Selecting a USB 2.0 flash drive. Tips for choosing the right flash drive

Sooner or later, any technical thing becomes something familiar, and as a result, when buying it, most people think more about appearance and capacity than about characteristics. Actually, this happened a long time ago with USB flash drives - many of my friends, who are ready to discuss the speed characteristics of some SSD to the point of a fight, when asked: “which flash drive is better to buy,” they wave their hand and buy a pretty one from a well-known company (most often Kingston or Silicon Power). Because “...what is there to choose? A flash drive is a flash drive."

Meanwhile, the choice is simple. The read and write speed of individual USB sticks can exceed the industry average by 4 times. At the same time, you can buy a fast flash drive quite inexpensively.

So, how will we choose? First, go to the website Usb.userbenchmark.com, where users from all over the world upload test results for their USB drives. We choose a volume of 32 gigabytes (as medium-comfortable and as the one most often present on the domestic market among the models under consideration). We sort the results obtained by reading speed and are surprised to find in first place the not very well-known Lexar JumpDrive P10 USB 3.0

Read speed – 250 Mb/s, write speed – 215 Mb/s. For comparison, its 64Gb counterpart (the leader in writing speed among flash drives of different sizes) can write data at a speed of 235 Mb/s and read at 231 Mb/s


Lexar JumpDrive P10 is the fastest ever USB flash drives 3.0

But is this flash drive the best choice? For comparison, we will do three things:

  1. Since tests are tests, and daily use is a little different, we will use the concept of “effective speed”, which, as userbenchmark.com writes, means the following: most USB sticks are used for backing up and storing photos, videos and audio. Accordingly, the effective speed is weighted as 50% linear reading, 40% linear write, 5% read and 5% write random areas of 4Kb in size.
  2. Let's filter 32 flash drives using this parameter. Let's choose the top ten, discarding brands that are rare for Russia.
  3. To be completely sure, let’s enter its average price next to each flash drive according to Yandex.Market.

The table below shows the results of this work ( prices updated as of mid-March 2017):

No. Name Effective speed, % Read, MB/s Recording, MB/s Average price Y.market (RUB)
1 Lexar JumpDrive P10 USB 3.0 32GB90,9 250 215 out of stock
2 SanDisk Extreme USB 3.0 32GB88,6 202 117 1990
3 Corsair Flash Voyager GT USB 3.0 32GB51,7 227 65,7 1500
4 Verbatim Store n Go V3 Max USB 3.0 32GB49,7 175 80 890
5 Kingston DataTraveler R3.0 USB 3.0 32GB42,1 183 37,5 1463
6 SanDisk Ultra Fit USB 3.0 32GB40 138 55,9 826
7 Adata Nobility N005 Pro USB 3.0 32GB39,2 180 48 out of stock
8 Kingston DataTraveler R3.0 G2 USB 3.0 32GB38,8 150 41,9 1363
9 Adata Dashdrive UV12836,1 125 55,2 760
10 Adata DashDrive UV150 USB 3.0 32GB34,1 127 48,1 813

*At the time of publication, I found only one offer for the Lexar JumpDrive P10 with an inadequate price of 7,500 rubles. On Amazon, such a flash drive costs about $60, so I took it upon myself to set the price at about 4,000 thousand.

Update March 17, 2017: I have been updating this page regularly for two years now. During this time, I never met the recognized speed leader in Russia, the Lexar JumpDrive P10. They just don't sell it. But SanDisk Extreme is sold everywhere and its price does not change much.

As for inexpensive flash drives, they regularly disappear from sale and are replaced by new models. It’s interesting that once fast flash drives, such as the SanDisk Ultra Fit, with a large number measurements begin to show lower speed. This means that over time, manufacturers begin to use cheaper components, which affects the speed of work.

Now let's make a small visualization showing the price/speed ratio. To do this, we multiply the values ​​of the write and read speeds, and use the effective speed as a correction factor:

The upper right point (block 1) is our leader with a sky-high price. Then, the next block is SanDisk Extreme USB 3.0 32GB. As you can see, SanDisk is the only one good purchase in this segment. This is our golden mean.


SanDisk Extreme USB 3.0 32GB - the best USB 3.0 flash drive in terms of price and speed

The rest of the flash drives, in fact, are in the third block, and here the most successful purchase would be the Verbatim Store n Go V3 Max USB 3.0 32GB. It is inexpensive and yet has maximum speed performance compared to its competitors.

Our previous favorite SanDisk Ultra Fit, unfortunately, has slipped lower. This means that the latest batches use cheaper chips, which do not allow them to work as quickly as happened before. This may be due to numerous complaints about overheating and the manufacturer’s desire to solve this problem by slightly reducing the recording speed. However, this does not prevent it from remaining the cheapest and most common offer from our TOP-10 flash drives.

In fairness, it should be noted that the editorial copy of Ultra Fit “died” about a year later active use. Fortunately, SanDisk has a pretty good warranty, and they replaced the flash drive with the same copy for free (all I had to do was send the dead flash drive to the manufacturer’s address and receive a new one in the mail). Let's see how long this one lasts.

Conclusions

If you need the fastest 32 GB USB 3.0 flash drive at the right price, then best choice there will be a SanDisk Extreme USB 3.0 32GB, but if you just need to buy a 32 gig flash drive, preferably the fastest cheap one, then the best option will become Verbatim Store n Go V3 Max USB 3.0 32GB.

Sooner or later, any technical thing becomes a refrigerator, i.e. When buying it, most people think more about appearance and capacity than about characteristics. Actually, this happened a long time ago with USB flash drives - many of my friends, who are ready to discuss the speed characteristics of some SSD with foam at the mouth, when it comes to flash drives, give up and buy a nice one from a well-known company (most often Kingston or Silicon Power). Because “...what is there to choose? A flash drive is a flash drive."

