Sony’s new CFexpress memory cards offer more than double the speeds of its current fastest cards

Sony has announced the new CFexpress Type B spec and its newest CompactFlash memory card that’s supposed to be faster than anything else on the market. The new card’s read and write speeds are 1,700 MB/s and 1,480 MB/s, respectively. That stomps out Sony’s previous fastest card, which topped out at 630MB/s.

The new CEB-G128 memory card will come in 128GB and 256GB storage versions, with an even bigger 512GB variant “planned for the future.” Sony also announced a new CFexpress card reader — so you can move files off the card — that’s sold separately, called the MRW-G1 and optimized specifically for the Type B card. It’s designed to be durable, by withstanding up to 70N of bend force, and can supposedly withstand falls from up to five meters high. The card reader also comes with Sony’s Media Scan Utility and Memory Card File Rescue, two free desktop apps that assist users in managing their new super fast memory cards.

While microSD and SD cards are far more common in smartphones and cameras, respectively, CompactFlash cards are still used in high-end camera equipment. In a studio scenario, where filming happens for long durations and recorded files are getting larger with the arrival of 4K content, having faster read/write speeds is a big advantage over older, slower cards, even if those cards are smaller and less cumbersome.

Regarding availability, Sony’s new CFexpress memory card and MRW-G1 card reader will launch in the early summer of 2019, with pricing to be announced.