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

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 Reserve copy and storage of photos, videos and audio. Accordingly, the effective speed is weighted as 50% linear read, 40% linear write, 5% read and 5% write of random 4Kb areas.
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):

*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 is interesting that once fast flash drives, such as the SanDisk Ultra Fit, begin to show lower speeds with a large number of measurements. 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 successful purchase in this segment. This is ours golden mean.

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, yet has maximum operating speed 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.

To be fair, it should be noted that the editorial copy of Ultra Fit “died” after about a year of 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-gigabyte 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

*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 has similar characteristics and is 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. Interestingly, testing MicroSD flash drives in the same way demonstrates the advantage of SanDisk.

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 all, we can put an end to this – 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, but normal speeds there's no smell 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 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 the increased protection against impacts comes to the fore as the main argument.

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Hello, dear readers!
From this article we will learn what USB drives are, how to choose them, and list the TOP 10 popular manufacturers.

Do you remember the times when a PC owner's shelves were full of floppy disks and CDs? Today, Flash drives are used for information storage and convenience.

Flash memory is very convenient tool with large memory capacity and high data transfer speed. Today there is a huge range of storage devices. That is why, when purchasing such a gadget, you need to understand the device with what characteristics you need.
We know very well what a USB drive looks like, but what is a flash drive anyway? A flash drive is a removable storage medium with a specific type file system, which has no moving elements in the 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, memory capacity.

Types of information storage devices

There are only three types of USB drives: 2.0, 3.0 and 3.1. But flash drives are divided into types according to appearance:

– With removable cap. The most popular plate protection option.

The caps are made from different materials to prevent the entry of debris and moisture.

– Rotary. Such a drive consists of a bracket and the body of the device, 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 housing. 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 body with a rubberized base. These are the most reliable flash drives, but, of course, they are more expensive.

It is also necessary to take into account 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.

Data transfer rate

One of the main criteria when choosing a device is the data transfer speed. This criterion includes the write speed to the flash device and the read speed of the flash drive. The speed of interaction between the drive and the computer depends on them. USB storage can be rewritten many times, so maximum speed data transfer would be appropriate.

This parameter is expressed in megabits per second (Mb/s) and is always indicated on the packaging. High-speed drives cost more.

Memory

How to choose a usb flash drive from memory.

The volume of the device is the most main characteristic, which is important for the person who purchases the flash drive. This characteristic expressed in gigabytes. Today, USB drives are designed for 32/64/128/more GB, and if necessary, you can purchase 2/4/8 GB. That is, today the maximum capacity of a flash drive is 2048 GB.

Don't forget that a flash drive is a compact device for storing information.

Based on memory capacity, 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 price, but a 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:

Chips used in flash memory. The most common trade-off is between high-speed, expensive chips that have single-level cells, and low-cost flash chips that have few levels with multi-level (MLC)/triple-level (TLC) cells at regular speed.

Flash memory device controller. The flash memory controller is a special chip that controls the interface and controls all actions with the drive. If the controller supports fast data transfer, it saves time.

The host device to which the device connects. A limited host device will not provide high drive performance. Let's give an example: if the computer supports speed 2.0, then a USB 3.0 flash drive will not work at the required speed.

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 wonders which flash drive is best for a computer. Yes, yes, specifically for the computer, because there are special storage devices (SD) for cameras and phones. Of course, they also connect to the computer, but only through special adapters (card readers).

Well, let's look at the TOP 10 companies whose flash drives are preferred by users:

1. Transcend. This is a well-known company that began its work back in 1988. Flash drives from this company are known for their individual style and long service life.

2. Silicon Power. Devices of this form are sold in more than 90 countries around the world.

3. Kingston. This company is an old-timer among manufacturers of USB drives. 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 at a reasonable price.

6. Apacer. The company produces 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 formation in 2011, the company has lived up to it.

9. P.Q.I. And this company began its work precisely with the production of USB drives.

10. Corsair. This company produces exclusive products such as flash drive with a body made of natural rubber, a company whose flash drives are long-lasting.

The most reliable flash drives

Of course, it is better to buy devices for storing information, especially large volumes, from official stores, because today a huge number of fakes are produced in China. Let's look at the top five 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 its cell design, allowing data processing to be performed at a high level.

This model is simple and practical and has a sliding plastic body.

A flash drive that is perfect for work or school because it is small in size and convenient.

This model has a convenient fastening system.

Do not forget that defects occur in production, and therefore the rating changes.

So, when you finally decide to buy yourself a USB drive, first decide what it is intended for in order to decide on the device that will suit you. If you need a flash drive to copy work files, then a device with a memory capacity of 8 GB is suitable.
When purchasing, consult with a consultant, because, as a rule, people only look at the memory capacity. You can purchase a device with a memory capacity of 128 GB, but the speed will be low and the movie will take a very long time to copy.