Meanwhile, there is plenty to choose from. The speed characteristics of individual USB drives can exceed the market average by up to 4 times. At the same time, the price for them will not be exorbitant.

So, how will we choose? First, go to the website Usb.userbenchmark.com, where users upload benchmark results for their USB sticks. We choose a volume of 32 gigabytes (as medium-comfortable and as the most represented on the domestic market among the models under consideration). We filter the results obtained by reading speed and are surprised to find in first place the well-known Lexar JumpDrive P10 USB 3.0

Read speed – 250 Mb/s, write speed – 215 Mb/s. For comparison, its 64Gb counterpart (by the way, the leader in writing speed among flash drives of different sizes) can write data at a speed of 235 Mb/s and read at 231 Mb/s

But is this flash drive the best buy? For comparison, we will do three things:

  1. Since benchmarks are benchmarks, and everyday use– this is a little different, let’s use the concept of “effective speed”, which, according to userbenchmark.com, means the following: most USB drives are used for backup and storage of video, audio and photos. Accordingly, the effective speed is weighted as 50% sequential read, 40% sequential write, 5% read and 5% write 4K video.
  2. Let's sort 32-GB flash drives according to this parameter. Let's choose the top ten, discarding brands that are exotic for Russia.
  3. And to be absolutely sure, we’ll enter its average price next to each flash drive according to Yandex.market or price.ru for rare cases
The resulting table is below:


*clarification regarding the price of JumpDrive P10

At the time of publication, I found only one offer with an astronomical price of 7,500 rubles. On Amazon, such a flash drive costs about $60, so I took it upon myself to set the price at about 4,000 thousand

Now let’s make a small visualization showing the speed/price ratio. To do this, we multiply the values ​​of the write and read speeds, and use the effective speed as a correction factor:


The upper right point (block 1) is our leader with a sky-high price. Then, the next block is SanDisk Extreme and Corsair Flash Voyager GT, while SanDisk will be a better buy as it is similar in characteristics and cheaper.


The rest of the flash drives, in fact, are in the third block, and here the most successful purchases would be Adata DashDrive and SanDisk Ultra Fit. Adata has a slightly cheaper price, SanDisk has a higher write speed. Interesting, testing MicroSD flash drives demonstrates SanDisk's advantage in the same way.


Well, the cheapest of the “correct” flash drives presented is Adata DashDrive UV150. As you can see, at this price it doesn’t have the worst characteristics.


It would seem that that’s it, we can call it a day – the most interesting options have been identified. But this is only true if you just need a flash drive and nothing else. But if you have a tablet or are interested in built-in cryptography, then speed is unlikely to interest you so much.


Alas, there is no smell of normal speeds here. Standard USB 2.0. But pleasing to the eye.

As for cryptography, there are many options that support on-the-fly encryption (including from the above-mentioned high-speed flash drives, but here, for obvious reasons, you have to sacrifice speed). But I would like to draw your attention to the ultimate and to some extent funny option with entering a pin directly on a flash drive like Samurai GuardDo Touche or iStorage DatAshur.


Among the disadvantages of such solutions, it is worth noting the slow speed (only USB 2.0) and the too high price. Still, regular software encryption seems more suitable to me.


Quite high read and write speeds (198 and 45 Mb/s, respectively, which is in 8th place on our list) allow us to classify it as a fairly reasonable purchase. Among the shortcomings, it is worth noting that the price does not correspond to the low volume (about 2000 for 16 gigabytes). But here, increased impact protection comes to the fore as the main argument.

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Almost every person who has a computer knows what a flash drive is and how it looks. Therefore, we will not provide a definition of this device. But not everyone understands how to choose a flash drive, what nuances and characteristics you should first pay attention to. Now we will deal with this.

Memory capacity

The first factor you pay attention to when choosing a flash card is the amount of memory. Now stores mainly sell flash drives with capacities from 4 GB to 64 GB. Flash drives smaller than four gigabytes are practically no longer available for sale..

At the moment, the best flash drives in terms of price/volume are 16/32 GB. This is exactly the size of flash drive we recommend you buy., this volume is enough for most daily tasks– transfer of text files, music, photos, films.

If you need to transfer very large volumes, then you can find flash cards with a capacity of up to 256 gigabytes on sale. Or better yet, take a closer look at external hard disks, which in terms of price/volume ratio will cost you much less and will be more reliable.

Read/write speed

This is one of the main characteristics that most ordinary buyers do not pay due attention to when buying a flash drive. Preferring cheap, larger capacity drives.

If the recording speed is very low, then, for example, recording your favorite movie in good quality, you can spend an hour or more. And simply transferring a large amount of information every time, your patience will be stretched to the limit.

Nowadays it’s no longer difficult to find flash drives with a write speed of 30-50 MB/s. This is the range you should focus on. With reading speed, everything is somewhat simpler, since the reading speed of a flash drive is usually 1.5 - 2 times higher than the writing speed.

You can see the speed of the drive on the packaging itself or in the product card if you choose a flash drive in an online store. And of course, the price itself will tell you, since most often fast flash cards are made from more expensive and, accordingly, faster chips.


Frame

I think you now don’t understand much about how to choose a flash drive. But the two parameters listed above are not all.

