this post was submitted on 31 Oct 2024
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Background

I have had the same Kingston DataTraveller DTSE9 since around 2010, when I was still in school. I've carried it on my keychain for at least 12 years and it still works, its "the old reliable".

That said, it's slow. Very slow. I use it mostly as a boot USB for Linux / Windows, so I need several sticks with decent random read speed, and decent write speed for when I update them.

My criteria were:

  • All-metal construction for durability, including the keychain loop
  • Sits well on a keychain next to keys
  • Reasonable speed, including random reads.

Testing method

I evaluated the sticks in two ways.

I ran CrystalDiskMark with 256 MiB (x5) configuration.

I also measured the angle at which the USB stick sits on a keyring. I found that several of them could not sit perpendicular to a keyring it because of their geometry, which makes it difficult to comfortably use them next to keys.

At the datum of 0 degrees, the key sits perpendicular to the keyring.

Results

The competitors

Here are the 6 main competitors in this space I bought.

All transfer units are in MB/s.

Product Price (£) Angle on keyring (0deg is best) Sequential reads Q8T1 Sequential reads Q1T1 Random reads Q32T1 Random reads Q1T1 Sequential writes Q8T1 Sequential writes Q1T1 Random writes Q32T1 Random writes Q1T1
Corsair GTX 128GB 65 (256GB version) 0 470.214 429.330 157.436 19.390 436.990 414.201 166.829 38.937
Samsung Bar 64GB 10 55 305.424 305.268 14.517 13.428 36.434 36.247 20.537 21.619
Kingston DTSE9G3 64GB 11 0 246.705 244.496 13.756 13.028 100.236 110.054 0.484 0.474
Integral Arc 3 10 0 162.336 161.338 15.567 11.188 49.457 47.965 5.032 4.244
Kingston DataTraveller Micro 64GB 11 0 247.000 245.247 13.788 12.961 100.932 101.292 0.496 0.470
Sandisk Ultra Luxe 64GB 12 25 403.863 399.974 12.438 12.054 91.835 91.685 4.272 4.258

Some additional notes:

  • The Samsung Bar had really sharp corners. You might need to file them down like I did.
  • Corsair GTX: the 128GB version is no longer available and the lowest capacity is 256GB. It's more of a portable SSD in the form of a USB stick, which makes it really fast, but it's bulkier than a normal USB stick, though not by much. Often it takes up more than one USB port because it's wide. It's still very good and I recommend it.

Other devices

Some related products I own but don't qualify for this comparison but are offered up here for context.

Here's why they don't qualify.

  • Crucial P3 Plus: It's an NVME SSD. Can be made portable with a good enclosure, but too bulky for what I'm looking for.

  • Samsung 860 Evo: It's a SATA SSD, definitely not the right form factor.

  • Sandisk Ultra Curve: I bought this thinking it was made out of metal, but it was not. It's fairly flimsy plastic.

  • Kingston DTSE9 16GB: This is my old stick. The old reliable. No longer sold, but I've tested its successor.

  • Samsung SD Card: It's a 2016 MicroSD card connected to my PC via a MicroSD-SD adapter and a USB card reader. I included this as a meme.

Product Sequential reads Q8T1 Sequential reads Q1T1 Random reads Q32T1 Random reads Q1T1 Sequential writes Q8T1 Sequential writes Q1T1 Random writes Q32T1 Random writes Q1T1
Crucial P3 Plus M.2 NVME 2TB 1598.227 1332.131 305.220 46.643 1560.989 1452.256 238.134 102.502
Samsung 860 Evo SATA 1TB 564.446 539.913 272.631 43.322 536.440 518.168 238.752 101.313
Sandisk Ultra Curve 160.091 158.859 9.271 9.043 58.680 60.377 2.902 3.209
Old Kingston DTSE9 16GB 18.452 18.220 8.473 8.096 13.626 13.629 0.115 0.026
Samsung Memory Pro Plus Micro SD Card 20.765 20.969 5.146 5.102 19.493 20.316 2.181 3.421

Conclusion

There are no clear winners in this fight.

