAY MicroSDXC 512GB models by Lexar.

   For more than 25 years, Lexar has been a trusted leading global brand of memory solutions. Our award-winning lineup includes memory cards, USB flash drives, card readers, solid-state drives and DRAM. With so many options, it’s easy to find the right Lexar solution to fit your needs. All Lexar product designs undergo extensive testing in the Lexar Quality Labs with more than 1,100 digital devices, to ensure performance, quality, compatibility, and reliability. Lexar products are available worldwide at major retail and e-tail stores. For more information or support, visitwww.lexar.com.

   Once again, the Professional 1066x UHS-I SILVER series currently includes both SDXC (review here) and micro SDXC cards in 64/128/256/512GB capacities with read-write performance levels reaching 160-120MB/s respectively whereas the PLAY line includes microSDXC UHS-I cards in 128GB/256GB/512GB/1TB capacities and read performance of up to 150MB/s. Needless to say the Professional 1066x SILVER SDXC is more than fast enough to be used for 1080p Full HD and 4K Ultra HD recording and as for the PLAY microSDXC these can be used for Full HD 1080p recording. As for warranty Lexar covers the entire Professional 1066x SILVER series with a 10-year limited one and the entire PLAY series with a 5-year limited one. So, let's see how these cards really perform.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

THE PROFESSIONAL 1066X SILVER 256GB & PLAY 512GB

As usual both cards are shipped in blister packages at the front of which you can the cards.

A product description is printed at the rear in 4 languages and just over several certifications and contact information for Lexar.

Both cards follow the typical SD and microSD designs so nothing new here.

Typical for UHS-I cards on the other side we see but a single row of contacts.

TEST BED

TESTING METHODOLOGY

   Memory cards are pretty much identical to flash drives so to make things easier for everyone I'll be using roughly the same testing methodology to successfully record achieved read and write data transfer numbers. The benchmark suites used for memory card tests are HD Tune Pro (Read - Write average and max speeds), AIDA 64 Engineer Edition (Average Linear Read / Random Read - Write performance), Crystal Disk Mark x64 (4GB Read / Write speeds) and ATTO (Average Read / Write speeds). Every test is repeated a total of 6 times after which the average performance numbers are recorded into the charts (0 = test was unable to complete).

   Tests are performed on the X79 test rig running Microsoft Windows 10 Pro installation on a HyperX Predator 480GB PCIe SSD with all updates installed up to the day of this review (for ATTO and Crystal Disk Mark cards are formatted using the NTFS file system – however partitions need to be removed for the write tests of both AIDA64 and HD Tune Pro).

* As of April 2020, I’ll be using the X299 test rig for SDXC & microSDXC UHS-II (and above) memory card reviews.

TEST RESULTS – MICROSD

TEST RESULTS – SD

CONCLUSION

   Before I continue with my thoughts about these two memory cards I need to point out that Lexar cards do a lot better overall when paired with their very own card readers so for my Lexar reviews I’ve always used the multi-card 2-in-1 USB 3.1 reader. Now I can’t begin to imagine why that is (compatibility issues or are they just better?) but if you are using Lexar cards (at least their latest models) and your card reader is not getting the expected performance I do recommend getting that model instead. With that out of the way there’s not much I can say about these cards that my charts do not. Both models hit their expected performance numbers (and then some, especially for the PLAY card) and that’s what really matters when testing storage media (durability too but that’s not something I can test, not reliably anyways).

   At the time of this review, you can get your hands on the 1066x SILVER SDXC memory card for 256GB for USD54.99/56.62Euros and the PLAY 512GB MicroSDXC memory card for USD69.99/71.09Euros so in terms of pricing both cards are doing extremely well. With that out of the way once again both cards deliver their advertised read & write performance numbers and for that they are both getting the Golden Award.

PROS

- Very Good Read & Write Performance (1066x)
- Very Good Read Performance (PLAY)
- Available Capacities (PLAY / 1TB)
- Limited Warranties (10 / 5 Years)
- Price (For Some)

CONS

- Card Reader Compatibility? (Perform Better With Lexar Ones)