Review: PGYTECH CreateMate

We all like gadgets. Some of us even love ‘em. But many of the ones that appear on a regular basis have an initial curio value and usefulness and then the novelty wears off.

But occasionally, a gadget appears that is actually very useful, and these are often the simplest of ideas. The PGYTECH CreateMate is such a thing. And if you use a digital camera or camcorder, or fly a drone, this will be of special interest to you.

On the surface, the concept is quite simple; insert an SD or MicroSD into the CreateMate and you can easily and quickly transfer the contents via a built in USB-C cable directly to a PC, laptop or tablet that has a corresponding USB-C port.

And I do mean quick. With a transfer rate of 312MB/S, a 128GB file il transfer in about 10 using an inbuilt USB 3.1 chip.

So, while that alone is a useful feature, what makes the CreateMate it a wee bit more special is that the designers have included holding slots to carry up to 4 SD cards, 4 MicroSD cards and 2 Nano SIM cards which should be more than enough storage capacity for even the longest shoot.

The CreateMate main unit is a drawer design that slides out of a protective aluminium alloy case which in itself is covered by a silicon exterior giving bounce protection and water resistance. Officially, the CreateMate is IP54 rated.

Additionally, there is a slot to hold a supplied eject pin for those devices such as smartphones that have a tiny hole you need to have something to poke to open their cover, and a stainless steel carabiner clip to allow the CreateMate to hang from a belt or loop on the exterior of, in my case, a backpack.

I routinely carried a stash of SD and MicroSD cards in a small zippable wallet I got from Officeworks for about $15, and while it did the job, MicroSDcards would routinely fall out of their little pockets. With the CreateMate, that issue is well and truly banished forever.

At around AUD$60, the CreateMate is a worthwhile investment for anyone who as I suggest, uses a camera or drone on a regular basis.

The only place I can see that carries them in Australia is Rubber Monkey which appear to be out of stock, otherwise you can order online direct from PGYTECH at https://www.pgytech.com/products/CreateMate-high-speed-card-reader-case for USD$39.95.