The appearance of a flash card is a matter of taste, but there are some but:

  • size, a drive that is too large cannot be plugged into the case next to another drive. Since USB ports in a computer case or laptop are located very close to each other. Also, do not buy flash cards that are too small, similar to a USB plug. They are usually slow and fail quickly. And it’s very easy to lose such a flash card.
  • drives with retractable connector It is better to avoid, such flash drives usually quickly fail with active use.
  • high-quality, expensive and fast flash cards usually have a strict and universal design, so be careful with flash cards with flashy designs.

Interface

At the moment, flash drives work with support for two main interfaces - USB 2.0 and USB 3.0. The interface does not have a big impact on the speed of a regular drive, but the USB 3.0 interface is sufficient new type and has greater potential for data transmission. Therefore, all other things being equal, naturally choose USB 3.0 USB 3.0 flash drives are compatible with devices that do not have this interface.


Brands

If you are interested in which flash drive to choose, we would recommend drives from the following brands:

Just three manufacturers control about 80% of the global market.

Also, one of the main indicators of the reliability of a flash card is the number of warranty repairs. Flash drives from Transcend are very rarely repaired - 1 flash card out of 900, Apacer - 1 out of 540, Kingston - 1 out of 490.

Additional features

You are unlikely to need any gadgets, such as a flashlight, a clock, a display. Their presence will only affect the price increase.

Working on specifications USB standard 3.0 was completed at the end of 2008, which allowed the computer industry to begin developing devices. Already in 2010, almost all leading manufacturers announced systems with USB 3.0 support. But the massive onslaught of the new interface on the market is still ahead.

According to In-Stat, by 2014 the vast majority of new computers will be equipped with USB 3.0, and in 2015 - all without exception.

But this is only one side of the coin - after all, devices are also needed. However, it won’t be up to them.

If in 2012, according to In-Stat's forecast, less than 500 million USB 3.0 devices will be sold, then in 2015 - already 2 billion! By the way, I wonder where they sell them USB devices 1.1 – judging by the forecast, they are reluctant to give up positions.

What's in my speed for you?

Have you heard that USB 3.0 can be 10 times faster than its predecessor? This figure is obtained by comparing its maximum throughput at 5 Gbit/s and 480 Mbit/s for USB 2.0. Device manufacturers, however, do not fall into marketing hysteria and indicate more real numbers, thereby avoiding accusations of deceiving buyers.

Yes, for my USB flash drives 3.0 modestly states that connecting to such a port makes it twice as fast.

Specific read and write speeds are also included, and below you'll see how they matched my tests.

Are you ready for the test? Always ready!

The actual data transfer speed depends both on the USB device and on the system hardware configuration and driver USB controller.

The tests were carried out on an HP Pavilion dv7-6053er laptop (Windows 7 SP1 x64), where USB 2.0 and 3.0 ports are located on different sides. For the USB 3.0 controller, the driver was installed from using Windows Update.


In fact, this is an NEC chip and driver, since Renesas Electronic is a joint venture of several large Japanese companies, where NEC is the main shareholder.

I measured the speed of common household devices - flash drives. The star was the austere-looking ADATA S102 16 Gb (USB 3.0).

Backing up is the weightless and feminine Transcend JF620 32 Gb (USB 2.0)…

... and the big, brutal Sandisk Contour Cruzer 8 Gb (USB 2.0).

The pictures deceptively hide the true size of the flash drives, so I decided to reach for the camera.

USB 2.0 speed test

I used CrystalDiskMark for the test, and the first thing I decided to do was compare the speed of the ADATA S102 with the manufacturer's claims.


Let me remind you that the read speed was stated to be 34 MB/s, and write speed – 21 MB/s. CrystalDiskMark shows similar results, although reading falls a little short.

Everything in the world is relative, so I pitted the ADATA's speed against the Transcend, which felt a little slower than its recently missing sister.


With read speeds comparable to ADATA, Transcend was a third slower for sequential writes, but 2.5 times faster for 512K random writes. By the way, Transcend claimed a read speed of 31 MB/s and a write speed of 12 MB/s for this flash drive.

Sandisk, who faithfully serves his brother, showed himself like this (we will do without a screenshot):

Sequential read: 25.969 MB/s | Sequential write: 12.985 MB/s
Random read 512KB: 25.654 MB/s | Random write 512KB: 1.946 MB/s

By the way, his results confirmed that a random recording is not the most strong point ADATA flash drives.

USB 3.0 speed test

Since the ADATA S102 was the only flash drive with a 3.0 interface, it competed with itself and won unconditionally :)


When connected to a USB 3.0 port, the sequential read speed increased by more than 3 times, which is almost 2 times faster than the 68 MB/s stated by the manufacturer.

Sequential recording became 1.5 times faster than when connected to port 2.0, also exceeding the performance stated by the manufacturer. Interestingly, random recording became even a little slower.

Results

Let's sum up the intermediate results:

  • The USB 3.0 interface is coming – in a few years it will dominate the market;
  • real speed devices depend on themselves, as well as the USB controller in the computer and the driver installed on the system;
  • Not all yoghurts are equally healthy, i.e. flash drive speeds can vary greatly;
  • flash drive manufacturers indicate on their websites adequate reading and writing speed estimates;
  • Based on the tests, USB 3.0 devices are clearly faster (in my case, reading was 2-3 times faster, writing was 1.5 times faster).

CrystalDiskMark tests give dry numbers, but it’s not very clear what this translates into in real life. In a couple of days I will bring to your attention a comparison of flash drives and USB interfaces for typical operations with files and folders.

Hello. Although optical media is in no hurry to become a thing of the past, it is still more people switch to using compact USB drives. Which Flash drives are the most reliable and fastest? You will learn about this from my current review.

Every year there are more and more manufacturers that produce high-quality (and not so high-quality) flash media. But the lion's share of the market is still occupied by recognized brands: Kingston, Transcend, Apacer and others.

