Lexar Professional Workflow Go Docking Station Review

Not backing up at the end of every highly productive day of shooting seemed unthinkable, but that was the outlook I was facing. When traveling via air to photograph wildlife and landscape, I typically roll with about 135 lbs. of gear and other essentials (like clothes). However, an upcoming photo trip requires me to trim down to 50 lbs, and chest waders are required. Under this restriction, more lenses and a second camera seemed more important than the laptop.

How Do You Backup Images Without a Laptop?

Back to Top

Then, a Lexar marketing rep shared the Workflow Go system with me.

In short, card reader and SSD drive modules, along with external cable-attached readers and drives, plug into the 2-bay docking station, which is powered via a USB cable or the included battery. A Lexar phone app (or the Apple Files App) controls file copying via a wired connection, with no computer needed. The app facilitates file transfer to or from an SSD, memory card, or other external USB-connected storage device.

The Workflow Go Docking Station Modules

Back to Top

Let's talk about the reader modules first. Each 4.1 x 2.3 x 0.5" (103.4 x 57.7 x 12mm) rugged aluminum-encased reader is built for the specified memory card type (or types), but they are otherwise similar, featuring the same size and a USB-C port on the back. The readers attach directly to a device such as a laptop via a USB-C cord, or they plug into the Workflow Docking Station.

The four reader module options are:

Lexar Professional Workflow CFexpress 4.0 Type A Card Reader (40 Gb/s USB-C interface, 3 oz / 84g)

Lexar Professional Workflow CFexpress 4.0 Type B Card Reader (40 Gb/s USB-C interface, 3 oz / 86.4g)

Lexar Professional Workflow Dual-Slot UHS-II SD Card Reader (10 Gb/s USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 interface, 2.3 oz / 65.4g)

Lexar Professional Workflow UHS-II SD/micro SD Card Reader (10 Gb/s USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 interface, 2.1 oz / 60 g)

While the readers are not inexpensive, they are reasonably priced for their performance capabilities. Note that one card is inserted upside down in the dual SD reader, but all Workflow Go modules can be used in either orientation, so you can choose which SD card is right-side up.

The reader modules all look the same from the top, and I actively use three different card types. Having card-type names on top would better distinguish between the modules.

Dim LEDs indicate module power and flash for activity. A limited 3-year manufacturer warranty is provided on the card readers.

The Lexar 2TB and 4TB Professional Workflow Portable SSD feature the same size (4.1 x 2.3 x 0.5" / 103.4 x 57.7 x 12 mm) and functionality as the readers, but they have built-in memory and enhanced construction, with rubbed-protected sides (drop protection of up to 9.8' (3m), IP68 water and dust protection, and AES 256-bit encryption). The SSDs weigh 5.1 oz (145 g).

Like the readers, the SSDs are not inexpensive, but they are reasonably priced for their high performance, featuring a 20 Gb/s USB-C 3.2 Gen 2x2 interface that supports up to 2000 MB/s read and write speeds when directly attached, 1050 MB/s in the dock.

* "Apple devices, including those with Thunderbolt/USB4, do not support 20 Gb/s USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 and will be limited to 10 Gb/s USB 3.2 Gen 2." [B&H]

A limited 5-year manufacturer warranty is provided for the SSDs.

A USB-C to C Cable is provided with each Workflow Go module.

Workflow Go Docking Station

Back to Top

As mentioned, and like most other memory card readers and portable SSDs, the Workflow Go modules can be directly attached to a computer (Windows and Mac supported) or a USB dock. Unique is that they can plug into the portable Lexar Professional Workflow Go Docking Station.

The solidly constructed docking station weighs 5.81 oz (164.6g) and measures 5.4 x 3.0 x 1.5" (136 x 77 x 38mm). Its dual slot covers independently hinge back with little pressure when a module is pressed into them, and the USB port plugs assuredly into the dock's internal male USB-C port. The modules have some play when inserted, but they hold firmly in place.

The docking station has a USB-C port for power or direct attachment to a computer, and another USB-C port is provided for attaching an external drive or card reader (2 x 10 Gb/s USB-C 3.2 Gen 2). Note that only FAT32 or exFAT is supported for external SSDs.

At this point, the readers, SSDs, and dock seem undifferentiated, aside from their quality construction and high transfer rate capabilities. Two additional features make the Workflow Go game-changing.

The first is the Lexar Professional Workflow Go Battery (one is included with Workflow Go), with its 5000mAh capacity providing up to 4.5 hours or more of power.

The battery's USB-C port pivots out and plugs into the dock with an effective magnetic connection, ensuring easy alignment and a tight connection.

The battery has another USB-C port used to charge itself or another device, and the battery can be plugged directly into a device.

Need longer battery life? Get multiple batteries. Each battery weighs 5.6 oz (159g) and measures 3.0 x 1.5 x 1.4" (77 x 38 x 36.8mm).

While the battery must be carried on an aircraft, the dock itself has no battery and can be stowed in checked luggage.

