It turns out that for most users, choosing a flash drive is not an easy task. On many forums, people ask questions about this. What parameters should they take into account so that the device will last as long as possible, work quickly and the price is reasonable. For some, the use of a flash drive is very important, as it is related to their work. Therefore, there is a list of special technical points that you should pay attention to when choosing a flash drive. Now on the market there is just a huge number of flash drives from different manufacturers. Unsurprisingly, some users get lost when they come to buy a USB drive.
Now they choose a flash drive - I saw a beautiful design, a large amount of memory, everything is fine, you can take it. But, few people pay attention to technical characteristics such as interface, write speed and data transfer. Today I will tell you about the main points when choosing a flash drive, what you should pay attention to, and what you can skip by.
Manufacturer
Today there are a huge number of flash drive manufacturers. The difficulty is that each of them have their own group of fans. Therefore, it is difficult to choose even a few manufacturers. Personally, I chose two brands for myself regarding the production of flash drives: Adata and Kingston. Both of these manufacturers have existed for a long time and have proven themselves only from the best side. If you are interested, then on the official website of the Adata company there is information regarding the speed of reading and writing for fast flash drives.
In turn, Kingston in the public domain provides the document DTFamily_RU.pdf, which shows the speed of all types of drives from this company. This document is constantly updated if changes are made to the models.
But, in addition to these two manufacturers, you should not ignore such brands as: Apacer, Silicon Power, Corsair, Transcend, TeamGroup, Sandisk, Lexar. Everyone will find a good product for themselves among these manufacturers. But you should not rely only on the brand when choosing a flash drive, or any other technique. After all, any manufacturer has both very good models and low quality models. Everyone has mistakes, even the companies of the giants.
As for the read and write speed, it mainly depends on the series of the USB stick.
Some users strongly complain about Chinese counterfeits, explaining that the components are cheap, the soldering is weak, and therefore flash drives quickly fail. I think it was already clear that a Chinese product with a strange name, which looks like some well-known brand, would not be able to boast of good quality a priori. Although, in defense of flash drives from China, I would still like to say a few words. Sometimes you come across a really high-quality product. But, since this happens extremely rarely, it is still better to give preference to a more famous brand.
How much memory should you choose?
You can see information about the amount of memory on the flash drive itself or on its packaging. Most often, buyers believe that the larger the flash drive, the better it is. But from the point of view of cost savings, this opinion is generally not correct. But, if you need a flash drive with a large amount of memory, while you have a lot of files and money with a high write speed, then you can not limit yourself. The more memory a flash drive has, the higher its speed! Still, if your main goal in choosing a drive is as large as possible, then I recommend that you buy an external hard drive. But, if your budget is extremely meager, then it is better to give preference to only certain characteristics, including the appearance of the flash drive.
So that you understand what I mean, I will give a specific example. Some 128GB flash drives cost the same as a 1TB external hard drive. Of course, the principle of operation of these devices is very different. If you are really "major", then I recommend paying attention to SSD-drives.But if you still need a flash drive, then its size should be chosen in the following ranges:
- from 4 to 16GB, the volume is not large, but the price is small;
- from 16 to 64GB, good quality at a reasonable price;
- from 128GB, for a specific purpose at an overpriced price.
Flash drive read and write speed
This parameter, in contrast to the capacity of the flash drive, is very rarely indicated on the product packaging, and never on the flash drive itself. Therefore, it is not always possible to immediately find out about the speed of reading and transferring information. But, those manufacturers who are confident in the quality of their goods will indicate this parameter without fail. Always, data regarding the speed characteristics of flash cards and USB drives are indicated in the form of a special rating. For example 200x, where x means 200Kb / s. Accordingly, the speed of such a flash drive will be 30 Mb / s. You can easily find the rating table of flash drive speeds on the Internet.
This parameter characterizes the speed of reading the flash drive. As for the write speed, in general, you can rarely see it in the characteristics upon purchase. You will already recognize it when you test the USB flash drive on your computer. But, from my experience of using flash drives, I can say that cheap flash drives have a write speed half as much as their read speed. This difference is very significant. This is why you shouldn't buy very cheap flash drives.
If you visit this site, then you can see the results of testing different kinds of flash drives, from different brands and with different characteristics. This site will help you find the best flash drive option, making it clear which drives are of the highest quality now.
A special disappointment is brought by flash drives, the declared characteristics of which do not correspond to reality. This happens most often with cheap flash drives. But even among the expensive goods there is such a setup. However, relatively cheap media usually use MLC, TLC or TLC-DDR memory, and high-speed ones, in addition to MLC, use DDR-MLC or SLC memory. This is why USB 3.0 sticks are backward compatible with USB 2.0. But do not forget that you can only copy large and memory-intensive files at the declared speed using the USB 3.0 port.
For example, if the USB drive has high performance, which provides read speed up to 260 MB / s and write speed up to 240 MB / s, then you can copy 1000 photos or a good quality full-length movie in a matter of seconds.
Additional features of a USB flash drive
You know the main purpose of the flash drive. But now they have so many additional features that it's hard to believe. Most of them are just an extra "show-off" and a marketing ploy. But some additional functions really turn out to be useful. There are many additions to the standard software of the flash drive. For example, access to information on the flash drive is allowed only after scanning a fingerprint, the ability to compress data to enlarge storage density, special security applications, with the ability to set a password for access to data and much more.
