Review | Transcend Smart Reader RDC2 USB Type-C OTG

On this review, we are going to take a good look at the Transcend Smart Reader RDC2. A 3 in 1 card reader built for mobiles. It is a USB 2.0 interface device that supports USB Type-A, SD and MicroSD cards. The Smart Reader RDC2 is compatible with the Transcend Elite App, but it is not a requirement on the desktops on which we intended to use the device. This is going to be a fast one folks.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS:

The Smart Reader RDC2 takes in USB drives, SD cards and MicroSD cards. It is a Type-C device but the interface is USB 2.0 so bandwidth is not its strong point.

Size	40.8mm x 40.8mm x 10.4 mm
Weight	17g
Interface	Type-C (USB 2.0)
Operating Temperature	0℃ (32℉) to 70℃ (158℉)
Certificates	CE, FCC, BSMI
Supported Cards	SDHC (UHS-I), SDXC (UHS-I), microSDHC (UHS-I), microSDXC (UHS-I)
System Requirements	– Tablets or mobile phones with a USB Type-C connector, and support USB OTG host function. – Running Transcend Elite App requires devices with Android OS 4.0+.

PACKAGING AND ACCESSORIES:

The Smart Reader RDC2 comes in a blister packaging that states the product’s features and supported devices.

Bundled accessories are non existent and I’d like to see a USB Type-C to Type-A adapter here for good measure.

DESIGN AND BUILD QUALITY:

The Smart Reader RDC2 is a small card reader. It kinda reminds me of a square lollipop. Appearance is cheeky and it’s made out of glossy plastic so do take care not to scratch it. The USB Type-C appears to gold plated – which should help to stop corrosion. It is USB 2.0 interface though.

Each sides has 3 slots, with the left one for USB Type-A devices, the right for SD cards and the bottom one for the MicroSD cards. The Type-A supports input devices such as keyboards and mice.

You can plug in all the supported drives in one go, but only one of the cards will be recognized in a go. Prioritization goes to the SD card when both card slots are populated.

WRAPPING IT UP:

There isn’t much to say about this card reader. I mean it’s a 3 in 1 USB Type-C card reader in the first place. Nothing more, nothing less. As said before, the Transcend RDC2 only supports 2 storage drives at most and it goes to just one if both the SD and MicroSD cards are present. This is a limitation noted by Transcend and I’d rather have this limit over 2 working SD cards with a disabled USB drive.

While the card reader is USB Type-C, plugging it on a USB Type-C Gen1 or Gen2 wont make any difference. Performance stays within the USB 2.0 interface’s territory for the USB drive, while SD cards had shown slower performance. Mind you, what we’ve got are SDXC cards with 90MB/s read and 45MB/s write speeds. We also tested benchmarking without any other drives just to check out if that’ll make a difference. Sadly, it did not.

Perhaps the real strong point of the card reader is that it is OTG and a Type-C device in the first place. That means you could use it on your phone, while also allowing yourself to expand the storage requirements of your desktop or Ultrabook. USB Type-C is a popular interface on notebooks especially on the slimmer ones, so adding interface support for 3 devices does make sense. It also supports mouse and keyboard for mobiles via the Type-A port by the way.

Priced at just over $10 or about more than 500 Pesos, the Transcend RDC2 is a decent device that could be used to transfer files from your devices to your mobile or desktop. It’s not as fast as the other card readers I’ve tested, but it does the job.

GOOD BUILD QUALITY SUPPORTS MOUSE AND KEYBOARD REALLY SMALL FOOTPRINT GOOD VALUE FOR MONEY

USB 2.0 INTERFACE RATHER SLOW SD CARD TRANSFER RATE COULD USE ANOTHER TYPE-A PORT