Product review : HooToo® HT-CR002 External USB 3.0 Multi-in-One Card Reader (4 Memory slots)

HT-CR002 Multi-in-One Card Reader combines three USB slots and four memory card readers. The unit itself is fairly small 3.25" x 2.5" x 0.25". It needs to be plugged into AC power as well as USB slot on the computer. USB cord is 32" long. The power cord is 58". The card reader weighs 2 oz, the cords are 5 oz (most of the weight is in the power plug).

I tested the card reader on Windows XP, Windows 7, and Linux. I tested with USB 2.0 memory stick, USB 1.0 memory stick, 133x CompactFlash memory card, microSDHC Class 6 Flash Memory Card, and Class 10 SD card. The only slot I was not able to test is Sony's MS memory stick as I don't have any devices that use it.

Each operating system I tested saw USB memory sticks and cards plugged into all slot in the card read without problems. USB 3.0 is backwards compatible with USB 2.0. I tested with USB 2.0 and USB 1.1, and it is backwards compatible with both.

To evaluate the card reader I tested each port by copying a large set of mp3 files totalling 638916 Megabytes. I measured CPU time and clock time. I wanted to test that all ports and slots worked and measure their performance. To test various USB devices I run the same set of tests so I can compare them to each other in "apples to apples" comparison. If some unit does not perform well I notice it by comparing it to the other devices I have tested. I ran a total of 18 tests and the results of these tests are presented in the tables below.

✔ First, I tested each of the three USB ports and three of the memory cards. I ran each test twice and the tables below show the average of two results for each port.

✔ Second, I tested copying files onto two 2.0 USB memory sticks at the same time.

✔ Third, I used USB 1.0 memory stick for comparison in speed and to verify that 1.0 USB memory stick works.

✔ Finally, For comparison I plugged the same memory sticks directly into the computer without the card reader.

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TEST SET#1 (single USB 2.0 stick)
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Port1:_______1.060s (cpu) 1:23.83 (clock time)
Port2:_______0.584s (cpu) 1:15.84 (clock time)
Port3:_______0.559s (cpu) 1:15.30 (clock time)

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TEST SET#2 (two USB 2.0 stick)
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Port1:_______0.883s (cpu) 0:57.01 (clock time)
Port2:_______0.566s (cpu) 1:24.53 (clock time)

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TEST SET#3 (memory card slots)
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CF card:___________1.234s (cpu) 1:27.81 (clock time)
Micro SD card:_____1.523s (cpu) 1:09.36 (clock time)
SD card:___________1.241s (cpu) 1:46.49 (clock time)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TEST#4 (single USB 2.0 stick plugged directly into the computer)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CPU time: 0.851s
Clock time: 1:54.24

I received this card reader for testing and review from the manufacture. I ran a large number of tests on this unit to provide an unbiased performance evaluation. Overall, the card reader performed well and based on these tests earned a 5 star rating. I particularly like that it has microSD port that I can use without an SD card sleeve.

I am attaching a photo of the unit that shows everything that came in the package including the card reader in a position where you can see all of its slots. The photo can be located by following 'customer photos' link under the main photo.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★★★★