Most manufacturers supply their devices with special software that allows you to secure the data on the flash drive and make it easier to use.
But in fact, all these add-ons are of very little use, in general they only complicate the use of a USB drive. It is difficult to find a USB flash drive with really useful and useful software. If you see a colorful description of additional software on the packaging, then most likely this is a publicity stunt, and nothing else. The main task of such software is to extract more money from the buyer for unnecessary, and sometimes ridiculous, functions.
Flash drive body
It would seem that it could be easier in choosing a flash drive. But in fact, everything is not so simple. There are a number of points worth paying attention to. And the variety of cases for USB drives is now very large. But among them you can choose the main types of cases. These include:
USB sticks with an open connector. Usually this type of case is found on small flash drives. It is very convenient to use such a flash drive, it fits into any pocket and takes up almost no space. But on the other hand, the contacts are not protected, which means they will soon be scratched. If there are a lot of them, then the flash drive will soon stop working.
USB sticks with a cap. This type of flash drive case is especially popular with users. Personally, I find this type of hull structure to be the most practical. Caps for such flash drives are made of different materials: rubber, plastic, metal. Rubber caps are considered to be the best because they protect the working contacts from moisture and dust. Also, such caps do not need fixing. They hold up remarkably well and so. Many users lose the protective caps that are made of plastic or metal. But on YouTube, you can find many videos that tell you how to make such a cap yourself.
Bracket body. The design consists of a body and a bracket, which is fixed from the outside and can be rotated from side to side, which makes it possible to close the USB connector in a certain position. But with such a security bracket, such a flash drive cannot be protected from external factors at all. Yes, and you may end up losing the bracket, since it is extremely unreliable.
Flash drive sliders are also very popular among users. The case is designed in such a way that the working connector is hidden in it and removed using a movable key. The downside of such a case is that the latch that allows you to slide in and out the USB flash drive can break. Using the drive in this state is extremely inconvenient. Despite the fact that the flash drive is hiding in the case, it does not have proper protection. From moisture and dirt, that's for sure.
From all of the above, I advise you to take a USB flash drive with rubber protection. So you can be sure that neither dust nor dirt is terrible for the drive.
There are flash drives, in which the body is made of rubber. On the one hand, this protection is reliable. But any break in the case will render the USB flash drive unusable. Therefore, it is necessary to choose models that have a base on a rigid body. Throw such a flash drive even in the water of the swamp, even throw it from a height - it will not be damaged. Recently, there are more flash drives that have a drive full indicator.
Before buying a USB flash drive, you need to decide what specifications it should have so that you can fully use this device. After all, a high-quality flash drive saves you time. It is better to choose from brands that are known to everyone. Skip dubious manufacturers right away. Do not see low prices from unknown brands.
Before buying, visit the official websites of the flash drive manufacturers and study the functionality of their product. I advise you to choose several models in order to compare them with each other. You can also compare selected flash drives with the same characteristics with flash drives a little cheaper. Perhaps you can save a lot.
Hopefully my tips will help you choose the USB drive you like. Thank you for being with us.
Hello dear readers!
From this article, we will learn what usb drives are, how to choose them, and give the TOP 10 popular manufacturers.
Do you remember the times when the shelves of a PC owner were full of floppy disks, CDs? Today, Flash drives are used to store information and convenience.
Flash memory is a very convenient tool with large memory capacity and high data transfer rate. Today there is a huge assortment of drives. That is why when buying such a gadget, you need to understand the device with what characteristics you need.
We know perfectly well what a usb drive looks like, but what is a flash drive? A flash drive is a removable storage medium with a specific type of file system that has no moving elements in its structure.
Criteria for choosing a usb drive
Which device is better (why)? When choosing a flash drive, you should pay attention to its type, data transfer speed and, of course, the amount of memory.
Types of storage devices
There are only three types of usb drives: 2.0, 3.0 and 3.1. But the types of flash drives are divided according to their appearance:
- With removable cap. The most popular plate protection option.
The caps are made from different materials to prevent debris and moisture from entering.
- Swivel. Such a drive consists of a bracket and a device body, and they rotate sideways in relation to each other. In this case, the plate is protected from scratches, but is susceptible to debris and moisture.
- Sliders. In such a device, the connector is hidden inside the case. Protection from mechanical damage is good, but not from moisture and debris.
Devices with a combined protection system are considered the best. For example, a metal case with a rubberized base. These are the most reliable flash drives, but, of course, they are more expensive.
It should also be borne in mind that the fewer moving parts a flash drive has, the longer it will last, because after a month or two of using it, nothing will break.
Baud rate
One of the main criteria when choosing a device is data transfer speed. This criterion includes the speed of writing to the flash device and the speed of reading the flash drive. The speed of interaction between the drive and the computer depends on them. The USB drive can be rewritten many times, so the maximum baud rate will be appropriate.
This parameter is expressed in megabits per second (Mb / s) and is always indicated on the package. High-speed drives are more expensive.
