USB Flash Drives Reviews

Updated January 2008

USB flash drives -- also called thumb drives, USB keys and, in Britain, pen drives -- are the best way to quickly store and transport smaller amounts of data. If you need to back up your entire hard drive, or need extra storage for multimedia files, a USB flash drive won't give you enough capacity. For storage over 16 GB, see our report on external hard drives. Because these flash-memory-based drives have no moving parts, they are more reliable than hard drives. Some are made to be indestructible, and reviewers test them by running them through washing machines and dryers and driving SUVs over them.

Phoronix.com has the best reviews of USB drives. It is the only source with lots of recent, comparative reviews written by one reviewer. The reviews are comprehensive and thoughtful, and backed by completely documented testing. Veteran technology editor Scot Finnie just completed an excellent sequential review of four USB flash drives. He selects the best in the latest issue of Scot's Newsletter. TrustedReviews.com also has very good reviews. However, these write-ups are not quite as comprehensive and are written by multiple editors. Other computer enthusiast and specialty sites have good reviews, but aren't as up-to-date. Those include BigBruin.com, I4UNews.com, Tom's Hardware and EverythingUSB.com.

Computer magazines and websites have surprisingly sparse coverage of USB flash drives. PC World doesn't review flash drives, but has an entertaining article, "The Top 15 Wackiest USB Devices." PC Magazine most recently reviewed one drive in the first half of 2006. It is competing with PC World with the article, "10 Weirdest USB Devices (Parts I and II)." Consumer magazines also have limited coverage. Consumer Reports has an article in its October 2007 issue, but the article consists mainly of a features discussion and no products are tested.

We didn't find a single USB flash drive that is absolutely panned by reviewers. That's because most of them work as intended, and reliability is very good in general. Reviewers do find much to criticize about many drives: low capacities, high prices, unnecessary or ineffective software and odd shapes that block other USB ports. However, performance is the major consideration tested by critics that consumers can't gauge without the aid of a review.

The Lexar JumpDrive Secure II Plus (*est. $60) falls short in that regard, according to TrustedReviews.com. Andy Vandervell reports that the Lexar drive was very slow, trailing the Corsair Voyager GT by a "massive margin, while also failing to match up to a generic memory key." He summarizes that "good file encryption software does add something extra, but otherwise this is a fairly ordinary device with a gimmick thrown in for good measure." The gimmick is a meter that shows how full the drive is.  ... Continued

Our Consensus Report shows how many times products are top-ranked by reviewers included in our
All The Reviews Reviewed chart.

# of picks	Model(with retailer links)	Details from Amazon.com
3	SanDisk Cruzer Titanium (U3) 1 GB (*est. $20) 2 GB (*est. $25) 4 GB (*est. $45)	details
3	Corsair Flash Survivor GT 8 GB (*est. $180)	details
2	Corsair Flash Voyager GT 2 GB (*est. $40) 4 GB (*est. $90)	details
2	Lexar JumpDrive Lightning 1 GB (*est. $20) 2 GB (*est. $45) 4 GB (*est. $75)	details
1 each	IronKey Secure USB Flash Drive , Kingston DataTraveler Secure 4 GB , Lexar Media 360 , Memorex U3 smart Mini TravelDrive , OCZ ATV Turbo 4 GB , OCZ Mini-Kart , OCZ Secure Digital Trifecta 66X 2 GB , PQI Card Drive , SanDisk Cruzer Contour USB Flash Drive , SanDisk Cruzer Micro USB Flash Drive , SanDisk Cruzer Professional USB drive

Corsair memory products have dominated reviews for a long time, and the current generation is no exception. The Corsair Flash Survivor GT is comparatively expensive, but utterly indestructible and very secure. The Corsair Flash Voyager GT is a modest step down in all regards. The older, slower Corsair Flash Voyager topped the most reviews in 2005 and early 2006. It's still available in multiple capacities (including 32 GB), and it's a relative bargain, but too expensive to be considered a budget product.

The OCZ ATV Turbo and Lexar Media JumpDrive Lightning are perhaps the closest competitors to the top Corsair USB flash drives, but neither manufacturer currently makes a high-capacity version. Both have heavy-duty rubber and metal construction to withstand abuse. No one directly compares the Lexar with a Corsair drive, but measured speeds appear to be competitive (a fair comparison requires using a single computer). The OCZ drive is as fast as, or faster, than the top Corsair drives.

While the Lexar drive is fast, can run software and is built to be durable, the SanDisk Cruzer Titanium offers those capabilities at a much lower price. Some SanDisk products have a mixed reputation for reliability, and the Cruzer Titanium has a short limited warranty (just two years), but it fares exceptionally well in user reviews.