An uncontrollable battery-powered dock seems useless, but one more dock feature facilitates this device's huge advantage.

A USB-C phone port supporting Android and iOS is provided.

Download the Lexar app to your phone, plug in the phone, and copy files between readers and SSDs anywhere, without a laptop! The dock and any attached drives can also be connected to a laptop using the "Phone" port.

The travel weight of the dock, battery, one card reader, SSD, and cable is 19.35 oz (548.4g). If you can utilize USB-C power during backup, the battery can be omitted, bringing the weight down to 13.54 oz (383.8g). A limited 2-year manufacturer warranty is provided.

For studio or office needs, the powerful fan-cooled 6-bay (including 2x 40 Gb/s Thunderbolt 4 Bays) Lexar Professional Workflow Docking Station is available. Among other features, this Thunderbolt 4 dock supports one 8K or two 4K displays, and Professional Workflow Docking Stations can be daisy-chained for a crazy number of bays.

Workflow Go Docking Station in Use

Back to Top

An airshow provided 6,540 Canon EOS R5 Mark II images to work with, 388 GB of data to transfer.

This transfer started from the fastest memory card option available, the Lexar 2TB Professional GOLD CFexpress 4.0 Type B, and ended on the also fast 4TB Professional Workflow Portable SSD, with a new Apple iPhone 16 (USB 2.0) running the Lexar app to control the data flow.

The app is basic, but it is simple to use. Files can be browsed, but an option to delete files is not provided (safety first?). Select "Quick Offload", and then select the source and destination folders, including on any attached storage device, such as the phone itself.

The app will prompt for a destination folder name (can be an existing folder's name) to store the transferred files in.

Lexar wants the phone to remain active while the transfer is happening and sends a warning notification if the phone is put into sleep mode.

Over 6,500 45 MP RAW images is a big transfer, but not an unusual one for many of us.

Not long into the process, the app estimated the transfer time at over 5 hours. When about 48% of that volume was transferred in over 2 hours, I had finished cutting the grass and wanted to move on with this review, so I ended the process. One takeaway is that the USB-C 2 internal transfer speed is relatively slow.

At this time, the battery charge indicator was down to 3 bars of 5, making the 4.5 hours or more rating seem correct. The phone does not charge when in the phone port (only the battery charging port provides power to a device), and the nearly fully charged phone drained to about 50%.

The rough math says that meeting the challenge I provided is near the limit of fully charged device batteries, and the transfer time must be accommodated. Also, both devices require recharging (or swapping out) upon completing a transfer of this size.

Most of my shoots result in considerably fewer images, with the transfer time and battery drain becoming considerably less significant. Also, already copied files in the destination location are skipped in the next transfer, making incremental backups fast and easy. Incremental backups would be easier if the app remembered the last previously used drives and folders.

Before starting this review, I upgraded from a perfectly fine phone to a current model to get the latest technology, ensuring that the phone would not hinder the Workflow Go's performance. I opted for the Apple 16, as I didn't care about the Pro version's features, including the third camera. Unfortunately, I missed one important difference. Despite both phones having USB-C ports, the Pro has a USB-C version 3 port vs. 2, a fact I learned when considering the experienced slow file transfer performance.

I had to know how the faster USB port would impact the Workflow Go's transfer speed. That is when things went sideways. After multiple phone calls and store visits, I had an iPhone 16 Pro in hand. Unfortunately, the project was far from over. Numerous carrier hurdles were encountered (including the new phone programmed to my wife's phone number, which took out her phone as well), and the last tech support call was about 3.5 hours long, ending long after midnight.

With the new phone loaded from a backup and fully charged, I ran the same test again. The transfer speed difference was incredible, taking a 5+ hour job down to 14:00 minutes.

The phone battery was only drained by 3%, and no Workflow Go battery bars were impacted.

The transfer rate difference between the Apple iPhone 16's USB 2 port and the iPhone 16 Pro's USB 3 port is huge, and USB 3 makes the Workflow Go considerably more usable and convenient.

Most of the items seen in this review were provided by Lexar (I previously purchased some of the SDXC cards). Memory cards are not included with the dock, but the following Lexar cards are shown in product images:

1TB Professional GOLD CFexpress 4.0 Type A
2TB Professional GOLD CFexpress 4.0 Type B
256GB Professional GOLD 2000x UHS-II V90 SDXC
256GB Professional SILVER UHS-II SDXC V60
256GB Professional GOLD UHS-II microSDXC

Summary

Back to Top

How easily can the images you just captured be reproduced? If the answer is "Easily", you probably don't need the unique capabilities of this device — unless you require more capacity.

Otherwise, the Lexar Professional Workflow Go Docking Station and its modules are a flexible and exceedingly useful part of a photography kit (and general computing accessory), making on-the-go backup easy.

Optimal Workflow Go uses are primarily when a computer is not available or desired, including when traveling and at weddings and other events (incremental backup during breaks).