Memory
How to choose a usb flash drive from memory.
The volume of the device is the most important characteristic that is important for a person who buys a USB flash drive. This characteristic is expressed in gigabytes. Today usb drives are designed for 32/64/128 / higher GB, and if there is a need, you can also purchase 2/4/8 Gb. That is, today the maximum amount of flash-storage is 2048 GB.
Do not forget that a USB flash drive is a compact device for storing information.
By the amount of memory, the following types of drives can be distinguished:
- cheap, but with a small volume - 2-8 GB;
- affordable price and optimal volume - 16-64 GB;
- high cost, but large volume - 128 GB or more.
USB storage performance
Also, one important criterion when choosing a device is its performance, which depends on the following factors:
Microcircuits used in flash memory. The most common trade-off is between high-speed and expensive ICs that have single-layer cells, and cheap flash ICs that have few layers with conventional-speed multi-level (MLC) / tri-level (TLC) cells.
Flash memory device controller. The flash memory controller is a special microcircuit that controls the interface and controls all actions with the drive. If the controller allows for fast data transfer, it saves time.
The host device to which the device connects. A constrained host device will not provide high drive performance. For example, if your computer supports 2.0 speed, your usb 3.0 flash drive will not run at the speed you want.
Rating of usb drive manufacturers
You already know that today a huge number of companies are engaged in the production of usb drives. Everyone who wants to purchase such a device asks the question - which flash drive is best suited for a computer. Yes, it is for a computer, because there are special drives (SD) for cameras and phones. Of course, they are also connected to the computer, but only through special adapters (card readers).
Well, let's see the TOP 10 companies whose flash drives are preferred by users:
1. Transcend. This is a well-known company that started its work back in 1988. The flash drives of this company are known for their individual style and active service life.
2. Silicon Power. Devices of this form are sold in more than 90 countries around the world.
3. Kingston. This firm is a longtime USB stick manufacturer. It was created back in 1987 and today is not inferior to other manufacturers.
4. Team Group. Regarding this company, it is worth noting that its range is growing every year.
5. SanDisk. Another fairly old company on the market. Devices with a simple design and a reasonable price.
6. Apacer. The company manufactures flash drives, which are famous for the quality of data storage.
7. Pretec. And the drives of this company are used for military and industrial purposes. This is probably the very indicator of quality and reliability that many users are looking for.
8. Adata is a company with the motto: “Trust and reliability”. And I would like to note that since its foundation in 2011, the company has been justifying it.
9. PQI. And this company started its work with the production of usb drives.
10. Corsair. This company produces exclusive goods, such as a flash drive with a natural rubber casing, whose companies are long-playing flash drives.
Most Reliable Flash Drives
Of course, buying devices for storing information, especially large volumes, is better from official stores, because today a huge number of fakes are produced in China. Let's take a look at the five most reliable usb drives:
1. ... A device with a simple design. This model is suitable for users who need high performance at a low price.
This device is distinguished by the structure of cells, due to which the data processing is at a high level.
This model is simple and practical and has a sliding plastic body.
A flash drive that is great for work or study, because it is small and handy.
This model has a convenient mounting system.
Do not forget that there are marriages in production, which is why the rating changes.
So, when you finally decided to buy yourself a usb drive, first decide what it is intended for, in order to decide on the device that suits you. If you need a flash drive in order to copy working files, then a device with 8 GB of memory will do.
When buying, consult with a consultant, because, as a rule, people only look at the amount of memory. You can buy a device with a storage capacity of 128 GB, but the speed will be low and the movie will take a very long time to copy.
- 573 ratings
| Very bad! | Bad | Hmmm | Oke | Good! |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.3% | 0% | 0% | 0.9% | 0.3% |
User question
Good day!
Tell me how to find and buy a fast USB-stick ... The fact is that I have already bought two sticks - and both work slowly. I upload one 4GB file to them for about 20 minutes! Because I transfer information very often - this speed does not suit me ...
Good day everyone!
As a rule, when most users come to a store to buy a flash drive, they look at what color it is, what volume it has, and its price, but very few pay attention to the speed of work. This especially important parameter becomes interesting after the flash drive is already at home and some files are copied to it. It turns out that instead of 64GB, 32GB of volume would be enough if the flash drive worked even a little faster ...
In general, in this article I will give some "captain's" advice and recommendations on the choice and purchase of flash drives. So...
What to look for - choose a fast flash drive
About types of flash drives
Most often, the word "flash drive" in everyday life is understood as either a USB Flash Drive (USB flash drive), or MicroSD (it is also often called a memory card, it is most often put into phones, cameras, etc.).
First, a few words about USB Flash Drive
Usually, on their packages little is said about speed (unless somewhere on the back of the package in small print, which is not always possible to read). Nevertheless, almost all packages contain an interface, for example, USB 3.0. When buying, of course, pay attention to the interface - if you do not touch on some theoretical research, then a USB 3.0 flash drive works several times faster (a comparison in practice is shown just below in the article) than USB 2.0!
By the way, it is worth noting that some manufacturers on the packaging can find not only the size of the flash drive and the interface, but also the speed of reading and writing. An example is shown below. True, I'll make a reservation for five: it's not worth believing these numbers 100% (all the more so if the flash drive is from a little-known manufacturer (does not apply to the flash drive presented below)).
