Kingston MobileLite G3 USB 3.0 Multi-Card Reader Review - The Kingston MobileLite G3

mbl05With the increasing popularity of the SD form factor for media storage (SDHC, SDXC, etc) in modern devices like Cameras, Camcorders and more it was no surprise to see many mobile devices built with an SD card reader. However, most desktop were left out as there is no spot on a motherboard to deal with this. So many photographers and videographers end up tethering their cameras to their systems just to get their images onto them for work. This is awkward and can be annoying. True there is an option for a multi-card reader, but many of those are slow or can be as bulky as the cameras were. With the release of the USB 3.0 specification and the rise of the case with USB 3.0 ports on the front it was time to revisit the multi-card reader. Today we have a small USB 3.0 multi-card reader from Kingston that is not much bigger than a USB flash drive. So follow along as we introduce you to the Kingston MobileLite G3 USB 3.0 Reader.

 

The Kingston MobileLite G3 with 16GB SDHC -
The MobileLite G3 is, as we mentioned, a USB 3.0 device. It is also not much bigger than many of the larger capacity USB flash drives. When you first pull it out of the packaging both covers are extended to protect both the USB plug and the ports in the card reader.

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You can slide these back to make things easier to use (you cannot plug it into a USB port without sliding at least one end back. The other end can be retracted to make it easier to insert a media card and then slid back out to keep it in place and from be damaged by an accidental bump.

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Unfortunately we were not able to pry apart the MobileLite G3 to find out what USB 3 controller is inside. This means that we do not have a baseline estimate to work from here without doing a little guess work. We could make the assumption that the controller here is the same one that is used in the Data Traveler series, but realistically it is doubtful they are using that same model. It looks like we will have to find out what the performance baselines are the hard way (but the way that is much more fun).
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