![]() ![]() SanDisk offers a two-year limited warranty on these drives.Ĭonnector: USB Type-C 3.1 and Apple Lightning It sports a Lightning port on one end and a USB-A plug on the other. Don't have a USB-C port on your laptop? Then the very similar iXpand Go ($40) is the way to go. Handily, you can configure the app to automatically back up photos when you insert the drive. Backing up photos from my wife’s iPhone took a couple of hours the first time. It works well, but it’s not the fastest drive (90 MB/s read, 35 MB/s write). If you want to use this drive with an iPhone or iPad, you must install the iXpand app (not required for Android devices). Storage options top out at 256 gigabytes. This design means that one plug is always exposed, and while SanDisk includes a separate plastic cover that slots on, I fear I'll inevitably lose it. It has a metal casing with a loop for a keychain, and it is very slim. It has a Lightning plug for iPhones and iPads at one end and flips to reveal a USB-C plug at the other, so you can transfer files to or from Android devices and laptops. If you want a flash drive to back up and copy photos and other files from your smartphone, I like the iXpand Luxe. Subscriptions help fund the work we do every day. com and our print magazine (if you'd like). Special offer for Gear readers: Get a 1-year subscription to WIRED for $5 ($25 off). Updated June 2023: We added drives from PNY and Kingston, and updated prices throughout. And don't forget to back up your digital life. If you need more than 1 terabyte of storage, check out our guide to the Best Portable Storage Drives. They are affordable, small enough to fit on a keychain, and boast ever-increasing capacities and data transfer speeds.Īfter testing many, we've found these to be the best USB flash drives for various purposes and budgets. Also known as thumb drives or memory sticks, flash drives provide storage to back up precious photos, play movies on the big screen, or copy files from one phone or laptop to another. We also assessed their size, weight, and pricing, among other aspects.Once ubiquitous, USB flash drives have declined in popularity with the advent of the cloud, but these portable devices have a lot to offer. We considered their build, durability, and design (especially whether they featured a cap-less design). We checked whether the thumb drives offered consistent read and write speeds, and if they had security encryption features for sensitive data. For starters, we looked at their storage capacities, connectivity option (USB-A or USB-C), and read and write speeds. To test the best flash drives, we examined them across numerous factors. Note that the capacities are likely to be lower than stated when they are formatted and mounted on an operating system.Above 128GB, you might want to consider a SSD if you want ruggedness, portability, versatility and better performance without the cost.All the vendors listed are tried and trusted ones. Avoid buying your memory sticks from vendors with little feedback on auction websites as these drives might turn out to be fake.If you plan on moving files to and from portable devices (tablets or smartphones), consider a memory stick with a microUSB connector and a full-size USB one.Larger flash drives (128GB or more) often come only with a USB 3.0 connector. USB 2.0 is sufficient for smaller capacities but not for bigger ones where write speeds can get sluggish.Make sure you include delivery price when doing the numbers as quite often you end up paying more for the postage than the drive itself, particularly for low cost models. ![]() It's not worth looking for memory sticks smaller than 64GB simply because the price difference you pay for two or four times the storage is tiny.How to choose the best flash drives for you? Unlike external hard drives, these compact devices are better suited for short-term use and portability.įlash drives or thumb drives can connect with other devices using either USB Type-A or USB-C connectivity. Here's our list of the best portable SSDs and the best external hard drives for Mac on the marketĪ flash drive is a tiny storage device that has no moving parts.It's not quite as fast as many of the best USB flash drives we mentioned here, but if you want a small form factor USB stick, it's worth the trade-off. That’s not all it’s also very cheap, at around £10 for the 32GB version, with 64GB and 128GB versions also available. And, when it's plugged into your laptop, it doesn't stick out much from the body, making it more secure when you’re using it on the go. It’s small and light enough to easily carry around. If you don't want a USB stick jutting out the side of your laptop or tablet while you use it or having one is simple not ideal – for example, when you’re using it while traveling, then a low-profile USB stick is an excellent choice. ![]()
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