Freewell USB 3.2 Duo Card Reader: SD & Micro SD Dual Slot Reader with Storage Compartment Designed for Professional Photographers and Videographers

Brilliant! Pure brilliance!!

Great convenience and practicality. I keep with my photo gear in my bag so I won't lose track of it. Pure genius keeping a storage compartment. Easy to use and connects basically any storage I might run into so it's super practical and I can move things across platforms. Love.

This is a cool, if not slightly odd, product. For the right person (professional field photographer mostly), it will heavenly.It is what it says it is... an external USB (native C, with A adapter) contained in a very high-quality case. The (large) palm-sized case slips off with the push of a button and a little pull. With the cover off, the built-in USB-C cable (only about 6") can be plugged into your device. You now have a high-speed SD and TF card reader. With the case off, it's all hard plastic... decent hard plastic, but not as impressive as the case by far. The Frankenstein-looking inner part also provides storage for 3 SD cards, 6 TF cards, 2 Nano SIMs and 1 each of the super-duper-high-speed CFE type A and B cards (although this is NOT a reader for that type.)I compared the speeds of two high-speed cards as accessed from this device and from the built-in SD slot on my M1 MacBook Pro.1. SABRENT V60 XCII - 256GB2. SONY TOUGH V90 HCII - 32GB (what I use in my camera)I measured using Blackmagic Design's Disk Speed Test in the 2GB read/write test.The results were a little baffling, but not too concerning.With the SABRENT on the MAC, the card was pretty consistently reporting 330Mb/s(W) and 200Mb/s(R). Going through this reader, I saw a lot more variation in speed (but have no idea if the reader is the cause). WRITE was lower at anywhere from 120MB/s - 255MB/s. READ varied between 190 and 235, but actually averaged faster than the Mac's main board.With the SONY, I saw almost identical average speeds between the MAC slot and the Freewell Reader. Oddly, this test, I saw more variation on the MAC than the Freewell, but on average, the Freewell reported *slightly* higher numbers.I don't know if this makes sense, but at least I trust that this reader is not causing any major bottlenecks and performs about on-par with the built-in slot, while also providing a tough case, media storage, and portable versatility.It does come with carabiner and a fastening loop, but if I could ask for one improvement, it would be to add an inlaid rubber grip to the case... it's quite slippery. But I like that you don't have to slide the case completely off to expose the card slots... cuz when it's all the way off, it's an ugly little accessory! (but functional!)In hindsight, I'm going to bump this up a star to the full five stars. I've been spoiled by having higher-speed card readers for many years and forgot what an improvement these are over the readers that can't read HC-II/XC-II cards... if you're used to the "regular" card readers, you will love the speed of this (provided you buy the compatible high-speed cards). Any time you can get a well-built reader at a reasonable price that delivers the performance and supports these high-speed cards, it's a big win.

Works but tends to get hot when reading the fast cards, especially the A a cards

There are some upsides and some downsides to this unit.One of the upsides: you have everything you need in one place to store and read memory cards. The downside is that you have it all with you, or you have none of it. If I'm going on extended vacation or an event where I can't easily download photos, I might want the ability to carry 10+ memory cards, but most of the time, one spare is enough (for me at least, your mileage may vary).Upside: You have the reader with you. Downside is the whole unit is bulky. I can get a wallet to carry 10 cards and and a small reader that take up half the space and are small enough to fit in a pocket. The other downside is that it's natively USB-C. If you do your work on an android tablet or phone, that works. I work on my PC which has limited USB-C slots. They do include an adapter, but then you have to make sure you have it with you. It almost seems like an afterthought.I did have a little trouble getting a micro SD card out of the storage slot. The card itself has so little surface area that if your hands aren't clean and dry, you might not be able to get enough friction to slide it out.One upside with no downside is that it's super sturdy. The I wouldn't run over it with a car, but it gives you the feeling that everything inside would still be safe. The slide off case has nice thick walls with no give. The latches hold the cover tightly in place. Even one latch seems sufficient. The carabiner knob also seems sturdy.To summarize, it's a very functional, all in one memory card central, but it's not for everyone.

Wanted to love this item but it died within a couple of months. I started the return process with Freewell but they wanted quite a bit of information rather than me just sending it in for a replacement. Considering I was buried in work I wound up just throwing it in the trash and counting it as loss. I can't recommend this product based on it failing on me so quickly and with little use. I have another brand now and it has been rock solid.

This card reader is very well made. The outer shell is solid and offers a great deal of protection for memory cards you store inside. It has enough slots to hold all the cards I need, and all of the cards snap firmly in place so they don't fall out at the wrong time. The USB-C connector offers fast storage, and stores neatly in a groove built into the reader. Great value for the price, highly recommended!

I get the idea, but it's nothing to cheer about. It's a glorified card holder. The cord is way short and some of the card slots available are for older tech, what a waste.