SanDisk - USB Flash Drive Extreme Go // indicates the size of the flash drive, its read and write speed
One more thing: do not forget that in order for a USB 3.0 flash drive to work at the highest possible speed, connect it to a USB 3.0 port (which is logical). To distinguish USB 2.0 ports from 3.0, you just need to look at them: port 3.0 is marked in blue (example below).
Now, with regard to the speed itself. If you take an ordinary classic 16 Gb ADATA S102 flash drive (it supports USB 3.0) and test its speed by connecting it to different ports one by one, you will notice that when you connect it to a USB 3.0 port, the reading speed is 4 times, and the write speed is almost 2! Draw your own conclusions!
Important:
- the real speed of the flash drive may differ several times from that indicated on the packaging (trust well-known brands and brands);
- the speed of work may depend not only on the flash drive itself, but also on the USB controller on the computer, the driver for it;
- the speed of the same flash drive can vary greatly, depending on which port it is connected to;
- USB 3.0, on average, is 1.5-2 times faster than USB 2.0 (this is when copying information, while reading - even more).
About microSD / memory cards
With SD cards, in terms of speed, it is somewhat easier than with USB sticks. Usually they indicate either the speed itself or the class (which is also quite easy to translate into speed (sorry for the tautology)).
Below is a photo of one of Transcend's memory cards. Instead of speed, the card class is indicated (Class 6).
Actually, just a plate (presented below) is enough to estimate that the 6th grade is approximately 6 Mb / s.
You can read more about SD cards in this article:
Note: Pay special attention to the class when buying a memory card for a camera or camcorder. Otherwise, you run the risk of not being able to record high-quality video (it's just that the card won't have time to receive the recording from the camera (it's messy, but I think it's understandable ?!)).
About manufacturers
Now there are dozens (if not hundreds) of different manufacturers of equipment (including flash drives). And on every website / forum you can meet fans of certain brands (here I will not write about which is better or which is worse). Purely my opinion: I prefer to use products from Kingston (although, I would also recommend paying attention to such well-known brands as Adata, SanDisk, Transcend, and several others).
For example, on the same official Kingston website, you can find all the information you need, whether it be on flash drives or any other products (it helps a lot!). For example, you can go to the USB-drives section (link:), and see the technical specifications for each of the flash drives of a different model range.
In addition, the dimensions of the device, operating temperature, OS compatibility, speed, capacity are indicated. Please note that the manufacturer gives a 5-year warranty (not everyone gives the same)!
Some will object to me that the cost of such flash drives (under a well-known brand) is 2 times higher than in some Chinese store. I partly agree, the cost is higher, but how much time and nerves you save in the future!
As a rule, all these dubious screens that sell goods 2-3 times cheaper are not responsible for anything and you have no guarantee. Very often, the declared characteristics are not even close to being maintained, the volume of a flash drive can be "artificially" overestimated, and the speed of work will be very low: 3-4 GB will be copied for 20-40 minutes. to the carrier!
Here in this article you can familiarize yourself with various fake flash drives that do not stand up to criticism (in the article we are trying to return them to normal performance, but this does not always work):
About the volume of a flash drive, is it always the more - the better
I am not a supporter of always buying as much storage as possible (this applies to both hard drives and flash drives). And it's not just the price, or that I don't copy much information ☻.
First, you need to proceed from real tasks: if you need to carry 5-10 GB with you compactly (in your pants / shirt pocket), then there is no point in buying a 128 GB flash drive. Because it costs disproportionately expensive, for large volumes it is much more profitable to take an external hard drive of several terabytes for this money and load everything that is required on it.
Secondly, the larger the volume, the, as a rule, the larger the flash drive itself. Now there are such little ones that they are not visible on the keychain next to the keys (which is very convenient). Now the question is - if you take a larger flash drive, will it not interfere with it later ?! After all, you will carry this extra interfering thing with you ...
Thirdly, as a rule, the technology for manufacturing volumetric flash drives has not yet been fully developed, and the newest models may not always work correctly.
In general, today the thoughts are:
- 4 GB or less - there is no point in buying at all! (you won't even upload an image from Windows to it);
- (8GB?) 16-64 GB - the best option that allows you to solve all the most popular tasks;
- 128 GB or more - it is worth taking when there is a need for constant and easy transfer of a large amount of information.
About the real and nominal speed of work. Fastest flash drives - top 10
In order not to indicate the manufacturer on the packaging and in the technical specifications, in fact, the speed of work is (usually) lower than stated. When you buy a flash drive from a "no name" manufacturer, the risk that the speed will not match the declared one is many times higher!
I must say that you don't know the real speed until you plug the USB flash drive into the USB port and test it (which, of course, will not be allowed in most stores). Nevertheless, here you can either rely on independent tests, or on the official websites of decent manufacturers.
About where to see models of the fastest flash drives (top 10)
An excellent site that allows you to see independent tests of various flash drives. Basic data: the manufacturer of the flash drive, its name, read speed (READ) and write speed (WRITE). Thus, choosing the size of the flash drive (say 8 GB) - you can see the best 10 flash drives in terms of speed. See example below.