There are many models, and choose among this variety best option not very simple. It’s worth deciding on your preferences and finding out:

  • How much memory should a flash drive have (currently from 32 GB);
  • Desired data transfer speed;
  • Is a large design suitable for you or do you need a compact model?
  • Is the degree of protection of the device from liquid ingress important?
  • Should there be protection against viruses and hacking?

It all depends on the scope of application of the drive. If you plan to use it with a car radio to play music, then you should choose a product with a compact body. Computer engineers and system administrators Prioritize write/read speed so that you can quickly install the software you need.

Rating of flash drives by reliability 2016

I analyzed the popular USB drives 2016 and compiled the list. It includes models with extremely positive customer reviews and high ratings from reputable computer publications.

A simple device that cannot boast of a unique design. The black body is made of durable plastic. The surface is smooth, and near the cap there is an important inscription “USB 3.0”, which indicates the high data exchange speed when connected to the appropriate interface: reading – up to 70 MB / sec, and writing – up to 30 MB / sec.

This is exactly the case when you don’t need to overpay for registration. You need performance at an adequate price - choose this model.

A more advanced flash drive compared to the previous drive. Again, the design is simple, but all the salt is hidden inside. A special cell structure is used, which provides excellent information processing speed. The case has a checkerboard texture that makes fingerprints less noticeable.

I analyzed the prices of devices with different amounts of memory and came to the conclusion that for the JetFlash 780 it is better to buy a 64 GB model. In this case, the cost of one gigabyte will be minimal.

Just in case, I’ll note that all the “participants” of this review are placed in descending order of popularity.

A simple and practical model with a sliding body, which reduces the likelihood of losing the cap to zero. Material: plastic. At first glance, it may seem that it is not of very high quality and will not stand the test of time. But positive reviews on the pages of many online stores convince us of the opposite. The previous generation of flash drives from this manufacturer were made of the same plastic. I was lucky enough to inspect the case “live”, and I did not identify any defects that could affect performance characteristics devices. I'll continue to tell you which flash drives are better?

And Transcend again! This time we are dealing with a stylish little thing that weighs just over 8 grams. Very convenient to carry with you to work and school. It does not take up much space and can serve as an attractive accessory for girls.

If you want to buy a flash drive that will work equally well with both USB 2.0 and 3.0, then you should pay attention to this model. A very convenient design with a large ring for fastening and a high-quality cap that does not “loose” or fall off over time.

High data processing speed allows the drive to be used in almost any area:

  • to install software;
  • for playing music or video;
  • for secure storage of personal information.

In terms of characteristics, this device is very similar to the previous participant included in the rating. Also works well with all USB protocols. Data management becomes easier with proprietary Transcend Elite software.

The body is quite compact. There is no cap as it uses a retractable mechanism. The activity of the device is indicated by a light indicator, which is very convenient. To prevent the flash drive from getting lost, you can attach it to a ring for storing keys.

At first it may seem that this model is too large and uncomfortable. But when it ends up in your hands, your opinion changes dramatically. Yes, the body has some design features, which affects the dimensions. But the surface is pleasant to the touch, although it is not protected from scratches.

To access the connector, you must activate a mechanism (loudly said!), similar to the one used in a switchblade. At the same time, a soft click is heard, which gives the device a special flavor. You can rest assured of its reliability – reviews about the flash drive online are only positive. You can check it yourself.

The advantages of the model include a retractable design and a heavy-duty body made using ultrasonic welding technology. As a result, you don't have to worry about the drive accidentally breaking in half or cracking when dropped. Maximum protection – at an affordable price!

Perhaps my words will seem too loud to you, but this flash drive is the most compact in the world! But don't think that this fact affects its capacity. The use of a special cell placement technology made it possible to cram tens of gigabytes of memory into a small case. Just right for storing thousands of audio files and millions of documents.

The TOP 10 best USB flash drives of 2016 are closed by a device from the famous brand Sandisk. Among the interesting points:

  • Possibility of storing your data in the “cloud” (up to 2 GB);
  • Protecting information from outside interference using the SecureAccess utility;
  • Small dimensions.

Cruzer Fit cannot boast of speed (writing / reading - 5 / 8 MB per second), but the main purpose of this model is secure storage information, which she does very well.

I am sure that you will definitely make your choice, which flash drive is better to buy, starting from this rating. In any case, my article helped to significantly narrow the circle so that you do not have to sort through hundreds of options. If you have questions on the topic, feel free to ask them in the comments. I'll be glad to help!

Best regards, Victor

Modern technologies are developing by leaps and bounds. Processors are becoming more powerful, screens are clearer, cameras are better - all this allows you to create much more productive programs and higher-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 doesn’t take up much space on your hard drive, then transferring it to another device is more difficult. Fortunately, manufacturers do not forget about the good old flash drives.

There are a huge variety of them: MicroSD, SD, MemoryStick and a bunch of other things. We’ll talk about the format most familiar to most people - USB. Flash drive- or simply speaking about USB flash drives. In literary terms, this is a device for storing, transferring and exchanging data (movies, music, documents, etc.). Flash drives are also used for backup and downloading. operating systems, but these directions are less popular among the population.

In terms of 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 a NAND flash memory chip itself. 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 read and write speed, reliability and appearance. We will pay attention to these parameters in our traditional rating. Let's go!

