It’s no secret that our Atlas CFexpress 4.0 Type B cards are insanely fast. With read speeds of up to 3,650 MB/s and write speeds of up to 3,000 MB/s everyone from concert photographers, adventure photographers and videographers, and cinematographers have been singing the praises of Atlas memory cards thanks to the countless hours they are giving back to creative professionals through incredible transfer speeds.
But there was one problem: CFexpress Type B card readers couldn’t keep up with the speed of Atlas cards. While users of beefy cameras like the Nikon Z8 and the RED Komodo were seeing the impact of Atlas during the capture phase, the offload phase of dumping images and footage to an external drive or onto a computer couldn’t take full advantage of all the raw speed Atlas offers. Even Thunderbolt card readers could only transfer data at up to 1,500 MB/s—less than half of the speed Atlas cards are capable of.
So, we decided to fix it. Today we’re introducing the Atlas USB4 CFexpress Single-Slot Memory Card Reader. This compact, bus-powered CFexpress Type B reader is capable of transfer speeds up to an astonishing 5,000 MB/s, this latest member of the Atlas family is the fastest card reader in the universe.
Because the Atlas USB4 card reader can take full advantage of the speeds from our Atlas Pro and Ultra CFexpress 4.0 Type B cards, we know this reader will have a dramatic effect on how you work. In fact, let’s look at some specific examples of how much time the Atlas USB4 reader will save you over using a Thunderbolt card reader.
As you can see, the Atlas USB4 can ingest twice as fast as a Thunderbolt card reader and 4x faster than a 10GB/s USB-C reader. Because this USB4 reader provides headroom of over 5,000MB/s it can deliver the full speed of our Atlas Ultra CFexpress 4.0 Type B cards. In our testing, we saw over 3,300MB/s real world read performance.*
Key to this speed is the design of this reader. Whether you’re talking about an SSD or a memory card, the enemy #1 is heat. The Atlas USB4 reader is just another example of OWC’s mastery of getting huge speeds out of compact, bus-powered, fanless drives and cards.
The Atlas USB4 card reader features a fanless, sturdy aluminum enclosure carefully crafted to optimize heat dissipation during high-speed data transfers. Inside is a highly effective heat sink and heat-resistant internal components that work together to prevent thermal throttling, ensuring that you get the most ingest speed out of your cards for the duration of your transfer.
Not only is this reader small and bus-powered, it’s fully compatible with just about any device with a USB-C port. It features plug and play compatibility with USB4, Thunder 4, and USB-C equipped Macs, Windows PCs, iPads, Chromebooks, tablets, and smartphones.
The Atlas USB4 CFexpress Type B card reader is the latest addition to OWC’s fully integrated Atlas family which includes memory cards, readers, and OWC’s custom Innergize software. The Atlas USB4 reader has an Innergize mode which can be activated by flipping a switch on the back of the reader. When switched into Innergize mode, the app provides health, performance, and field upgrade management for OWC Atlas memory cards to ensure the highest level of workflow performance and reliability.
The OWC Atlas USB4 CFexpress Single-Slot Memory Card Reader is available now for only $99. Make the switch to a full-speed workflow and check this reader out today.
*Based on testing OWC Atlas Ultra 2.0TB CFexpress 4.0 Type B card in the OWC Atlas USB4 CFexpress 4.0 Type B Card Reader connected to a Dell XPS 9315 with i5-1230U and 8GB RAM, in Windows 11 Pro using Crystal Disk Mark (1GB file size). Performance will vary depending on host hardware, software, usage, and CFexpress memory card used.