Note: the site is in English, but it is quite simple to use, all the terms are the same as on any package with a USB flash drive.
Sorting 8 GB flash drives by read speed // Top 10. 7015 MB / s for Xiaomi WiFi Flash Disk!
Sorting 16 GB flash drives by write speed
It remains only to copy the name and look for it in stores (just not to be afraid of the cost ☻).
How to find out the real speed of a flash drive // testing
It discusses this issue in great detail. On the same site ( http://usbflashspeed.com ) you can download their utility and run the test (it works fast enough). Below is the testing in this utility of the Toshiba 8GB flash drive.
Classic USB flash drive from Toshiba
About the case and design of the flash drive
Now flash drives are available in all shapes and sizes, disguise as any key chains, of any color and design. In general, I will not dwell on the color scheme, I will only touch on the cases ...
The most successful type of flash drive, in my opinion, is with a cap (classic style). They have a simple and convenient design, they are quite durable (especially with an aluminum case) and reliable.
In most cases, this bracket performs purely aesthetic properties and does not protect the contacts in any way. Besides, usually, the flash drive comes out of it very easily. Therefore, it is characterized by problems, like a USB flash drive without a cap (see just above).
This option is very convenient - you won't lose the cap, and the contacts are more or less protected. True, sometimes the latch that holds the flash drive breaks and then it automatically flies out (fixation is lost). Otherwise, no complaints ...
About protection ...
That's all, my notes have come to an end.
I hope you can choose a USB flash drive that will solve your problems 100%!
- Reasonable price and good quality, housing made of moisture-proof material;
2 - The most effective indicator of speed;
3 - Attractive price.
The rapid development of electronic technology has led to the creation of high-quality films and photographs, productive work and game programs. Sometimes it is not possible to download several movies to another device. This requires an adapter with sufficient memory capacity. Removable media required - flash drives. They have become such a familiar accessory in everyday life that every modern person has such a repository of interactive memory.
Their variety is great, but today we will talk about familiar devices - USB flash drives. They are used to save, transfer video files, documents, pictures, audio materials. They can save information from operating systems and programs.
The structure of a flash drive of any format is standard - a device for connecting to a transmitting source - TV, computer, audio or video - car system, controller, oscillator and flash memory chip. With a similar structure, flash drives differ in basic technical parameters - memory capacity, speed of writing and reading information, appearance, additional functions (password encryption).
The best examples of flash drives with interface 2.0
Previous flash drive technologies with these parameters were developed in 2000. They cannot keep up with the requirements of modern electronic devices. The highest speed for them is 60 Mb / s. In reality, these figures are overestimated, and flash drives with USB 2.0 read no more than 35 meters per second, recording is made even slower. Among the fellows, these flash drives compare favorably in price. Even from one manufacturer, an old-style flash drive is 2 times cheaper than a modern analogue with the same amount of memory.
Such drives can be used by consumers who do not care about the speed of recording and playback, who download small-volume materials to a USB flash drive.
An overview of USB flash drives with a 2.0 interface can be useful to such people. We are considering models with a storage capacity of 16 GB. These are the most popular drives.
Assessment (2018): 4.4
Advantages: Stylish original design
Manufacturer country: USA (assembly China)
Buyers ranked this flash drive in third place among the best sellers. Its quality is average. The compact, beautiful device impresses with the slow pace of downloading large files. Shakes, reads, reproduces for a long time. You will think many times whether it is worth saving 50-100 rubles, so that every time you get nervous from a long wait for the process.
Assessment (2018): 4.7
Advantages: Operational speed
Manufacturer country: China
Transcend is a popular storage company. The laconic, unassuming design of the plastic case has a significant drawback - there is no loop for attaching a chain or lanyard, such a flash drive is easy to lose. But these shortcomings are ironed out when the device shows itself in operation. For its line, the flash drive has a decent download speed (16 Mb / s) and reading (32 Mb / s) information.
Assessment (2018): 4.8
Advantages: Convenient size for storage on a keyring or chain
Manufacturer country: USA (assembly China)
The SanDisk model is the best in its class. Its minimum dimensions allow it to be used in a car, where careless movement in tight spaces threatens to break the overall flash drive. And this model protrudes forward from the connector by half a centimeter. It is convenient to use it for a netbook or laptop as additional memory storage. With its minimum size, this crumb has sufficient speed parameters. Reads 28.3 MB / s, writes at 13.96 MB / s.
Popular flash drives with 3.0 interface
USB 3.0 sticks are not modern devices. Their main parameters were formed in 2008. Technological advances in the field of electronic information have gone far ahead since then, but these media are still in demand. Their declared speed reaches 625 Mb / s, but in practice this figure is barely up to 250 Mb / s. But this is also a decent result, it is convenient to work with such devices.
We will compare models with the same amount of information 64 GB.
Assessment (2018): 4.4
Advantages: Attractive price
Manufacturer country: China
In the previous category, the manufacturer Transcend introduced a fairly high-speed flash drive, which cannot be said about the Jetflash model. More effective design, convenient retractable working part make it more attractive in appearance. But the performance is poor. Namely, the read and write speed is unstable. It is difficult to explain this phenomenon. In general, the flash drive copes with its tasks for a reasonable price.
