The best flash drive will largely depend on how much storage capacity you need. For its part, its write throughput is evaluated at 300 MB / s. $16.99 #2. This USB 3.0 drive offers what the company is calling business-grade security with 256-bit AES hardware-based encryption. The flash drive will have you up and running in no time. The Best 256 GB flash drive If you need something really special, something that will have enough memory for all seasons of your favorite TV show then PNY TURBO 256 GB is namely for you. The transfer ceiling for USB 3.0, for instance, is theoretically ten times higher than 2.0. Letters following a USB designation (like USB-A, USB-B, or USB-C) indicate the physical type of connection; USB-A is the familiar rectangle most associated with the standard, while USB-C is a reversible flat oval. One step up from those cheapies, though, is this drive. SanDisk iXpand Flash Drive for iPhone – Editor’s Choice SanDisk is a renowned name in the storage world even before the iPhone came into existence. Kingston DataTraveler SE9 G2 Flash Drive, Kingston DataTraveler SE9 G2 Flash Drive Review, Best for Multiple Devices: Or better yet, snag one that requires your fingerprint. Best for Extreme Utilitarians: Victorinox Swiss Army Midnite Manager @ Work 3.0. Well, what if you could reduce two of those to one? Best for most: EATOP iPhone Memory Stick If you search for "flash drive," you'll see hundreds of pages of search results to sift through on Amazon, so we've done the heavy lifting and sorted through the muck to select a few of the top-rated flash drives for specific uses. Table of Contents. Boasting a capacity of up to 256GB, this flash drive has got it where it counts, making storage of all but the most colossal files just a drag-and-drop away. https://www.pcmag.com/picks/top-rated-usb-flash-drives. With a five-year warranty, a great design, and a value price, this small drive makes a perfect addition to your keyring. 3) Sunswan 3-in-1 USB C Flash Drive (128GB) This may not look like much, but the kind of features it offers by default is quite staggering. © 1996-2021 Ziff Davis, LLC. Chris Stobing is a hardware analyst at PCMag. Best for Macbooks: Silicon Power C80 64GB Flash Drive Buy on Amazon Buy on Walmart Buy on B&H Photo Video Macbooks require a USB Type-C device, which is where this swivel dual flash drive from Silicon Power comes in handy. And with the C80 model from Silicon Power, you won't have to sacrifice compatibility; it has an Type-A port on one end and a Type-C on the other. Best No-Frills Budget Flash Drive: SanDisk Ultra CZ48. A brilliant USB flash drive with a large capacity, tight security system, and the ability to restore files. flash drives? Security - Often times the data you’re transferring is highly sensitive, which means your basic flash drive won’t cut it. The USB 3.0 stick has cross-platform capability and software-free operation, allowing almost anyone to use the device. The drive features real time 256-bit AES XTS encryption for all file types, meaning that as soon as you transfer anything to the onboard storage, it's already locked down behind a wall of military-grade protection. With a focus on design both aesthetically and functionally, the Ultra Dual Drive from SanDisk is fast, reliable, and features handy app support. 4.5 stars. A lanyard loop lets you connect it to anything to keep it from straying; it's easy to lose outside a USB port. The app that interfaces with your iPhone flash drive should be intuitive, easy to learn, and include security measures so that others won't be able to access your data. If your flash drive needs demand blazing fast speeds, then one of the best USB flash drives to consider is the Patriot Supersonic Rage 2 is definitely the one for you. People keep a lot of things on their keychains: key fobs, pocket knives, USB flash drives, and yes, even bottle openers. The @Work 3.0 USB key comes with not just a flash drive attached, but also many of the old Swiss Army knife staples: a nail file, a pair of scissors, even a rudimentary bottle opener, should you need it. Nothing fancy here, but when you need a quarter of a terabyte in a pinch, the PNY turbo has got your back. For some more great traditional options, our roundup of the best USB flash drives collects some amazing picks, or read on for the best USB drives to store music in 2020. ), Sign up for What's New Now to get our top stories delivered to your inbox every morning. PCMag, PCMag.com and PC Magazine are among the federally registered trademarks of Ziff Davis, LLC and may not be used by third parties without explicit permission. What's the difference between USB 2.0, USB 3.0, USB-C, etc. Sure, cloud storage may be taking over as the dominant form of file transfer, but there's still no beating the speed and reliability of local bits and bytes. There's even an Android app that makes backing up your data virtually hassle-free and allows for painless transfers to new smartphones. With their paper-slim profiles, Ultrabooks and tablets are barely thick enough for a USB port. Wiki researchers have been writing reviews of the latest rugged flash drives since 2016. With speeds at around 85 MB/s, this isn’t the fastest drive around, but its ruggedness is unparalleled. Here are our top picks, including fast USB 3.1 drives and USB-C drives. Equipped with a collapsable USB-A port, the PNY Turbo utilizes USB 3.0 architecture to supply the best possible transfer speeds currently available over a USB-A connection. We listed the best flash drives for iPhone that can be used with iPhones lighting port to expand iPhone memory and backup iPhone data. Next page. All variants of the drive are compatible with USB 3.0. Meanwhile, Samsung’s Fit drives are slim and compact, about the size of your thumb nail. One of its best features is the reversible connector that lets you swap between USB-C and USB-A, so it's a breeze to transfer data between your phone, tablet, laptop, or desktop, regardless of what ports are available. If you click an affiliate link and buy a product or service, we may be paid a fee by that merchant. Now, while there are cheaper drives out there (you can get a five pack of some low-capacity USB keys for the same price as this one), most of those run on USB 2.0, which is almost effectively a defunct transfer protocol in 2020. Got an old and a new MacBook laptop, or a new MacBook Air or Pro and a USB-C-less PC? ", "Fast, reliable, and with some handy app support, this drive takes full advantage of the USB 3.1 standard. You're all set. The actual hardware of the drive at the component level is equally well-protected, featuring a special epoxy that will destroy the data inside if a hacker attempts to physically extract the flash chips from within. The USB 3.0 standard means read speeds top 100 Mb/s; not the absolute fastest drive available but still very speedy, especially if you're moving smaller files. While all of our flash drives support USB 3.0, this flash drive actually supports the newer USB 3.1 standard, which allows it to achieve sustained data transfer speeds of up to 150MB/s. Spring for a flash drive with a numerical touchpad that allows you to password protect your files. But: It lists for $1,100 and sells from many resellers for about a full grand at this writing. This is where the PNY Pro Elite series comes in, with drives that can read at 400MBps, and write up to 250MBps, depending on the capacity you choose. ", "With a five-year warranty, a great design, and a value price. It has high-speed USB 3.0 transfer speeds and can hold over 7,200 photos or 8,000 songs. He brings his experience benchmarking and reviewing consumer gadgets and PC hardware such as laptops, pre-built gaming systems, monitors, storage, and networking equipment to the team. When we reviewed this drive back in 2017, we discovered there's really no avoiding that price, which is why it scored relatively low. The onboard AES, 128-bit file encryption gives you top-of-the-line security for your sensitive files. The display of third-party trademarks and trade names on this site does not necessarily indicate any affiliation or the endorsement of PCMag. Of course, not all drives provide the same experience. It still maintains the utmost spot with reliable, durable, secure, & intelligent products. Although it's quite a bit chunkier than any of the other drives on this list, that's to be expected considering the massive amount of storage you'll find under the hood. And sells from many resellers for about a full grand at this writing lighting port to expand iPhone memory backup. Drives are slim and compact, about the size of your thumb.., & intelligent products all variants of the USB 3.0 connect it to to... 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