Best CFexpress Type-A Memory Cards – 17 Tested

CFexpress Type-A memory cards, or CFxA & CFeA as often abbreviated, are a relatively new type of memory card that Sony has used for many of its new full-frame mirrorless cameras.

CFexpress Type-A cards are smaller but thicker and faster than UHS-II V90 SD memory cards.

Many CFexpress Type-A cards with larger capacities are now on the market, and their prices have decreased significantly. Some are now affordable enough to be considered a better value than V90 UHS-II SD memory cards. For example, the Pergear Standard CFexpress Type-A cards or the Lexar Silver Series.

There are also new CF4.0 CFexpress Type-A cards, which offer faster read and write speeds, which will be nice when future cameras switch to this new USB4.0 interface.

Best CFexpress Type-A Memory Cards

To find the best CFexpress Type-A memory cards, I benchmarked each with the AJA system test on a Windows 11 machine using the Prograde CFx Type-A reader, and I’m also using the Prograde CF4.0 Type-A reader for the new cards. Not all cards are working correctly with the CF4.0 interface. It’s either an issue with the ProGrade Reader, my motherboard, or the card memory controllers.

Remember you’ll need a USB4.0-compatible computer and cable to use CF4.0 cards and readers.

AJA System Test settings: Resolution: 5120×2700 5k Red / Test File Size: 4GB / Codec Type 16bit RGBA. Speeds are shown in Megabytes per second.

Crystal Disk Settings: 3 runs, 2GiB.

Crystal Disk will pull more of the max or peak performance values. In contrast, AJA produces an average based on a transfer request size with the codec type I’ve selected, so AJA is more relevant to camera usage, which is almost always sequential with larger write blocks.

CFxA Memory Cards	Review Links	CrystalDisk	Speed Class	Rated Write	Rated Read	Rated Sustained	Tested Write	Tested Read	Tested Sustain	Hide	Genius	Links
CFExpress Type-A											Hide	Hide
Sony M Tough 960/1920GB	Sony M Tough CFExpress Type-A Review	--	CFx-A	700	800	200					https://geni.us/jWkU9Yz	Amazon / B&H
Sony G Tough 80/160/320/640GB	Sony G Tough CFExpress Type-A Review		CFx-A	700	800	400	658	847	276		https://geni.us/wBUGRHQ	Amazon / B&H
Lexar Gold CF4.0 640/1TB			CFx-A 4.0	1650	1800	1400						B&H
Lexar Gold 80/160GB/320GB			CFx-A	800	900	400	825	886	817		https://geni.us/8BaVbpa	Amazon / B&H
Lexar Silver Series 160/320GB			CFx-A	700	800	200	776	861	687	X	https://geni.us/bLqRHpL	Amazon / B&H
Delkin Black CF4.0 960GB			CFx-A 4.0	1740	1830	500						B&H
Delkin Black CF4.0 480GB			CFx-A 4.0	1710	1830	500						B&H
Delkin Black 160GB			CFx-A	790	880	400	701	793	357		https://geni.us/6nb3Ul	Amazon / B&H
Delkin Black 80GB			CFx-A	730	880	400	654	845	134		https://geni.us/9EmgQ	Amazon / B&H
Delkin Power 160GB			CFx-A	790	880	400	705	843	680	X	https://geni.us/BCwrA	Amazon / B&H
Delkin Power 80GB			CFx-A	730	880	400	641	847	133		https://geni.us/4JkBF	Amazon / B&H
ProGrade Iridium CF4.0 480-960GB			CFx-A 4.0	1700	1800	200	1272	1532	687		https://bhpho.to/3VfaVaL	Amazon / B&H
ProGrade Gold 240-480GB			CFx-A	800	900	400	618	837	445		https://bhpho.to/4aOKbDK	Amazon / B&H
AngelBird AV Pro CF4.0 256/512GB/1TB			CFx-A 4.0	1650	1800	800						B&H
ProGrade 160GB - Discontinued		--	CFx-A	700	800	400	691	845	148	X	https://geni.us/PXAh5gW	Amazon / B&H
AngelBird AV Pro 1TB		--	CFx-A	730	820					X	https://geni.us/dGbG	Amazon / B&H
Wise Advanced MkII CF4.0 256GB-1TB			CFx-A 4.0	1750	1865	400	814	1555	735		https://bhpho.to/3KAKash	B&H
Exascend Essential Pro CF4.0 1TB		--	CFx-A 4.0	1650	1800	400					https://bhpho.to/4eulBLv	Amazon / B&H
Exascend Essential Pro CF4.0 256/512GB			CFx-A 4.0	1650	1800	400	1237	1560	759		https://bhpho.to/3VHvmxb	Amazon / B&H
Exascend Essential 1TB		--	CFx-A	850	900	200					https://bhpho.to/4eulBLv	Amazon / B&H
Exascend Essential 360GB-1TB			CFx-A	800	900	200	704	821	636		https://geni.us/0EoPn	Amazon / B&H
Exascend Essential 120-240GB			CFx-A	700	800	200	681	842	537		https://geni.us/95FXado	Amazon / B&H
OWC Atlas Pro CF4.0 480/960GB			CFx-A 4.0	1700	1850		1275	1535	692			Amazon / B&H
Pergear Prime 1TB		--	CFx-A	700	800	722					https://geni.us/tV4MU8	Amazon
Pergear Prime 260GB/520GB			CFx-A	900	880	400	588	837	442		https://geni.us/eQuw3l	Amazon
Pergear Prime 80GB			CFx-A	600	800	600	738	840	644			Amazon
Pergear Standard 512GB		--	CFx-A	780	800	380						Amazon
Pergear Standard 256GB	Pergear Standard 256GB CFxA Review		CFx-A	780	780	380	768	812	253			Amazon