Assessment (2018): 4.7
Advantages: Most effective speed indicator
Manufacturer country: USA (assembly China)
Computer experts are familiar with Corsair products. But they are less popular among ordinary users. This is due to the high cost of the flash drive. This is the reason for poor brand distribution. But the technical characteristics of the Corsair flash are the best in the lineup. The model is distinguished by high-quality assembly, reliability, durability. If you need a flash drive for constant work, transfer, download, playback of materials, this is a reliable option. But you will have to pay for it in a store 4 times more than for a similar carrier of another brand. For an ordinary buyer, technical parameters are not particularly important, these properties, as a rule, are of interest to more specialists.
Assessment (2018): 4.8
Advantages: Reasonable price and good quality, waterproof material housing
Manufacturer country: USA (assembly China)
The leader in its group is the Kingston model. This is an interesting specimen that is not afraid of moisture at all. Full tightness of the rubberized body protects your information from being dissolved in water. This flash drive is necessary for absent-minded people who can drop, lose, drown a compact little thing. Flash - media has a high speed of writing and reading. During testing, the official parameters give even better results than stated in the characteristics.
Modern technologies are developing by leaps and bounds. Processors are getting more powerful, screens are clearer, cameras are better - all this allows you to create much more productive programs and better quality films and games than before. But this "arms race" has led to the need to store huge amounts of information. And if a 50 GB movie on your hard drive does not take up much space, then transferring it to another device is already more difficult. Fortunately, manufacturers do not forget about the good old flash drives.
There are a lot of them: MicroSD, SD, MemoryStick and a bunch of everything else. We will talk about the most familiar format for most people - USB Flash drive - or, simply speaking, about USB flash drives. In a bookish way, this is a device for storing, transferring and exchanging data (movies, music, documents, etc.). Also, flash drives are used for backing up and loading operating systems, but these areas are less popular among the population.
By their structure, most USB flash drives are quite standard: a USB interface for communication with a receiving device (computer, TV, car multimedia system, etc.), a controller, an oscillator, and directly a NAND flash memory chip. So it turns out that flash drives essentially differ little from each other, and therefore the choice of one or another model depends mainly on the speed of reading and writing, reliability and appearance. We will pay attention to these parameters in our traditional rating. Go!
Best USB 2.0 Flash Drives
First, let's take a look at the slightly older USB 2.0 flash drive technology. This standard was born back in 2000, and therefore it is difficult for it to meet modern performance standards. The maximum possible speed is 480 Mbps, which equals 60 Mb / s. It seems not so bad, but these are only theoretical figures. In fact, flash drives with USB 2.0 are capable of delivering no more than 35 meters per second when reading, and even lower for writing. Of course, there are still restrictions on the maximum current strength, but in the context of the article on flash drives, this is of little interest to us. The only thing that models from this category can boast of at the moment is the price. If we compare flash drives of similar size from the same manufacturer, it turns out that a flash drive with USB 2.0 is about 2 times cheaper than a more modern competitor.
So it turns out that it is worth recommending the models from this rating to people who either do not care much about the time spent waiting for the download, or those who work with small amounts of data, where speed is not so important. In any case, we advise you to take a look at our ranking of the best USB flash drives with a 2.0 interface.
Note! For the "purity of the experiment" in the rating, we compare the models with the most popular volume - 16 GB. Higher or lower capacity versions may differ in cost and speed.
3 Kingston DataTraveler SE9
The most stylish
The country: USA (made in China)
Average price: 710 rubles.
Rating (2018): 4.4
Unfortunately, the flash drive of one of the company's leading drives on the market does not differ in special quality. Yes, the design is interesting. The dimensions are compact. But you forget about all this when you try to upload a large file to a USB flash drive. The speed is amazing, but not in a very good way. The price, of course, is pleasant, but by winning less than 50 rubles, the buyer significantly loses in the speed of work and additional functions.
Advantages:
- Metal case
- Best price
Flaws:
- Slow read (22.5 MB / s) and write (15.6 MB / s) speeds
2 Transcend JetFlash 600
Best speed
Country: China
Average price: 1,120 rubles.
Rating (2018): 4.7
Transcend is engaged in the release of quite interesting drives, but it is rather difficult to call the JetFlash 600 as such. Outwardly, it does not stand out in any way - an ordinary piece of black plastic without a single hint of design sophistication. Here you can even scold the manufacturer for the lack of any fastening of the cap, which is why it is very easy to lose it. And there are no lugs on the flash drive itself, so you won't be able to attach it to the keys. The only thing that can really iron out these shortcomings is the highest speed in the rating.
Advantages:
- Best speed. Reading - up to 32 Mb / s. Recording - up to 16 Mb / s
- Password protected
- Data compression function
- Available in versions from 4GB to 128GB - the largest selection
Flaws:
- High cost - one and a half times higher than that of competitors
The bestmanufacturing firmsUSB- flash drives
- Sandisk. A large American corporation that has won a third of the market for memory cards and flash drives. It is the best-selling brand in this segment, including in Russia.
