Nextorage has released a new line of CFexpress Type A cards. But what makes these Type A cards specials is they conform to the latest CFexpress 4.0 standard, meaning they're twice as fast as a typical Type A card.
The new NX-A2SE series consists of three card capacities: 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB. All are capable of a blisteringly-fast 1900MB/s maximum read speed, and an equally impressive 1700MB/s peak write rate. This makes these new Type A cards just as quick as some of the fastest first-gen CFexpress Type B cards.
Read more: The best CFexpress cards in 2024
Despite their CFexpress 4.0 status, NX-A2SE cards are still backward compatible with the CFexpress 2.0 standard, so they'll still work in any camera that supports Type A cards, although transfer speeds will naturally be limited to 2.0 speeds (around 900MB/s read).
Nextorage rates the minimum sustained write speed at 1500MB/s for the 1TB card, 850MB/s for the 512GB version, and 400MB/s for the 256GB capacity. All three card capacities are also VPG200 certified, so they're rated to sustain a minimum 200MB/s write rate during video recording, making them suitable for recording high bit-rate 4K video.
Only Japanese pricing has been revealed so far, with the cards said to cost: 15,980 yen (256GB), 29,980 yen (512GB) and 59,800 yen (1TB). This equates to approximately US$103, $194 and $387, or £82, £153 and £305.
In addition to the new CFexpress cards, Nextorage has also announced a compatible Type A card reader: NX-SA1PRO. Ensuring the new NX-A2SE reader doesn't bottleneck CFexpress 4.0 Type A cards, Nextorage has equipped it with a 40Gbps USB4 interface. This is theoretically capable of speeds up to 5000MB/s, though Nextorage rates the reader's maximum speed at a more conservative 1650MB/s.
To prevent the reader overheating during sustained high speed data transfers, it utilizes a large internal heat sink which should minimize thermal throttling and corresponding slowdowns in transfer speeds.
Like the new Nextorage Type A cards, the NX-SA1PRO reader is currently a Japan-only release, priced at 13,980 yen (approx. USD $90 / £71).
