The SanDisk Ultra Slider is a high-performance USB flash drive designed to meet the needs of users who demand speed and portability. Featuring a USB-C 3.2 Gen 1 interface, it offers fast data transfer speeds, making it ideal for transferring large files quickly and efficiently. The drive's innovative retractable connector protects the interface and makes it easy to use, eliminating the need for a protective cap. With its durable design, it can operate in temperatures ranging from 0 °C to 45 °C, ensuring your data is safe in various conditions. Additionally, the inclusion of a key ring loop allows for easy attachment to keys or bags, ensuring your important files are always within reach. Whether you're a professional on-the-move or a student in need of reliable storage, the SanDisk Ultra Slider is a smart choice for your data storage needs.
The SanDisk Ultra Slider is a high-performance USB flash drive designed to meet the needs of users who demand speed and portability. Featuring a USB-C 3.2 Gen 1 interface, it offers fast data transfer speeds, making it ideal for transferring large files quickly and efficiently. The drive's innovative retractable connector protects the interface and makes it easy to use, eliminating the need for a protective cap. With its durable design, it can operate in temperatures ranging from 0 °C to 45 °C, ensuring your data is safe in various conditions. Additionally, the inclusion of a key ring loop allows for easy attachment to keys or bags, ensuring your important files are always within reach. Whether you're a professional on-the-move or a student in need of reliable storage, the SanDisk Ultra Slider is a smart choice for your data storage needs.
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The lowest price for SanDisk USB 128GB Ultra Type-C Flash Drive right now is $45.95 at BIG W, compared across 3 retailers.
The all-time low was $18.87 on 20 July 2025 — today's price is 144% above the lowest ever. It has been notably cheaper before — worth setting a price alert.
Prices last updated 8 June 2026.
SanDisk USB 128GB Ultra Type-C Flash Drive
The SanDisk Ultra Slider is a high-performance USB flash drive designed to meet the needs of users who demand speed and portability. Featuring a USB-C 3.2 Gen 1 interface, it offers fast data transfer speeds, making it ideal for transferring large files quickly and efficiently. The drive's innovative retractable connector protects the interface and makes it easy to use, eliminating the need for a protective cap. With its durable design, it can operate in temperatures ranging from 0 °C to 45 °C, ensuring your data is safe in various conditions. Additionally, the inclusion of a key ring loop allows for easy attachment to keys or bags, ensuring your important files are always within reach. Whether you're a professional on-the-move or a student in need of reliable storage, the SanDisk Ultra Slider is a smart choice for your data storage needs.
The SanDisk Ultra Slider is a high-performance USB flash drive designed to meet the needs of users who demand speed and portability. Featuring a USB-C 3.2 Gen 1 interface, it offers fast data transfer speeds, making it ideal for transferring large files quickly and efficiently. The drive's innovative retractable connector protects the interface and makes it easy to use, eliminating the need for a protective cap. With its durable design, it can operate in temperatures ranging from 0 °C to 45 °C, ensuring your data is safe in various conditions. Additionally, the inclusion of a key ring loop allows for easy attachment to keys or bags, ensuring your important files are always within reach. Whether you're a professional on-the-move or a student in need of reliable storage, the SanDisk Ultra Slider is a smart choice for your data storage needs.
Last updated at 08/06/2026 06:23:59
SanDisk USB 128GB Ultra Type-C Flash Drive
Free delivery
SanDisk USB 128GB Ultra Type-C Flash Drive
Delivery $10
SanDisk USB 128GB Ultra Type-C Flash Drive
Free delivery between 11–15 June
originally posted on gadgettree.co.uk
Cloud continues to be all the rage in 2019, and SanDisk is riding the wave with the new SanDisk Ultra USB thumb drive. It offers a generous 256GB of storage for a reasonable price, but also includes a year of cloud backup for said drive. 256GB of cloud storage for a full year is included making this disk an excellent value if you are looking for a cost effective backup drive.The SanDisk Ultra 256GB is not overly different from other SanDisk drives. Its clad in a semigloss black with a slide mechanism to protect the typeA usb port when not in use. Its a tried and true design, and SanDisk rightfully doesnt mess with what works.Performance wise, the disk boasts performance up to 100MBs. This claim is not exaggerated for sequential read speeds in other words, large ... MoreCloud continues to be all the rage in 2019, and SanDisk is riding the wave with the new SanDisk Ultra USB thumb drive. It offers a generous 256GB of storage for a reasonable price, but also includes a year of cloud backup for said drive. 256GB of cloud storage for a full year is included making this disk an excellent value if you are looking for a cost effective backup drive.The SanDisk Ultra 256GB is not overly different from other SanDisk drives. Its clad in a semigloss black with a slide mechanism to protect the typeA usb port when not in use. Its a tried and true design, and SanDisk rightfully doesnt mess with what works.Performance wise, the disk boasts performance up to 100MBs. This claim is not exaggerated for sequential read speeds in other words, large files. Crystal disk mark placed sequential read speeds around 135MBs. The drive appears to use a fast write cache buffer.Sequential writes hover around 65MBs for the first gigabyte or so but sharply and predictably drop off to 2025MBs. Writes in bursts benefit from this cache, but it can easily fill up during large writes. The cache recovers pretty quickly however, so writing performs well in small batches. This squarely puts the SanDisk Ultra in the