The best USB flash drives with interface 2.0

First, let's look a little more old technology flash drives with a USB 2.0 interface. 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 is equal to 60 Mbps. It doesn't seem that bad, but these are just theoretical numbers. In fact, flash drives with USB 2.0 are capable of delivering no more than 35 “meters” per second when reading, and even lower when writing. Of course, there are still restrictions on the maximum current, but in the context of an article about flash drives, this is of little interest to us. The only thing that models in this category can boast of at the moment is price. If we compare flash drives of similar volume from the same manufacturer, it turns out that a USB 2.0 flash drive is about 2 times cheaper than a more modern competitor.

So it turns out that recommending models from this rating is worth it to people who either do not care much about the time spent waiting for loading, or to those who work with small volumes data where speed is not so important. In any case, we advise you to look at our rating of the best USB flash drives with a 2.0 interface

Pay attention! For the “purity of the experiment” in the rating, we compare models with the most popular capacity - 16 GB. Versions with higher or lower capacity may differ in cost and speed.

3 Kingston DataTraveler SE9

The most stylish
Country: USA (manufactured in China)
Average price: 710 rub.
Rating (2017): 4.4

Unfortunately, the flash drive from one of the company's leading drives on the market is not particularly high quality. Yes, the design is interesting. The sizes are compact. But you forget about all this when you try to download large file to a flash drive. The speed is amazing, but not in a very good way. The price, of course, is pleasant, but winning less than 50 rubles, the buyer significantly loses in speed and additional functions.

Advantages:

  • Metal body
  • Best price

Flaws:

  • Low read (22.5 MB/s) and write (15.6 MB/s) speeds

2 Transcend JetFlash 600


Best speed
Country: China
Average price: 1,120 rub.
Rating (2017): 4.7

Transcend produces quite interesting drives, but it is quite difficult to call the JetFlash 600 such. Outwardly, it does not stand out in any way - an ordinary piece of black plastic without a single hint of designer sophistication. Here you can even criticize the manufacturer for the lack of any kind of fastening of the lid, which makes it very easy to lose. And there are no eyelets on the flash drive itself, so it won’t be possible to attach it to the keys. The only thing that can really smooth 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
  • Has password protection
  • Data compression function
  • There are versions from 4 to 128 GB - the largest selection

Flaws:

  • High cost - one and a half times higher than competitors

1 SanDisk Cruzer Fit


The most compact dimensions
Country: USA (manufactured in China)
Average price: 740 rub.
Rating (2017): 4.8

A flash drive from SanDisk has almost everything you could want. The main advantage over competitors is its very compact size. Yes, this one is easier to lose than larger models, but judging by the reviews, they mainly buy it for use in a car. And here small sizes are simply a salvation, because in many car radios the USB connector is located in the front and large flash drive If you move your hand carelessly, you can simply break it. Cruzer Fit protrudes no more than 5 mm, and therefore it will be difficult to remove it with your hand. This model can also be recommended to owners of laptops with a small amount of built-in memory. I inserted this little thing into the port and forgot about it - there was more memory, but almost nothing stuck out.

Advantages:

  • Good speed performance. Read - 28.3 MB/s, write - 13.96 MB/s
  • The most compact dimensions
  • It is possible to protect the flash drive with a password
  • There is a backup function

The best USB flash drives with 3.0 interface

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 speeds up to 625 Mb/s. Already impressive, right? In fact, such flash drives provide about 250 “meters” for reading, which is also a very good result. Choose best model our rating will help 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 rub.
Rating (2017): 4.4

No matter how strange it may sound, the manufacturer of the fastest flash drive in the previous category does not perform very well with USB 3.0. The design is interesting, and you won’t lose the lid. The speed indicators also seem okay, but they are very unstable. Judging by the reviews, they differ by one and a half times! What this is connected with is unclear. Otherwise, this is a fairly standard flash drive for a low price.

Advantages:

  • Data transmission indicator
  • Large selection - models from 8 to 128 GB

Flaws:

  • Unstable speed indicators. Average 101.75 MB/s read and 44.8 MB/s write

2 Corsair Flash Voyager GS (CMFVYGS3)


Best reading speed
Country: USA (manufactured in China)
Average price: 4,089 rub.
Rating (2017): 4.7

Corsair products are quite well known among computer enthusiasts and, not surprisingly, are little known to ordinary users. And the only thing that prevents the widespread distribution of the brand is the high price. Very tall. Yes, the speed of work here is one of the best in the world. Yes, the build quality and reliability are really high level. But, unfortunately, the average buyer is unlikely to want to pay 3-4 times more for the sake of increasing productivity by several tens of percent.

Advantages:

  • The highest speed is in real tests Read speed was 236 MB/s, write speed - 170 MB/s
  • Metal body

Flaws:

  • High cost
  • Large dimensions

1 Kingston DataTraveler R3.0 G2


Best value for money. Waterproof housing
Country: USA (manufactured in China)
Average price: 1,300 rub.
Rating (2017): 4.8

Finally, we come to one of the most interesting flash drives. Its main feature is water resistance. Of course, any model will almost certainly survive a light rain, but this flash drive from Kingston can be safely immersed in water without fear of losing data. This can be useful not only for extreme sports enthusiasts, but also 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 casing. On the contrary, the official figures are a little... underestimated, which is good news.

Advantages:

  • Waterproof housing
  • The real speed is higher than the officially declared ones - reading 141.5 MB/s, writing 44.7 MB/s
  • Maximum memory capacity up to 256 GB

Flaws:

A USB drive or simply a flash drive is an integral attribute of our everyday life today. When buying it, each of us wants it to last longer. But most often the buyer pays attention to its price and appearance, and is rarely interested in its technical characteristics.

To select the right drive, you need to proceed from the following criteria:

  • manufacturer;
  • purpose of use;
  • capacity;
  • read/write speed;
  • connector protection;
  • appearance;
  • peculiarities.

