Since the MacBook Pro removed the SD card slot a few years ago, I started testing many card readers to transfer photos and videos to my laptop. Even when the recent MacBook Pro brought back this slot, I still need to use one for my home office. The DriverGenius HB081 has become my favorite so far, let’s find out its offerings.
Disclosure: I received the card reader in exchange for the review. I spent time testing it to make sure the review is honest and unbiased.
Unboxing & Testing Video
Features & Performance
Unlike my previous USB-C hub, the DriverGenius HB081 is a dedicated hub for all kinds of memory cards. There are 3 slots for SD4.0, micro SD4.0, and CFast2.0 memory cards. At the moment, I am only using the microSD and SD cards but the CFast slot might be handy when I need to shoot super high-res photos or 8K videos in the future. CFast cards often have higher capacity and writing speed.
At this time, I have no problem shooting 4K videos and writing to a SanDisk Extreme PRO SD card. The DriverGenius hub has very good build quality with aluminum enclosure; It is also compact and lightweight enough so that I can toss into my backpack. Another nice feature is the click-in slot design. When I insert the card, it is just clicked in and held securely; Then when I need to remove it, I just press in again the the card will pop out.
You can use the 3 slots simultaneously as it supports the transfer speeds up to 5Gbps. I’ve tested many card readers over the years and the DriverGenius HB081 has become the fastest one so far, it is even faster than the built-in card reader of my new MacBook Pro. Specifically, the reading and writing speeds to my SD card are measured at 90.5 MB/s and 82.5 MB/s respectively. The MacBook’s card reader has the speeds of 89.9 MB/s and 78.7 MB/s while my previous card reader reaches 88.3 MB/s and 81.6 MB/s.
Overall, the DriverGenius HB081 works perfectly well and it has become the fastest card reader I’ve used so far. Therefore, we totally recommend it.
Dan says
I’m having trouble uploading video to my Mac. It’s saying it doesn’t have the right apps to download. When I look at what there is to upload, it says it’s a document, not a video. What should I do?