Flash drives are a game-changer for small businesses, offering a convenient way to transfer large files quickly. As storage costs drop, it’s becoming more affordable and practical to carry around a lot of storage in a tiny package. The best flash drives for small businesses offer ample storage and top-notch transfer speeds.
When choosing a flash drive for your business, consider what you’ll be storing and transferring. Documents without images are easy to transfer on any flash drive, but media files can take a bit longer. Flash drives with the latest transfer rate specs are your best bet because they work on any computer and are backward compatible. Security is also a concern, as some files are too important to risk falling into the wrong hands.
Here are some top picks for flash drives:
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SAMSUNG BAR Plus 256GB: This flash drive from Samsung, a leading memory supplier, offers 256GB of storage and uses USB 3.1. It’s backward compatible with USB 3.0 and USB 2.0, and it’s encased in rugged metal to protect your data. It’s also waterproof, shockproof, magnet proof, temperature proof, and x-ray proof.
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SanDisk 256GB Ultra Dual Drive USB: SanDisk is another leading flash memory manufacturer. This flash drive has both USB 3.1 and Type-C connectors, making it usable on PCs and smartphones with Type-C ports. It offers high-speed transfer speeds of up to 150MB/s.
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PNY 1TB Turbo Attaché 3: PNY, a leading manufacturer of flash memory cards, offers great value. This 1TB USB 3.1 flash drive has read speeds up to 200MB/s and write speeds up to 100MB/s. It’s compatible with current USB 3.1 Gen 1/USB 3.0 PC and Mac laptops and desktops, and it’s backward compatible with USB 2.0 host devices.
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SanDisk 1TB Extreme PRO: This SanDisk flash drive uses Solid State Drive technology and offers read speeds up to 420MB/s and write speeds up to 380MB/s. It includes SecureAccess encryption software to keep critical files safe and RescuePRO Deluxe data recovery software to recover accidentally deleted files.
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Corsair Flash Voyager GTX 512GB USB: This Corsair flash drive uses high-speed 3D NAND memory to deliver read and write speeds up to 440MB/second. It uses USB 3.1 Gen 1 protocol and is backward compatible with USB 3.0 and USB 2.0.
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iStorage datAshur PRO² 128 GB Secure Flash Drive: This flash drive offers a physical and software encryption solution. It’s a PIN authenticated hardware encrypted USB flash drive that encrypts your data using AES-XTS 256-bit hardware encryption as soon as you disconnect the drive.
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Lexar JumpDrive S47 128GB: This Lexar flash drive offers 128GB of storage with USB 3.1. It’s backward compatible with USB 3.0 and 2.0 devices and comes with DataVault Lite software, an advanced security solution with 256-bit AES encryption to protect your data.
When buying a flash drive, look for one with a large capacity, as the price difference isn’t significant up to 256GBs. Other features to consider include portability, durability, transfer rate, and compatibility. Flash drives will eventually fail as you write and delete more files, so it’s wise to store your data in more than one place. Also, if you’re storing extremely sensitive information, consider more robust security measures like physical pins or additional encryption tools.