Let's look at the features of each of them separately.

Criterion 1: Manufacturing company

Each buyer has his own point of view about which company is the leader among manufacturers removable drives. But in any case, you shouldn’t rely only on the brand. Of course, most popular companies that produce storage media can boast of high-quality products. Time-tested manufacturers certainly deserve great trust. By purchasing a flash drive from such a company, the likelihood that it will last longer increases.

Among the variety of products in this category, the most popular and reliable are manufacturers such as Kingston, Adata, Transcend. Their advantage is that they offer a wide model range with different pricing policies.

Conversely, buyers are often skeptical about Chinese flash drives. After all, due to their cheap components and poor-quality soldering, they quickly fail. Here brief information for some popular companies:


These companies are currently considered the most popular according to users. To understand this, forums and social networks were explored. In any case, purchasing USB drives from well-known brands, You will be calm about the quality of the product and the correctness of the declared characteristics.

Do not buy flash drives from dubious companies!

Criterion 2: Storage capacity

As you know, the memory capacity of a Flash drive is measured in gigabytes. Most often, the capacity of a flash drive is indicated on its case or packaging. Often, when purchasing, people are guided by the principle “more is better.” And, if funds allow, they purchase a drive with larger capacity. But, if this is not necessary, then this issue needs to be approached more constructively. The following recommendations will help with this:

  1. Removable media capacity less than 4 GB is suitable for storing regular text files.
  2. Devices with a capacity of 4 to 16 GB are the best option. To store movies or operating system distributions, it is better to purchase a drive of 8 GB or more.
  3. Drives over 16 GB are already sold at a higher price. So a 128 GB flash drive is comparable in price range to an external one hard drive volume 1 TB. And USB devices with a capacity of over 32 GB do not support FAT32, so purchasing such a flash drive is not always advisable.

You should also remember that the actual capacity of a USB drive is always slightly less than stated. This is explained by the fact that several kilobytes are occupied by official information. To find out the actual size of the flash drive, do this:

  • go out the window "This computer";
  • click on the line with the flash drive right click mice;
  • select a menu item "Properties".

In addition, the new USB drive may contain support software.

Criterion 3: Speed ​​of work

The data exchange speed is characterized by three parameters:

  • connection interface;
  • reading speed;
  • recording speed.

The unit of measurement for the speed of a flash drive is megabytes per second - how many were written in a specified unit of time. The read speed of a removable drive is always higher than the write speed. Therefore, if the purchased drive will be used for small files, you can purchase budget model. Its read speed reaches 15 MB/s, and write speed up to 8 MB/s. Flash devices with read speeds from 20 to 25 MB/s and write speeds from 10 to 15 MB/s are considered more universal. Such devices are suitable for most tasks. Flash drives with high speed characteristics are more attractive for work, but they are also more expensive.

Unfortunately, information about the operating speed of the purchased device is not always present on the packaging. Therefore, it is difficult to evaluate the device’s performance in advance. Although some companies indicate a special rating of 200x on the packaging for high-speed flash drives. This means that such a device can operate at a speed of 30 MB/s. Also, the presence on the packaging of an inscription such as "Hi-Speed" indicates that the flash drive is high-speed.

A data transfer interface is a technology for interacting a USB drive with a computer. A computer drive may have the following interface:

  1. USB 2.0. The speed of such a device can reach 60 Mb/s. In reality, this speed is significantly lower. The advantage of such an interface is its low load on computer equipment.
  2. USB 3.0. This is a relatively new type that was designed specifically to speed up data exchange. A modern flash drive with such an interface can have a speed of 640 MB/s. When purchasing a model with such an interface, you need to understand that for its full operation you need a computer that supports USB 3.0.

You can find out the data transfer speed of a specific model on the manufacturer’s official website. If the model is fast, then its speed will be indicated exactly, and if it is "Standard", then this is a regular model with standard speed. Flash drive performance depends on installed model controller and memory type. Simple samples use MLC, TLC or TLC-DDR memory. For high-speed types, DDR-MLC or SLC memory is used.

The high-speed storage medium undoubtedly supports interface 3.0. and the read operation occurs at speeds of up to 260 MB/s. Having such a drive, you can download a full-length movie to it in a few seconds.

Manufacturers are constantly improving their products. And after a certain period of time, the same flash drive model contains different components. Therefore, if you are going to purchase an expensive USB device, then you need to correctly find information about it, focusing on the date of purchase.

It is useful to get acquainted with the results of testing flash drives different manufacturers on the website. Here you can also see the latest test results.


Let's say you bought a USB drive with a large amount of memory for recording movies. But if the speed of this media is low, then it will work slowly. Therefore, when purchasing, you need to take this criterion responsibly.

Criterion 4: Housing (appearance)

When choosing a flash drive, you should pay attention to its body, more specifically, to the following characteristics:

  • size;
  • form;
  • material.

Flash drives come in different sizes. It is probably better to have a medium-sized flash drive, because a small thing is easy to lose, and a large one is not always convenient to insert into a computer connector. If the drive is of the wrong shape, then problems will arise when connecting to a device in an adjacent slot - they may simply interfere with each other.

The flash drive casing can be made of different material: metal, wood, rubber or plastic. It is better to take a model with a waterproof case. The higher the quality of the material used, the higher the price.


The design of the case is striking in its diversity: from the classic version to original souvenir forms. As practice shows, flash drives with a simple casing last longer than non-standard forms. Funny shapes and moving parts are not practical as they can fall off or cover adjacent slots on the computer.


