
Standard wear and tear over time isn’t covered, nor is non-approved activity, which includes, say, use of a USB flash drive as network-attached storage, or other uses that involve continuous access of the storage media. SanDisk, for example, offers on certain products what it refers to as a limited lifetime warranty, which primarily covers nonstandard drive failure. Strong customer service is valuable if something goes wrong. Warranty and customer service: Warranties of three to five years are standard among USB flash drives from major manufacturers, a general indication that a company will stand by its product for at least a few years.We consider traditional stick flash drives, flash drives with retractable heads, and smaller, thumbnail-sized drives. The flash drive should also be durable enough for you to toss it into a bag without concern. Size and build quality: A flash drive should fit easily into a USB port, without making you worry that you might break the drive or the port. Additionally, many USB flash drives also have built-in hardware encryption capabilities, meaning that your data will remain safe even if the drive is misplaced.Connection type: Our top pick for this guide is a USB-A drive that offers more consistent speeds than our USB-C pick, but our USB-C pick is still quite fast and doesn’t require an additional dongle for use with modern MacBooks or other laptops that primarily have USB-C ports. /rebates/2fbrowse2foffice-supplies2fusb-flash-drives2f122974910709641329591230184529295&.This SanDisk Ultra Type-C USB flash drive has SanDisk SecureAccess software, which helps you encrypt sensitive files easily. Some of our picks might not match the speeds of many SSDs, but they should perform better than any platter-based hard drive. Fast data transfer speeds reduce the time used to copy large files, while the 256GB provides ample storage space for your favorite data. Drive speed: Write speeds are a big consideration in our flash drive recommendations-a twofold increase in transfer speed can lead to a practical difference of 15 to 30 minutes of saved time with large folders of variable file sizes.Most people should find that the minimum 128 GB of storage in our current picks gives them plenty of space to store big and small files, without their having to constantly delete some to make room. Capacity: The price of flash storage in thumb drives continues to drop, and in our research and testing we’ve found that the performance of many models varies depending on the amount of storage included.

Spending more can sometimes get you more than 256 GB of storage, hardware encryption, or a somewhat more durable case, but more expensive drives don’t really add any benefits for everyday uses. Price: Most people shouldn’t pay more than around $40 for a USB flash drive.
