INTRODUCTION

   From the very first PCMCIA, CompactFlash (CF), SmartMedia (SM/SMC), MultiMedia (MMC), Memory Stick (MS) and SD cards released throughout the 90's to the first microSD cards released in the mid-2000s and the latest Universal Flash Storage (UFS) and CFexpress cards released since 2016 the flash memory industry has done its best to advance technology and support both consumers and professionals alike. Yes, the usual competition between manufacturers and their various standards/media formats did end up "confusing" the market for a few years but as of today things are pretty much clear with only Samsung supporting another standard (UFS) as opposed with the rest of the industry/market (SD/MicroSD/CFexpress). Now if you're reading these lines chances are you know just how fast the latest CFexpress cards are and even though Type C cards are still not here (at least not to my knowledge) Type B cards are more than enough and the Professional Diamond CFexpress 256GB model by Lexar seems to be the fastest one yet.

   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, visit www.lexar.com.

   As mentioned in my previous CFexpress reviews all three CFexpress card standards (A/B/C) are based around the PCIe 3.0 NVMe v1.3 specification (Gen3x1 for Type A, Gen3x2 for Type B and Gen3x4 for Type C) thus allowing for speeds of up to 1000MB/s, 2000MB/s and 4000MB/s respectively (theoretical ones always). Of course, this obviously means that in the near future we may witness a CFexpress standard based on either PCIe 4.0 or PCIe 5.0 (which in turn should allow for speeds up to 8000MB/s and 13000MB/s respectively) but until that happens the upcoming Type C models are the fastest planned. As for the Professional Diamond CFexpress 256GB model it's also available in 128/512GB capacities, Lexar covers it with a limited lifetime warranty and always according to its published specifications it can reach speeds of up to 1900MB/s in reads and 1700MB/s in writes thus allowing even for smooth 8k RAW video recording. So, time to see just how fast the flagship CFexpress Type B model by Lexar really is.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

THE PROFESSIONAL DIAMOND 256GB TYPE B

Once again Lexar has used a small black box to ship the card in the front of which is taken by a product picture, their logo, capacity, advertised performance and the supported usages.

A product description is printed at the rear in 10 languages and is placed just over contact information for Lexar.

Just the card is placed inside the box (card size is 38.5x29.6x3.8mm).

To achieve its impressive performance numbers of 1900MB/s in reads and 1700MB/s in writes the CFexpress Diamond 256GB Type B model uses three gold plated contacts.

Turning the card around we find several quality certifications and the made in Taiwan statement.

As with past reviews for this CFexpress Type B card I’ll be using the latest USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 card reader also by Lexar.

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.
** As of March 2022 the Z590 test rig will be used for CFexpress memory cards.

TEST RESULTS

CONCLUSION

   CFexpress Type B cards have been around for well over a year now so the number of compatible devices from Nikon, Canon, Panasonic and other camera manufacturers has reached relatively satisfying numbers. Now, even though 8K RAW video recording is not something I plan on engaging myself with (at least not anytime soon) I am well aware of the somewhat demanding requirements for it (350-400MB/s for 80K 30p, 10bit RAW and 750-800MB/s for 8K 60/120p, 12bit RAW) and the Diamond model by Lexar is clearly able to deal with much more than that. This pretty much makes CFexpress Type B cards semi-future proof and for professionals and even very demanding users this means that the extra cost of acquiring one is well justified.

   The Diamond CFexpress Type B 256GB card by Lexar currently retails for USD379.99 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for around 430Euros inside the EU a price tag which clearly reflects its target audience. All said and done I have no complaints from the Diamond CFexpress model by Lexar and since it delivers probably the best performance out there today (for a Type B model) and is also covered by a limited lifetime warranty it deserves the Platinum Award.

PROS

- Impressive Performance (Up To 1900MB/s)
- Available Capacities (128/256/512GB)
- Limited Lifetime Warranty

CONS

- Price (For Some)