When choosing a flash drive, it is important to pay attention to the protection of the connector. After all, the reliability of the device depends on this. The following types are distinguished:

  1. Connector is open. There is no protection on such a device. Usually small flash drives come with an open connector. On the one hand, it is convenient to have a compact device, but on the other hand, due to the unprotected connector, such a drive can fail prematurely.
  2. Removable cap. This is the most popular type of connector protection. For better adhesion to the body, plastic or rubber are usually used to make removable caps. They perfectly protect the flash drive connector from external influences. The only drawback is that over time the cap loses its fixation properties and begins to slip off.
  3. Rotating bracket. This bracket is fixed on the outside of the flash device case. It is movable and in a certain position covers the storage media connector. This type does not close the connector tightly and thus provides poor protection from dust and moisture.
  4. Slider. This case allows you to hide the flash drive connector inside the structure using a locking button. If the latch breaks, then using such a device will be difficult and unreliable.

Sometimes it's better to sacrifice appearance for the sake of device reliability!

Criterion 5: Additional features

To attract customers, companies add additional features to their products:


The above functions are not always needed to a simple user. And if they are not necessary, then it is better to abandon such models.

So, in order for the choice of a flash drive to be successful, you must decide for what purposes you are purchasing it and what capacity it should have. Remember the practicality of the case and don't bother with additional features if you don't need them. Have a nice shopping!

A flash drive of this class is very practical - with a relatively small size, it holds a lot of information and does not take up much space. These USB 3.0 media are much lighter external hard drives and work very quickly. We have compiled a rating of the best USB 3.0 flash drives based on this important parameter, price-quality ratio, and user surveys. To make the connection, your laptop or PC must have USB port 3.0 so that the flash drive can perform the tasks assigned to it. Here you will find huge amount flash drives with interface 3.0 at the most favorable prices http://ru.gearbest.com/usb-flash-drives-c_11258/nu1_usb~3.0.

Silicon Power Jewel J80

The fast Jewel J80 flash drive has an original, sophisticated zinc alloy body and a special sputtering coating - a harmonious design that gives a luxurious appearance, as well as effective protection from mechanical damage, even fingerprints are not left. The flash drive stores information securely because it uses COB technology - Chip on Board, which protects the metal components USB connector, providing protection from moisture and dust, shock from accidental falls and mechanical impact during daily use.

Key Features:

  • Volume: 32-128 GB;
  • Housing: zinc alloy;
  • Speed; reading - 120 MB/sec, writing - 40 MB/sec;
  • Color: silver gray;
  • Interface: USB 3.1;
  • Dimensions: 44x18x4.5 mm;
  • Weight: 11 g.

Pros:

  1. Harmony of design;
  2. Protection from external influences;
  3. Ring to wear;
  4. Encryption function.

Cons:

  1. Not found.

ADATA DashDrive Elite UE700

An all-metal flash drive equipped with a retractable connector has high read and write speeds for any parameters, which has been confirmed by tests. There is proprietary software that expands the standard capabilities of the device, which is not expensive, but very good. The appearance is a classic of the genre, or as they say in Odessa: “oil painting”, the flash drive has a durable body with protection from dust, fingerprints, the connector, whether inside or outside, is held tightly and does not create extraneous vibration. The leatherette strap adds a touch of sophistication, while LED backlight blue reports drive activity.

Key Features:

  • Volume: 32-128 GB;
  • Case: metal;
  • Speed: read - 190 MB/sec, write - 50 MB/sec;
  • Interface: USB 3.0;
  • Dimensions: 21x63x7 mm;
  • Weight: 5.9 g.

Pros:

  1. High build quality;
  2. Modern design;
  3. Excellent write and read speed;
  4. Software.

Cons:

  1. Not identified.

Kingston DataTraveler R3.0 G2

A flash drive with a shock-resistant, rubber-coated body with blue embossed patterns, according to the manufacturers, can be kept under water at a depth of a meter for up to one hour. Based on the rating of the best USB 3.0 flash drives that have been sold to date, this model ranks third among the leading products. A very impressive flash drive with a nice-to-touch body that handles well protective functions, impressive 5 year warranty. The only negative is the cap, which practically does not stay on the back of the flash drive when opening the connector; there is a 100% guarantee that users will lose it.

Key Features:

  • Volume: 16-64 GB;
  • Housing: rubberized plastic;
  • Speed: read -120 MB/sec;
  • recordings - 25-45 Mb/sec;
  • Dimensions: 56.0x22.0x9.2 mm;
  • Weight: no data.

Pros:

  1. High performance;
  2. Impact resistance of the case;
  3. Moisture resistance;
  4. Dual compatibility;
  5. 5 year warranty.

Cons:

  1. Risk of losing the cap.

Transcend JetFlash 750

A black flash drive is a high-performance solution, which is confirmed by high read and write speeds: during testing, they were even higher than those specified by the manufacturer - 145 and 40 MB/sec, respectively. The price-quality ratio is excellent, and the variety of memory capacities from 16 to 64 GB also speaks volumes. The flash drive is made in a classic form factor: with a cap and blue LED backlighting, which pleasantly winks at users when external storage loads data. Unlike other products, the cap fits perfectly on the back of the flash drive during operation. The cost of such a flash drive is around 2 thousand rubles.

Key Features:

  • Volume: 32-64 GB;
  • Housing: plastic;
  • Speed: read -130 MB/sec, write - 30 MB/sec;
  • Interface: USB 3.0 (compatible with USB 2.0);
  • Dimensions: 69.5×19.8×8.8 mm;
  • Weight: 10.3 g.

Pros:

  1. Strict design;
  2. High reading speed;
  3. Free software can be downloaded;
  4. LED operating mode indicator;
  5. Lifetime warranty.

