Text and photos by Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla
Bucking the trend of cheap, commoditized USB storage, Sandisk's Extreme line of of USB Flash drives push the envelope on storage capacity as well as fast transfer speeds. We tested the 64GB Extreme USB 3.0 Flash Drive which is the flagship product in the line.
In the world of USB flash drives, the market is littered with disposable and cheap USB flash drives that have all but replaced diskettes and CDs as movable, shareable and giveaway storage. It is rare that we look at a thumbdrive and say to ourselves, "boy, this is a keeper."
Well, the Sandisk Extreme USB Flash Drive changes our perception that flash drives are nothing more than cheap storage. For users who require a lot of space, the Sandisk Extreme USB comes in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB capacities, more than most tablets and smartphones in the market today.
The drive itself is made from matte plastic and can be easily be mistaken for a normal USB Flash drive except for the racy red Sandisk and USB 3.0 markings.
A slider brings up the USB tip with a resounding snap and while it is lightweight, it feels like the Extreme USB Flash Drive can stand up to a lot of heavy use. The blue colouring of the interior plastic of the USB connector tells you this is a USB 3.0 capable device.
Aside from the large storage, the Sandisk 64GB USB Flash Drive features the fastest, latest USB 3.0 transfer speeds of 190MB/s which is blazing fast when used with compatible USB 3.0 devices. This is ten times faster than USB 2.0 flash drive transfer speeds and ideal for moving large files like video, tons of digital photos and audio files.
Clearly designed for professionals and users who need storage options that are fast and spacious, the Sandisk Extreme USB Flash Drive also comes bundled with value added services like Password protection with SanDisk SecureAccess Software as well as an additional 2GB of cloud storage using the YuuWaa service.
The pro features clearly require a higher price. Looking at Amazon.com, the 64GB version usually sells for $174 but is currently on sale for $70.77. The 32GB version usually sells for $96.58 but is on sale for $40.00 and the 16GB version usually sells for $57.14 but is on sale at $25.40.
While clearly not an everyday portable storage solution for most users, the Sandisk 64GB Extreme USB Flash drive delivers a flexible, powerful and fast flash drive option for power users, specially those who need the large storage and who are invested in USB 3.0 devices. This is the flash drive you keep and take with you wherever you go.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5