- Transcend. The most famous Taiwanese brand, characterized by consumers as the manufacturer of the most stable memory cards and USB sticks. Despite the modest volume of the occupied market, it is very popular among the Russian community.
- Corsair. A young American company that specializes in the production of gaming peripherals and memory modules for personal computers, as well as the creation of USB flash drives. The latter, by the way, are of average popularity among domestic consumers.
- Kingston. Founded in 1987, this company is among the leaders in the supply of USB drives, flash cards and RAM modules for personal computers to the international market. He is the owner of the world-renowned HyperX gaming memory division.
1 SanDisk Cruzer Fit
The smallest dimensions
The country: USA (made in China)
Average price: 740 rubles.
Rating (2018): 4.8
A SanDisk flash drive has almost every feature you could wish for. The main advantage over competitors is its very compact size. Yes, this is easier to lose than the overall model, but after all, people buy it mainly, judging by the reviews, for use in a car. And here the small size is just a salvation, because in many car radios, the USB connector is located in front and a large flash drive can simply be broken if you move your hand carelessly. Cruzer Fit, on the other hand, protrudes no more than 5 mm, and therefore it will be difficult to demolish it by hand. Also, this model can be recommended to owners of laptops with a small amount of internal memory. I inserted this baby into the port and forgot - there is more memory, but at the same time almost nothing sticks out.
Advantages:
- Good speed indicators. Read - 28.3 MB / s, Write - 13.96 MB / s
- The smallest dimensions
- It is possible to protect the flash drive with a password
- There is a backup function
Best USB 3.0 sticks
The USB 3.0 standard, like 2.0, can hardly be called very modern, because the final specifications were formed in 2008. Nevertheless, this interface remains popular to this day, because provides theoretical speed up to 625 Mb / s. Already impressive, huh? In fact, such flash drives give about 250 "meters" for reading, which is also a very good result. Our rating will help you choose the best model in this category.
Attention! As in the previous category, we compare models with the same volume. In this case, it is 64 GB. Other versions may differ in price and speed.
3 Transcend JetFlash 790
Best price
Country: China
Average price: 959 rubles.
Rating (2018): 4.4
As strange as it may sound, the manufacturer of the fastest flash drive in the previous category does not perform well with USB 3.0. The design is interesting, and you won't lose the lid either. Speed indicators seem to be okay too, but they are very unstable. Judging by the reviews, they differ by half! What this is connected with is not clear. Otherwise, this is a fairly standard flash drive for a small price.
Advantages:
- Data transfer indicator
- Large selection - models from 8 GB to 128 GB
Flaws:
- Unstable speed readings. Average 101.75 MB / s read and 44.8 MB / s write
2 Corsair Flash Voyager GS (CMFVYGS3)
Better reading speed
The country: USA (made in China)
Average price: 4 089 rubles.
Rating (2018): 4.7
Corsair products are fairly well known among computer enthusiasts and, unsurprisingly, are little known to ordinary users. And the only thing that hinders the widespread distribution of the brand is the high price. Very high. Yes, the speed of work here is one of the best in the world. Yes, the build quality and reliability are at the highest level. But, unfortunately, an ordinary customer is unlikely to want to pay 3-4 times more for a performance gain of several tens of percent.
Advantages:
- Highest speed - in real tests, read speed was 236 MB / s, writing - 170 MB / s
- Metal case
Flaws:
- High price
- Large dimensions
1 Kingston DataTraveler R3.0 G2
The best ratio of price and quality. Waterproof case
The country: USA (made in China)
Average price: 1,300 rubles.
Rating (2018): 4.8
Finally, we come to one of the most interesting flash drives. Its main feature is water resistance. Of course, a light rain will almost certainly survive any model, but this USB flash drive from Kingston can be safely submerged in water without fear of losing data. This can be useful not only for extremists, but also for ordinary people who are worried about the safety of important files. In addition, the speed of the flash drive does not suffer at all from the protected rubber case. On the contrary, the official figures are a little ... underestimated, which cannot but please.
Advantages:
- Waterproof housing
- Real speed is higher than officially announced - reading 141.5 MB / s, writing 44.7 MB / s
- Maximum memory capacity up to 256GB
Flaws:
- The case heats up noticeably under high load
The best flash drives with increased speed
The speed of writing and reading data is one of the two most important characteristics of any flash drive. It predetermines the overall speed of working with files, as well as the nominal price asked by the manufacturer (and distributors) for the purchase of USB. Not so long ago, fast flash drives had a low working resource, but at the moment this problem has been successfully resolved.
3 Corsair Flash Voyager GS (CMFVYGS3)
High degree of reliability
Country: USA
Average price: 5,290 rubles.
Rating (2018): 4.8
The Corsair Flash Voyager GS is the epitome of quality and impressive performance to satisfy the needs of any discerning user. It comes in three different memory sizes, ranging from 64 GB to 256 GB, which is a very good indicator. Accordingly, the recording speed characteristic also changes from model to model. In the "youngest" GS-ke it is only 70 Mb / s, while the "senior" has 105 Mb / s. The speed of reading files is the same in both cases - about 260 MB / s.