Cons:

  1. Not found.

Corsair Flash Voyager GS 64GB (CMFVYGS3)

This is not even a flash drive, but a flash drive with high capacity and high performance in a stylish design, which is why it takes first place in the TOP. Advantage of high speed USB interface 3.0, but at the same time there is compatibility with already outdated systems- perhaps this is the most best flash drive. The case is shock-resistant and showed excellent results during testing, withstanding a fairly large load of 40 G. Polished aluminum inlays add elegance, because of this the flash drive looks very impressive - you will not regret the money spent.

Key Features:

  • Volume: 64-128 GB;
  • Body: aluminum with inlays;
  • Speed: read - 295 MB/sec, write - 170 MB/sec;
  • Interface: USB 3.0 (compatible with USB 2.0);
  • Dimensions: 79.0×26.5×9.0 mm;
  • Weight: 30 g.

Pros:

  1. Unique read and write speed;
  2. LED indicator.

Cons:

  1. The cap does not hold well.

Conclusion

Here you will find a huge number of flash drives with interface 3.0 at the best prices

— Reasonable price and good quality, housing made of moisture-proof material;

2 - The most effective indicator speed;

3 - Attractive price.

The rapid development of electronic technology has led to the creation of high-quality films and photographs, productive workers and game programs. Sometimes you can't download multiple movies to another device. This requires a transition device with sufficient memory capacity. Removable media - flash drives - are required. They have become such a common accessory in everyday life that everyone modern man has such interactive memory storage.

Their variety is great, but today we will talk about familiar devices - USB flash drives. They are used to save and transfer video files, documents, pictures, audio materials. They can store 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 - a TV, computer, audio or video - a car system, a controller, an oscillator and a flash memory chip. With a similar structure, flash drives differ in the main technical parameters - memory capacity, speed of writing and reading information, appearance, additional functions (password encryption).

The best flash drives with interface 2.0

Previous flash drive technologies with these parameters were developed in 2000. They cannot keep up with the demands of modern electronic devices. Highest speed for them – 60 Mb/s. In reality, these figures are overestimated, and USB 2.0 flash drives read no more than 35 meters per second, and write even slower. Among their peers, these flash drives compare favorably in price. Even from one manufacturer, old-style flash drives are 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 recording and playback speed, or who download small-sized materials onto a flash drive.

A review of USB flash drives with a 2.0 interface may be useful to such people. We are considering models with a storage capacity of 16 GB. These are the most popular drives.

Score (2018): 4.4

Advantages: Stylish original design

Country of origin: USA (China assembly)

Buyers ranked this flash drive in third place among the best sellers. Its quality is average. The compact, beautiful device amazes with the slow pace of downloading large files. It takes a long time to download, read, play. Many times you will think about whether it is worth saving 50-100 rubles, so that every time you get nervous from the long wait for the process.

Score (2018): 4.7

Advantages: Operational speed

Country of origin: China

Transcend is a popular storage company. The laconic, unpretentious design of the plastic case has significant drawback– the absence of a loop for attaching a chain or cord, such a flash drive is easy to lose. But these shortcomings are smoothed out when the device shows itself in operation. For its line, the flash drive has decent speeds for downloading (16 MB/s) and reading (32 MB/s) information.

Score (2018): 4.8

Advantages: Convenient size to store on a keychain or keychain

Country of origin: USA (China assembly)

The SanDisk model is the best in its class. Its minimal dimensions allow it to be used in a car, where careless movement in tight spaces threatens to break a large flash drive. And this model protrudes forward from the connector by half a centimeter. It is convenient to use for a netbook or laptop as additional memory storage. With its minimal size, this baby has sufficient speed parameters. Reads 28.3 MB/s, writes at a speed of 13.96 MB/s.

Popular flash drives with interface 3.0

USB 3.0 flash drives cannot be called modern devices. Their main parameters were formed in 2008. Technological progress in the field of electronic information has come a long way since that time, but these media are still in demand. Their declared speed reaches 625 Mb/s, but in practice this figure barely reaches 250 Mb/s. But this is a decent result, it’s convenient to work with such devices.

We will compare models with the same amount of information 64 GB.

Score (2018): 4.4

Advantages: Attractive price

Country of origin: China

In the previous category, the manufacturer Transcend presented a fairly high-speed flash drive, which cannot be said about the Jetflash model. A more impressive design and a convenient retractable working part make it more attractive in appearance. But the performance characteristics leave much to be desired. Namely, the speed of reading and writing is unstable. It is difficult to explain this phenomenon. In general, for a reasonable price, the flash drive copes with its tasks.

Score (2018): 4.7

Advantages: The most effective speed indicator

Country of origin: USA (China assembly)

Computer connoisseurs are well acquainted with Corsair products. But among ordinary users they are less popular. This is explained high cost flash media. This is the reason for poor brand distribution. But technical specifications Corsair flash drives are the best in the line. The model is distinguished by high-quality assembly, reliability, and durability. If you need a flash drive for permanent job, transferring, downloading, reproducing materials is a reliable option. But you will have to pay 4 times more for it in the store than for a similar media of another brand. For the average buyer technical parameters are not particularly important; these properties, as a rule, are of interest to specialists.

Score (2018): 4.8

Advantages: Reasonable price and good quality, case made of moisture-proof material

Country of origin: USA (China assembly)

The leader in its group is the Kingston model. This is an interesting specimen, absolutely not afraid of moisture. The complete sealing of the rubberized case protects your information from dissolution in water. This flash drive is necessary for absent-minded people who can drop, lose, or drown a compact thing. Flash media has high write and read speeds. Official testing parameters give even better results than stated in the specifications.