Sony gets even tougher with new SD cards and speedy USB hub

The new SF-M series is 18x less bendy than conventional SD cards.

A couple of interesting new products from Sony for those who need ruggedised and quick storage on the move: a new and blindingly fast USB hub and the Tough SF-M series of SD cards.

Billed as the world’s fastest UHS-II SD and microSD card reader, the new Sony MRW-S3 is one of those little gadgets that people can whip out of their pockets and pretty much change the direction of a whole shoot. It’s pretty much a one-stop solution for speedy data transfer, and features USB-A and USC-C ports that support USB 3.1 Gen 2, providing ultra-high-speed data transfer of up to 1000MBps. HDMI output supports 4K 30fps.

It weighs a meagre 95g despite its aluminium body and comes with a detachable USB-C to USB-C cable for connecting to a host PC (as well as USB 3.1 Gen 2 devices or to a USB PD AC adapter up to 100W, thanks to its embedded eMarker). Users are notified by the USB power level indicators if each port is ready to be connected at max power supply levels.

Pricing is TBD, but it will be available in the Fall. As will the new SF-M entries into the Tough SD card range.

These offer ultra-high-speed data transfer of up to 277MBps read speed and 150MBps write speed, and Sony says they are 18x stronger than a standard SD card and are waterproof to IP8X and dustproof to IP6X.

These will be joined on release by a new conventional UHS-II SD card, the SF-E series, with transfer speeds of up to 270MBps read and 120MBps write. Both series will be available in 64GB, 128GB and 256GB capacities.