The USB 3.0 interface drive is clothed in a not very attractive, but reliable metal case, the degree of tightness of which reliably protects the internal circuit from dust and dirt. This design still has its drawback: the hindered heat dissipation contributes to the accumulation of heat in the flash drive circuit. In this regard, long-term work, for example, on modeling or video editing, straight from the drive can cause overheating and a concomitant failure.
2 HyperX Savage
Better stability over the entire service life
Country: USA
Average price: 6 190 rubles.
Rating (2018): 4.8
HyperX Savage is a powerful 3.1 USB flash drive designed to store colossal amounts of information. In its lineup there are as many as four models, the volume of which varies from 64 to 512 GB. Actually, this characteristic was the most impressive for thousands of users, which is clearly demonstrated by their positive reviews.
HyperX Savage's read / write performance was also a cause for great joy. As the capacity increases, the speed of data transfer changes from 180 to 250 Mb / s, which has a lot of logic behind it. At the same time, the reading speed remains the same in all versions, and does not fall below the 350 MB / s threshold. Received a portion of praise and the visual component of the drive, the lining of which is made in the traditional style of Hyper X. Actually, the totality of all the above-described splendor fully justifies the average price tag, slightly increased over the past year.
1 SanDisk Extreme PRO USB 3.1
User Choice
Country: USA
Average price: 6 266 rubles.
Rating (2018): 4.9
A quality USB 3.1 interface from SanDisk, designed to provide the fastest access to data storage. I found a great response among domestic users, who were greatly pleased with both the technical conditions and the overall build quality. SanDisk Extreme PRO USB 3.1 comes in two memory options: 128GB and 256GB respectively. Supports password protection of data, so you can store information of a purely personal nature on it. The data transfer / read speed on this model is also at the optimum, amounting to 380 and 420 MB / s. And, as noted by especially demanding consumers, the blitz-check of the key parameters showed their complete coincidence with the declared ones.
In favor of SanDisk Extreme PRO USB 3.1, the presence of a metal case with a connector sliding mechanism speaks. The cost, fully justified by such excellent parameters, is expectedly high, but the available margin of safety will be enough for several years to come.
The best high-capacity USB sticks
Along with read / write speed, memory capacity is a fundamental characteristic of any USB stick. It directly affects the amount of information that can be placed on the drive, and also affects the access speed according to the "more or less" principle. Such problems are often encountered on inexpensive flash drives with a volume of 16 to 128 GB, the nominal speed of which is not capable of providing users with quick access to stored data.
3 Patriot Memory Supersonic Magnum 2 512GB
Best write speed (300 MB / s)
Country: China
Average price: 17,159 rubles.
Rating (2018): 4.8
USB 3.1 flash drive, suitable for falling into several categories of this rating at once. It has, in our opinion, the most optimal memory parameter, equal to 512 GB, which is comfortably enough for both normal use and purely working needs. It has excellent data transmission and reading rates, which are equal to 300 and 400 Mb / s, respectively. In order to make sure of the truthfulness of the declared characteristics, especially sensitive users arranged a real functional test on the flash drive ... and did not reveal any critical deviations.
However, Patriot Memory Supersonic Magnum 2 512GB still has catastrophically few consumers from among the Russian audience. The fact is that a flash drive is a very specific model, the resources of which are often not needed by a simple PC user. Hence the low popularity, and rather high price, and extremely rare appearance on store shelves.
2 PNY PRO Elite USB 3.0 512GB
Most Reliable Flash Drive (Up to 60 Months Warranty)
Country: China
Average price: 10,281 rubles.
Rating (2018): 4.8
Despite the primordial Chinese origin, PNY PRO Elite USB 3.0 512GB has one very tempting aspect of service. 60 months warranty - for important equipment (both in terms of dimensions and functions performed), this indicator is very worthy, eloquently speaking about the manufacturer's confidence in their equipment. In the case of a flash drive, it looks altogether astronomical - perhaps none of the leading manufacturers of flash drives has such a reserve of "patience".
Specifications PNY PRO Elite USB 3.0 512GB also look very impressive. Coupled with a good amount of internal memory, the consumer receives a high speed of data processing, the recording of which at the peak is at 250 MB / s, and reading at 400 MB / s. Yes, the popularity of the flash drive in Russia still leaves much to be desired. However, soon the company expects to seriously tackle the solution of this problem.
1 Kingston DataTraveler Ultimate GT 1TB
Largest internal memory (1 TB)
Country: USA
Average price: 61,200 rubles.
Rating (2018): 4.9
Kingston DataTraveler Ultimate GT is the most capacious flash drive on the Russian market at the moment. All the more interesting is the fact that it is the youngest model in the series - soon an American company is preparing to provide Russia with a copy with a memory capacity of 2 TB. However, until this happened, the terabyte version of the drive is gaining more and more popularity among professional bloggers and people whose work is somehow connected with a colossal flow of information. Its write speed indicators are at the level of elite balanced flash drives, and is 200 MB / s. The read speed, equal to 300 MB / s, also stands out positively against the general background of the characteristics.
The only real weakness in the Kingston DataTraveler Ultimate GT 1TB is the price level. It is clear that the development technology is completely new, and the finished product should recoup all the costs ... but not everyone is ready to pay the cost of a good gaming laptop for a flash drive.
