USB Memory Sticks
These smaller memory formats are great, especially when they don't require cables. They're getting faster and larger cpacities all the time, but not all live up to their marketing. Speeds will be tested on freshly formatted drives with synthenic benchmark tools (Crystal Disk Mark), as well as real-world transfers (see below key for more info on that):
Sandisk Ultra Dual USB-C
A neat solution with both connectors that is let down by insanely slow write speeds.
True Write (MB/s):
True Read (MB/s):
Type:
Capacities (GB):
Size (length):
Weight:
Retractable:
Form:
Build:
Speed:
Value:
14 / 14 / 13
135 / 113 / 98
USB-A & C
32 - 256
38mm / 1.5"
9g / 0.32oz
Yes
9/10
7/10
3/10
6/10
6/10
Samsung MUF Mini C
A small stick with decent speeds, but I expect better write speed from a new dedicated USB-C stick and I don't like the loseable cap.
True Write (MB/s):
True Read (MB/s):
Type:
Capacities (GB):
Size (length):
Weight:
Retractable:
Form:
Build:
Speed:
Value:
94 / 78 / 94
313 / 207 / 125
USB-C
32 - 256
34mm / 1.3"
3.4g / 0.12oz
No
7/10
8/10
8/10
7/10
7/10
Kingston DataTraveller Max
Synthetic scores suggest it can keep up with SSD enclosures, but that's far from reality despite its ridiculous size. Only the write speeds are marginally faster than the Sandisk Extreme, but they were much less reliable too, so I had to run tests several times to confirm that. Read speeds were actually slower and the build quality of the Kingston feels downright poor. It's also available in a USB-C version, but honesty I would not want this oversized, poorly made plastic hanging off of a tiny connector!
True Write (MB/s):
True Read (MB/s):
Type:
Capacities (GB):
Size (length):
Weight:
Retractable:
Form:
Build:
Speed:
Value:
277 / 262 / 250
357 / 191 / 156
USB-A or C
128 - 1000
82mm / 3.2"
12g / 0.42oz
Kind of
4/10
3/10
5/10
6/10
5/10
Sandisk Extreme Pro
A great build and mechanism. Not the smallest or cheapest, but a good balance.
True Write (MB/s):
True Read (MB/s):
Type:
Capacities (GB):
Size (length):
Weight:
Retractable:
Form:
Build:
Speed:
Value:
192 / 178 / 172
357 / 249 / 167
USB-A
128 - 1000
70mm / 2.79"
17g / 0.6oz
Yes
9/10
8/10
9/10
9/10
9/10
Sandisk MobileMate
This cheap & tiny card reader keeps up with decent memory sticks when using "Extreme Pro" cards and great if you own a camera! Compared to Sandisk's own type-C "Extreme Pro SD Reader" (also using Sandisk Extreme Pro SD cards), this is about 50% faster while being half the cost and a fraction of the size! The write speeds for larger files rival the brand new Samsung USB-C memory sticks and this is smaller while, offering considerably more storage.
True Write (MB/s):
True Read (MB/s):
Type:
Capacities (GB):
Size (length):
Weight:
Retractable:
Form:
Build:
Speed:
Value:
94 / 83 / 66
156 / 127 / 105
USB-A
32 - 2000
30mm / 1.2"
4g / 0.14oz
No
9/10
9/10
8/10
10/10
Conclusion
Manufacturer rated speeds mostly line up with synthetic benchmarks, but that generally doesn't translate to reality.
The Sandisk Extreme Pro is a standout winner for me due to its reliability and honest transfer speeds. It almost performs like an external SSD and can be found in sizes up to 1TB too, which makes it a great option for backing up a lot of large files.
For versatility, convinience and value another standout to me is the Sandisk MobileMate Micro SD card reader. The device itself is cheap and tiny, while card capacities soon reaching 2TB. The speeds may not quite be SSD level, but they're respectable with good cards. I don't like dongles, but if (like me) you use a camera and your computer doesn't have a built in card reader this is a no-brainer. It's so small you might lose it, but it's better than the significantly larger and more expensive type-C full size SD reader from Sandisk with the "Extreme" name! If you can switch to micro SD cards I highly recommend doing it for this reason alone.
9/10
External M.2 SSDs
Although usually much larger than USB memory sticks they're also much faster. Separate enclosures and SSD disk combos can be quite reasonably priced while matching or beating performance of dedicated external drives.
Sabrent (NVME Enclosure)
This reasonably priced and fully tool-less enclosure is a little longer, but generally smaller overall than most others. Like all enclosures of this kind it's held back by USB 3.2 speeds, but the controller stays cool and so it performs really well. I have a ton of these enclosures now and considering how good and easy to use this is I wouldn't consider anything else at the moment.
True Write (MB/s):
True Read (MB/s):
Type:
Capacities (GB):
Size (length):
Weight:
Tool-less:
Form:
Function:
Build:
Speed:
Value:
365 / 428 / 382
333 / 207 / 143
USB-C (3.2)
256 - 8000
116mm / 4.6"
69g / 2.4oz
Yes
9/10
9/10
9/10
7/10
10/10
Samsung X5 (Thunderbolt 3)
Fast read speeds, but write speeds are slower than some USB-A sticks, let alone some considerably cheaper, non-Thunderbolt drives! The build quality is good but the weight makes it feel more like a power bank. If you're the type to forget passwords don't add one here as it can be impossible to unlock it in places! The Orico (below) plus SSD will outperform this at half the cost of an X5!!
9/10
True Write (MB/s):
True Read (MB/s):
Type:
Capacities (GB):
Size (length):
Weight:
Tool-less:
Form:
Function:
Build:
Speed:
Value:
278 / 231 / 143
1300 / 1200 / 1100
USB-C (T3)
512 - 4000
118mm / 4.65"
144g / 5.08oz
Sealed
5/10
1/10
8/10
3/10
2/10
3/10
Orico USB 4 (NVME Enclosure)
Like Thunderbolt 3 gear these are as elusive as they are expensive (for now). Write speeds are as good as you can get for external drives, but in reality they're still not taking full advantage of the port or drives you can put in them. Sacrificing compatibility for the slight edge in speed is questionably benefitial compared to standard USB-C M.2 enclosures.
True Write (MB/s):
True Read (MB/s):
Type:
Capacities (GB):
Size (length):
Weight:
Tool-less:
Form:
Function:
Build:
Speed:
Value:
670 / 610 / 590
1300 / 1250 / 1200
USB-C (4)
256 - 8000
105mm / 4.1"
108g / 3.8oz
No
7/10
5/10
8/10
7/10
6/10
7/10
Conclusion
Manufacturer rated speeds sort of line up with synthetic benchmarks, but that doesn't translate to reality and that's especially true with these faster SSD enclosures / drives.
External SSD enclosures are useful to play with your drives externally, but speeds will be a fraction of their internal potential. Even with USB4/thunderbolt 4 devices you'll barely get over 3.2 speeds in real-world use, so it's difficult to see them as good value compared to a USB stick unless you need over 1TB of capacity.