  • The Corsair GTX is the fastest in all categories by a country mile, but has a larger form-factor than other entries and higher price. Very good, but not for everyone.
  • Samsung Bar has the fastest random writes, and decent performance in other metrics for its USB stick form factor, but sits awful on a keychain due to the angled hole.
  • The Integral Arc 3 has solid random performance, but worst sequential performance than the rest.
  • Sandisk Ultra Luxe gets the best overall balance of performance, but does not sit on the keychain super well.
  • The two Kingston's perform effectively the same, with the Micro being much more compact. That said, that can be a disadvantage on a keyring if there are adjacent items.
  • All competitors (bar the GTX) had similar random reads.

For me, I'd say the right choice is either the Kingston DTSE9G3. It's a nice upgrade over my old DTSE9 and sits nicely next to it's grandfather. If I needed any random writes though, for copying lots of small documents like code files, I'd pick the Integral Arc 3.

(page 2) 44 comments
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[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

Why only usb-a?.. Is that all that's on offer? Surely a Usb-c would be faster and smaller?

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[–] [email protected] 22 points 16 hours ago

Thanks for doing this! I've been pretty happy with my Samsung bar, considering how durable it's supposed to be, but it's great to hear about other options.

You may want to consider posting this to https://slrpnk.net/c/product_reviews.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 hours ago

beautiful post, thank you!! I've been using the same traveling USB for ages at this point and will probably upgrade soon, this research is super useful

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 hours ago

I've got a 128GB Kingston DTSE9G2 and it has served me very well for close to a decade. Shit's built like a tank and has sustained a lot of abuse being packed in my pocket with all the keys. Even survived a bike accident where I landed on the pocket (the pain was intolerable though...)

[–] [email protected] 10 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

you should check out the kingston SE9 G2. It has a smaller loop end and so it works way better on a keychain. unfortunately they didn't keep the feature for the G3.

picture Amazon Link

[–] [email protected] 2 points 14 hours ago

I remember seeing that around! In the UK you can't buy it anymore. It costs £50-200 on Amazon, here and here

[–] [email protected] 15 points 16 hours ago

I'm not surprised the Corsair is better - it looks like there's a whole nvme drive in there.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 hours ago
[–] [email protected] 5 points 13 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago) (1 children)

Any noticeable durability issues? Had my Samsung stick die completely just outside of warranty window....

[–] [email protected] 2 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

I just got it, so I couldn't say. Someone else in these comments said theirs failed too.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 hours ago

I have 2, a 32gb and a 64gb, that I've had for over 6 years I think. Not sure exactly how long since I've had them for a long time - since before I met my wife, so maybe I got them when they first came out?

[–] [email protected] 9 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

Wow, great work!

Due my own personal bad habits, I fear I wouldn't see 12 years out of most of those because of the lack of caps. A lot of random stuff ends up in my pocket when I'm doing projects. Screws and other things that will not have happy fun times with bare type A pins.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

You'd be surprised! That old USB key has gone through the washing machine several times by accident and survived.

Also, the gap on a usb stick is pretty small and the pins reach quite deep, so unless you're dealing with M3's or smaller I doubt that the screws will end up in there.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

Yeah, I mostly deal in m3 screws for my projects which, I know from experience, do get caught in type-A plugs.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 12 hours ago

Fair enough. For what it's worth, the Corsair GTX has a cap that stays on fairly well.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 16 hours ago* (last edited 16 hours ago)

This is an awesome analysis. I need to make a plug for my favorite, the Kingston FCR-ML3C. Its a micro metal usbc /usbA micro SD card reader. I upgrade my Samsung micro SD in it every once in awhile for speed and space upgrades. It sits lovely on my ID badge (works on Keychain too) and it's a Swiss army type device that will work on whatever type of data port comes my way. Have used it for years and simply love it.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 hours ago

I have a metal dual USB A & C microSD card reader on my keychain. It lets me swap out cards easily, and should it ever be damaged, the chances are slimmer that the tiny microSD will be destroyed.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 13 hours ago

Awesome work, thankyou for taking the time to do this.

