Lexar Professional Workflow Card Reader and Drive Hub Review

Introduction

There are many ways to get your data from memory cards to your system, server, or other memory cards, but it is far from all of these ways that are equally great. One of the best solutions for this comes from Lexar in the form of their Professional series Workflow card readers, portable SSDs, and storage drive hubs. Lexar provided me with a full set of these readers and a drive hub for reviews and today I’ll be showing you what they can do.

We’ve previously already reviewed the very affordable and compact Workflow DD512 portable USB 3.0 SSD and that is just one of the many options you have in this series. No matter what memory card type you use, you’ll find a reader for it and best of all, you can easily hook them up by simply plugging them into the drive hub.

Let us first talk a little about the drive hub itself, The Lexar Professional Workflow HR1. This is a four-bay drive hub that connects through a single USB 3.0 cable and comes with an external power supply to make sure that you got the optimal performance to all four readers at the same time.

While an external power supply can a little annoying, it is necessary to ensure a proper power supply to all four connected devices. The included AC adapter isn’t large and it won’t be a power hog either with its 20W maximum power consumption.

There is a second model available that also features a Thunderbolt 2 connection that will be particularly useful for Mac OS users on their iOS based systems. Whether you’re a pro photographer or videographer or an adventure seeker using a sports camcorder or aerial camera, it’s easy to create your custom workflow setup.

Thunderbolt 2 technology gives photographers and videographers the power to quickly transfer 4K video and other large media files at up to twice the speed of Thunderbolt and up to four times the speed of USB 3.0 devices. With a hub, you can easily copy and move files from one memory card to another, or back them up on a portable SSD that fits right into the hub next the card readers.

There are quite a few card readers available, among them the Workflow UR1 three-slot microSDHC/microSDXC UHS-II reader, the Workflow SR2 SDHC/SDXC UHS-II  reader, the Workflow CFR1 CompactFlash reader, and the Workflow CR1 CFast 2.0 card reader that I’ll be stocking my drive hub with today. All card readers are available with USB 3.0 or Thunderbolt and USB 3.0 to match your needs and drive hub.

The modular design allows you to easily swap card readers and storage drives depending on your needs, without the hassle of extra cables for each drive and the at times difficult connection access. Do you need four SD card readers at the same time? No problem. Do you need up to 12 micro SD cards at the same time? That’s no problem either. As you see, the choices are many and they are yours.

Feature Highlights:

• Transfers images and video from multiple memory cards at once
• Hubs leverage Thunderbolt 2 or USB 3.0 technologies for high-speed transfer of RAW images, high-res photos, and HD, 3D, and 4K video
• Readers support today’s latest card formats—SDHC/SDXC UHS-I and UHS-II, CompactFlash UDMA 7, XQD
  2.0, CFast and CFast 2.0 (Thunderbolt or USB 3.0), and microSDHC/microSDXC UHS-I and UHS-II
• Innovative, modular design
• Use the card readers with a hub or on the go
• Two-year limited warranty on hub and readers