You can see these benchmarked in various Sony Cameras.

Best Memory Card Sony A1

Best Memory Card Sony A7sIII

Best Memory Cards Sony A7rV

Best Memory Card Sony A7IV

You can check out this Sony Guide To Memory Cards to see which Sony cards support CFxA cards.

What To Look For With CFexpress Type-A Cards

These CFxA cars work similarly to the SSDs in our computers. They often have a fast SLC (Single-level cell) flash used as an initial quick cache that might be a few gigabytes. Once that cache gets filled, the card starts writing to a much slower memory, like MLC. This affects their sustain speeds.

You can see that working with the Sony Tough cards with the I/O transaction data below.

The faster SLC flash memory gets initiated, and the write speeds are very quick, but once the SLC fast type of flash is filled up, the files and the fast cache write to the slower memory until the fast flash is cleared for another write cycle.

In addition, thermal throttling can occur when the cards get very hot. Although cards sometimes run better once they are a little warmed up. Flash memory likes being hot, but the controller in the flash doesn’t.

To avoid negative reviews, memory card companies are now listing the guaranteed write speeds of these cards. For example, most CFxA cards list the 400 or 200-speed class. Similar to how we had V60 or V90 with our UHS-II SD cards.

If the card has a 400 rating (the little 400 inside the film clapboard), the card is guaranteed to sustain an average of 400MB/s.

How Are CFexpress Type A Cards Different Than CFexpress Type B?

The main difference between CFexpress type A and CFexpress type B cards, besides their size, is that Type B cards have a two-lane bus for speeds up to 1700MB/s, while Type A cards only have a one-lane throughput for a top speed of 800MB/s.

With PCIe 4.0 now on the market, we can expect CFxA cards to get significantly faster. What’s cool is that we are starting to see PCIe 4.0 CFxA cards that are as fast as our current CF2.0 cards CFxB cards, making this CFxA choice a pretty practical play by Sony as the cards are much smaller and lighter. However, they could potentially have more issues with heat when running these blazing-fast PCIe 4.0 speeds on a single lane.