5 Of The Fastest USB 3.0 Flash Drives You Should Buy

By Mihir Patkar  November 15, 2016 

Our internet speeds are faster than ever. There’s plenty of online storage available for free or cheap prices. But the humble USB drive is still essential in 2016.Are USB Flash Drives Still Worth It In 2015? Are USB Flash Drives Still Worth It In 2015?USB flash drives are great for storage, but they have so many other uses. Here's how they're worth their weight in gold.READ MORE

As fast as the internet is, it can’t beat the speeds you get from flash drives. Plus, when you have to transfer several gigabytes of data, why would you want to bottleneck your bandwidth?

Now, USB flash drives come in all shapes and sizes. You get rugged ones for protection, disguised USB keys to hide them in plain sight, and some funky designs too. But sometimes, all you need is sheer speed.

A New Breed of USB Drives

Technology has a habit of shrinking in size as the years go by. And that has happened to an incredible degree with solid state drives (SSDs). You can now actually get these in the same size as USB flash drives.101 Guide To Solid State Drives 101 Guide To Solid State DrivesSolid State Drives (SSDs) have really taken the mid-range to high end computing world by storm. But what are they?READ MORE

A solid state drive is different from the memory that most thumb drives use. While they are both basically flash memory, the quality of materials and the construction is much different. Typically, an SSD is of a much higher quality. Without getting into the technical details, here are some notable differences:

• An SSD-based thumb drive will cost more than a flash memory thumb drive.
• SSD-based thumb drives have better “fault tolerance”. Fault tolerance is what keeps your data safe when you remove the drive without clicking “Safely Remove” or “Eject” on the screen.
• SSDs use better quality flash memory, claiming more write cycles than flash memory. In plain English, the SSD will last longer.

Choosing Between SSD and Regular USB Drives

It’s not a simple choice between the two. From the same manufacturer, an SSD-based thumb drive is faster and better than a regular flash thumb drive. But some flash thumb drives will be as good as low-quality SSD thumb drives too. Also, SSD USB drives cost significantly more than regular flash drives.

As a thumb rule, here’s what to take away:

• Buy an SSD-based USB drive if you will use the drive regularly, need quick speeds to transfer data, and use it a little roughly. Important note: All decent SSD drives use USB 3.0 or 3.1 ports, and the high speeds work only on those ports.
• Buy a simple flash USB 3.0 drive if you are on a budget and need to read data from the drive more than write data to the drive. It’s not slow, mind you. It’s just slower than SSDs. Chances are, you’ll still be fine with the speeds.

With that in mind, it’s time to pick. The choice is yours, based on budget.

1. Fastest USB Drive Around $20: 32GB Lexar JumpDrive P20 ($20)

The Lexar JumpDrive P20 has only 32GB of storage, but what it lacks in space, it makes up for with speed. UserBenchmark, which records real-world USB read/write speeds from regular users, ranks itas one of the best drives in this budget.

Its average read speed is 141 MB/s and its average write speed is 53 MB/s, which is nothing to write home about. But in this budget, it’s a Ferrari.

If you want more storage instead, don’t bother looking up the read/write speeds. Buy the 64GB drive that is closest to the $20 budget from Sandisk, Kingston, or Corsair. It will give you the average speeds that this price category is capable of.

Lexar JumpDrive P20 32GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive - LJDP20-32GCRBNALexar JumpDrive P20 32GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive - LJDP20-32GCRBNAAmong the fastest USB flash drives available, with speeds up to 400MB/s read and 270MB/s write BUY NOW AT AMAZON$19.84

2. Fastest USB Drive Around $40: 64GB Sandisk Exreme ($29)

For 64GB drives, it’s a better idea to spend a little more than $20 and get the Sandisk Extreme CZ80. It garnered rave reviews from almost everyone who tested it, and WireCutter thinks it’s the best.

It’s not the fastest, though. The quickest drive still remains the 64GB Lexar Jumpdrive P20 ($40). But at $12 more than the Sandisk, and with a fiddly sliding mechanism, it’s not worth it. While the Lexar has a higher read speed, its write speed is slower than Sandisk.

In the end, Sandisk’s 246 MB/s read speed and 196 MB/s write speed is a better deal than anything else in this price. And it’s second fastest overall.

SanDisk Extreme CZ80 64GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive - SDCZ80-064G-GAM46SanDisk Extreme CZ80 64GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive - SDCZ80-064G-GAM46Read Up To 245MB/s; Write Up To 190MB/s BUY NOW AT AMAZON$22.01

3. Fastest USB Drive Around $60: 128GB Patriot Supersonic Rage 2 ($50)

While the Patriot Supersonic Rage 2 is technically an SSD-based thumb drive, it doesn’t exactly perform like one. That said, it’s faster than the average 128GB flash drive for this price.

