I remember buying my first flash drive a long time ago - a plastic 64MB model with a removable cap. Back then we called it a thumb drive, but fast forward to the last few months of 2023 and a 2TB USB flash drive can be had for less than $100 at Amazon, and it's probably one of the best USB flash drives when it comes to value for money.
The Buffalo SSD-PUT is sold as a portable SSD stick but its size (69 x 22 x 10mm for a weight of 17g) puts it squarely in the category of a USB flash drive. We haven’t reviewed it yet but our peers rate it highly. Buffalo may not be a household name but I have come across it this Japanese storage brand several times in the past.
Note that you can add a 3-year data recovery plan from After Solutions for a mere $14.99. The plan will attempt to recover the data from the failed drive and recovered data will be returned on a media storage device or via secure cloud-based data storage.
Buffalo claims that it can reach read/write speeds of up to 600 MB/s and 500 MB/s respectively, much faster than traditional external hard drives and speedier than SATA-based portable SSDs that usually populate the lower end of the market. It is fast enough for data backup and would be a great complement to cloud storage as part of a backup strategy, thanks to its NVMe technology.
I like the fact that it has a retractable connector, great for those who like me lose the cap all the time. Buffalo says that it is more durable thanks to a rugged design that “increase shock resistance and overall drop protection”, making it a good candidate for our rugged drive guide.
Add in native USB 3.2 Gen2 connectivity (with a free USB type-A to USB type-C connector), a carabiner, and up to three year warranty and you’ve got a fantastic storage device that is just a bit more expensive than your average external rugged hard drive or portable SSD.
Giving it a solid score of 4 out of 5, PC Mag’s Tony Hoffman wrote that it’s “good for general use, though its test scores show it better suited for file transfer and storage than program loading”. Tweaktown’s Tyler Bernath was even more enthused, writing that it is “a great option for users wanting an amazingly fast pen drive at a solid price with top capacity options of 1TB.”
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