I too love a metal USB stick for the keychain, and my old DTSE9 could do with a refresh!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 12 hours ago (2 children)

This is awesome. I think I need to get a Corsair. And looks like I can probably use it for self defense too.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

The Samsung bar needs to be on the sides of a key ring so it falls flatter.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago) (1 children)

Made me stop bringing it. I wear my keys on a Climbing Carabiner and if it sits right it is perfect. But fuck off if it doesn't, it's pure anger in metal usb stick form.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 11 hours ago

There was a keychain Multitool, I think it was called the shard, and it had a hobby knife blade on it that could open in your pocket. People were getting stabbed in the leg or hand reaching their hand in their pocket.

That is pure chaotic hatred in keychain form.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 15 hours ago

Good review, it reminds me of a Project Farm video. That guy reviews things very much from a practical use standpoint.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 15 hours ago (2 children)

That Kingston DataTraveller I have as well and it's my ol' reliable from at least 9 years ago. For some reason PCs put up a fuss with recognizing other people's USBs at boot, I've never once had an issue with the Kingston.

It is true that it is slower but for a live distro, install and troubleshoot disk it does the job perfectly fine.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 14 hours ago

For me I found that the lack of responsiveness when in the booted environment was problematic. I use stuff like GParted on Linux bootable USBs to manage partitions too.

Writing a new image to the stick was also really slow.

New sticks are £10 for 64GB, so I recommend giving one of the above a try and see if you get a better experience!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 14 hours ago

I've had DataTraveller sticks since the late 90s/early 00s. Never given me a problem.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 13 hours ago* (last edited 13 hours ago) (1 children)

Much appreciated!

With no clear winner in terms of performance, which one do you think has the most durable material? I have been using a Corsair Voyager mini for years, which I think has an aluminum shell, and it very quickly bent inward on the side that doesn’t have the contacts, usually I need to put a key or some other metal thing into the USB slot of the drive to re-flatten it before it can be plugged in.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

Hard to say. None of them flex much under pressure, but I don't really want to do a durability test...

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 hours ago

Fair enough! Thanks for the data!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

Can you show how you filed down the samsung bar?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 12 hours ago

The sharp parts were on the side you plug into the computer, all the way around the lip but especially the corners.

I used a large steel file, but a smaller diamond file would work too I'm sure.

Simply rub the corners at a 45 degree angle with the file until it no longer hurts to touch. Go slowly and gently so you don't bend it.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

Every metal one I ever had has at somepoint had the board fall out of the housing and get lost. They never survive the keyring.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 14 hours ago

I had that happen with the Kingston at one point in its life. Can't remember how it happened.

I was lucky and spotted it before I lost it. I super-glued it back in and it works fine!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

Very cool! Thanks for sharing.

Just a thought on random write: If you are using swap/page files, it may have more of an impact. Or if you are updating the system in place.
I have no clue whether updating by flashing a new system image would be treated as sequential or extracted randomly as individual files.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 14 hours ago

When you boot from a USB, it's usually read-only, so I figured random writes wouldn't be super important.

I'm hoping that flashing a new image is mostly sequential, but I might do a quick test with Rufus if you're interested.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 15 hours ago* (last edited 15 hours ago)

Thx! awesome review!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

This looks awesome. Posting so I can read it later - the Mbin mobile site absolutely butchers your table, and I feel like submitting a bug report~

[–] [email protected] 2 points 14 hours ago

Yeah I noticed on my app too. Using Markdown syntax but the table is quite wide so it's hard to fit on a mobile screen. I've found that rotating my phone to landscape helps, at least on my app.

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