The folks at AnandTech reviewed the 256GB version of the drive, and thought it was pretty good. It comfortably outperforms the Sandisk Extreme’s read speeds with an average of 275 MB/s. But it falters on the write speeds, registering an average of 140MB/s.

Patriot 128GB Supersonic Rage 2 Series USB 3.0 Flash Drive with Up To 400MB/sec Read, 200MB/s Write (PEF128GSR2USB)Patriot 128GB Supersonic Rage 2 Series USB 3.0 Flash Drive with Up To 400MB/sec Read, 200MB/s Write (PEF128GSR2USB)Transfer speeds of up to 400MB/s read; up to 200MB/s write BUY NOW AT AMAZON$47.79

Storage Review pitted it against the 128GB Sandisk Extreme Pro ($69), and found a similar shortcoming. In fact, the Extreme Pro might be a better alternative if you’re willing to shell out a few more bucks. It has read speeds of 229 MB/s and write speeds of 211 MB/s, which makes it faster on balance. This is why you can’t go by the advertised specs alone when buying a flash drive.

SanDisk Extreme PRO CZ88 128GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive Speeds Up To 260MB/s- SDCZ88-128G-G46SanDisk Extreme PRO CZ88 128GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive Speeds Up To 260MB/s- SDCZ88-128G-G46Write up to 60 times faster than USB 2.0 flash drives so you can quickly transfer your files BUY NOW AT AMAZON$64.99

4. Fastest USB Drive Around $80: 256GB Patriot Supersonic Magnum 2 ($90)

There is no doubt in my mind about the best value-for-money deal around in SSD-based flash drives. The Patriot Supersonic Magnum 2 is an incredible proposition.

Forbes tested the Magnum with two batteries of tests, both real-world and synthetic. CrystalDiskMark, one of the best flash drive speed testers, recorded a read speed of 380 MB/s and a write speed of 327 MB/s. That’s far higher than anything else you’ll get in this price range.

Patriot 256GB Supersonic Magnum 2 USB 3.1 Flash Drive With Up To Read 400MB/sec & Write 300MB/sec- PEF256GSMN2USBPatriot 256GB Supersonic Magnum 2 USB 3.1 Flash Drive With Up To Read 400MB/sec & Write 300MB/sec- PEF256GSMN2USBUSB 3.1, Gen. 1 compliant BUY NOW AT AMAZON$89.99

There’s also the Patriot Supersonic Rage 2 ($90), which isn’t as fast the Magnum. On the outside, it has a rubber housing that protects it from drops and spills. Not a bad deal, if the durability ranks higher for you than speed.

5. Fastest USB Drive Above $100: 512GB Patriot Supersonic Magnum 2 ($165)

The 256GB version is the best value for money but if you need a larger capacity, the Magnum 2 also comes in 512GB. Even so, I’d advise picking the smaller driver. Apparently, the Magnum’s performance doesn’t drop for lower capacities. More or less, if you’re willing to spend big bucks, this is the USB key to buy.

The aluminum housing gives it additional durability, while the new USB 3.1 compatibility makes it a little more future-proof. To make the best use of it, you should probably get a PCI-express USB 3.1 card as well.

The bottom line is that if you want the fastest USB drive with the most amount of storage space, the Patriot Supersonic Magnum 2 is it.

Patriot 512GB Supersonic Magnum 2 USB 3.0 Flash Drive With Up To Read 400MB/sec & Write 300MB/sec- PEF512GSMN2USBPatriot 512GB Supersonic Magnum 2 USB 3.0 Flash Drive With Up To Read 400MB/sec & Write 300MB/sec- PEF512GSMN2USBUSB 3.1, Gen. 1 compliant BUY NOW AT AMAZON$179.99

Flash Drives vs. Portable SSDs

The shrinking of SSDs has resulted in one other phenomenon. Portable hard drives with SSDs have also shrunk in size. While bringing it down to the same size as a thumb drive is harder for the manufacturer, a slimmer and sleeker portable drive isn’t as hard. Take, for example, the Samsung T3or Angelbird SSD2Go Pocket, which seem like excellent ways to get extra storage.

Plus, you can also get wireless portable hard drives for more efficiency. It’s reached a point where you really have to wonder. So reader, which of the two makes more sense to you, a flash drive or a portable SSD?

Source: www.makeuseof.com