However, neither category comes close to the low cost-per-GB of portable hard drives. Though SSDs are often faster and have more storage than a USB flash drive, the cost-per-GB is usually similar. In testing SSDs from Samsung, Western Digital (WD), LaCie, and Verbatim, we found their average speeds were generally faster than other types of portable storage devices. Though technically USB flash drives can be classed as SSDs, this is not common in product names or marketing. These days, the term is often used when referring to flash storage drives larger than a USB thumb drive and connected by a cable, rather than plugged in directly.
Limited storage compared to SSDs or portable HDs.Īn SSD has no moving parts.
Slightly higher average cost per GB than SSDs.
Most USB flash drives aren't as fast as SSDs.
Cheaper if you don't need much storage.
Some drives are as fast as many portable SSDs.
There's also a whole class of ruggedised devices, meaning they're designed to be protected against impact, dust and water, but you can expect to pay more for this extra peace of mind.īut whether they're cheap or expensive, simple or full-featured, their compactness can actually work against them on occasion – they're small so they're really easy to lose. Hardware encryption is generally more secure and faster than encryption via a software program (software encryption). This uses a special chip on the drive to handle encryption duties (the "hardware" part of hardware encryption). Some offer built-in, military-grade, hardware-based encryption to keep your data safe. The better versions (look for a "name" brand) are becoming more robust and secure. However, you can't tell the difference by just looking at it – you need to consult the specs for the device. The second-generation of USB 3.1 (called, simply, USB 3.1 Gen-2) is rated at double the speed (10Gbps). USB 3.0 and first-generation USB 3.1 are essentially the same technology, offering the same connection speed, up to 5Gbps (gigabits per second). The kind of USB technology is also important. Despite having no moving parts, they can sometimes fail for no apparent reason. The weak points of the cheaper USB flash drives have always been reliability and speed. The more expensive versions may offer faster performance or better security such as built-in hardware encryption to protect your drive from being access by unauthorised users. They commonly range from 2GB to 256GB capacity, but 512GB models are also available. They've become the modern equivalent of the floppy disk, offering cheap, compact and convenient data storage. Like memory cards, they use solid-state flash memory chips, but have a built-in USB connector. USB flash drives (also known as USB keys or thumb drives) are one of the smallest forms of self-contained portable storage.
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