budget category as far as performance goes.The real interesting proposition with this drive is the cloud storage that comes with it free for the first year. You can backup all the data found on your drive meaning that if you have a 256GB drive, you can backup that amount of data to the online FlashBack service. I tested this theory by copying our family photos of around 70GB to the drive. While this took quite a while to accomplish, the backup took place during the copy, so I left it overnight. The FlashBack service not only had a copy of all my files, but presented them with a friendly photo browser, and broke down my files based on metadata, type, and provided a handy search feature. The user interface is modern and worked well with my files. You can share links to files, which is a plus, and manage those links. Essentially you could share out a document with someone, and then revoke the access to that link by simply deleting the sharing link. Its clear there was a lot of time spent to ensure a positive user experience with this service, which is appreciated. The app used to do the backup is unobtrusive and seemed to work well. It does get angry if its in the process of backing up files and you unplug it. It does take time to get to resuming a backup. If you delete files, theyll go in the Trash bin in FlashBack, and can be restored for up to 30 days.The first year is on the house, but after that pricing looks reasonable. At 9.99 for the 256GB drive a year, its hard to argue thats a bad deal. Having access to any of your files remotely and securely even with your pc off, and your thumb drive in the drawer is a nice selling feature. Do keep in mind that while SanDisk does look like they did a decent job with security, while still being able to provide sharing features, etc its still hosting your data remotely. Be sure to secure your account with a good password. Id like to see them implement two factor authentication to help bring further peace of mind to those backing up sensitive data andor financials.The SanDisk Ultra 256GB is a decent performing everyday USB pen drive with a large capacity.The real selling feature of the Ultra series here is the FlashBack service, and it seems to really hit the nail on the head. If youre looking for a good backup drive that can double as a carbonite or other backup service replacement this might fit the bill if your needs are simple. In any case, its a decent alternative to using Google Drive and offers a ton more storage for the money and gives you that storage free the first year. This new model of storage actually seems pretty compelling, I highly recommend trying it out.
originally posted on gadgettree.co.uk
Lets face it. All USB flash drives are pretty much the same, as long as they have the same capacity, form factor and have the same basic specs. One USB3 256GB drive pretty much works the same as any other.But SanDisk is throwing in a nice little bonus with some of its new models. This SanDisk 256GB Ultra USB 3 Flash drive comes one year of free cloud backup for everything on the drive. It works with a nifty little app called Flashback, which is a breeze to install and setup and works seamlessly every time you plug your flash drive into the computer with the app.Once installed, all you have to do is drop the files you want backed up into the Flashback app and you are done. Since it is USB3, it uploads quickly, giving you a backup copy even if you dont have the flash ... MoreLets face it. All USB flash drives are pretty much the same, as long as they have the same capacity, form factor and have the same basic specs. One USB3 256GB drive pretty much works the same as any other.But SanDisk is throwing in a nice little bonus with some of its new models. This SanDisk 256GB Ultra USB 3 Flash drive comes one year of free cloud backup for everything on the drive. It works with a nifty little app called Flashback, which is a breeze to install and setup and works seamlessly every time you plug your flash drive into the computer with the app.Once installed, all you have to do is drop the files you want backed up into the Flashback app and you are done. Since it is USB3, it uploads quickly, giving you a backup copy even if you dont have the flash drive with you. You can even download it from the cloud.As another bonus, you can share files with anyone you choose. Simply click the link icon that appears on the file when you open it in Flashback. It copies a Web link to your cache, which can be pasted into anyone you want to email. They can access the file simply by clicking on the link.Even better, this is not one of those come on deals where you have to give them your credit card and it renews automatically and your credit card charged if you forget to cancel it before the free trial runs out. This deal truly is free. No strings attached. Cant beat that.Advantage SanDisk, if you are in the market for a flash drive.Be aware that although this drives looks identical to some older SanDisk Flash Drives, those will not work with Flashback. The app reports they are not compatible.The app only works with Ultra flash drives like this one and the more compact SanDisk Ultra Fit flash drives.This particular drive is my preferred form factor, ie, not one of those tiny mini USB flash drives that are so easy to lose. Or one twisted into some bizarre shape. This one is an old school traditional size and shape about the same as a thumb with a USB connector that slides in and out.
originally posted on gadgettree.co.uk
I wanted to get a large flash drive to backup all my important files and photos Ive amassed a lot, and saw the prices of flash drives has come way down. I started using flashthumb drives for work back when the 1gb was considered a large drive, and when they announced a 4gb drive we all though whos going to put that much stuff on a thumb drive.Ive also used about every brand of flash drive available and still have a few of the old 1gb ones laying around and the only ones still working are the SanDisk branded ones, one in particular is the SanDisk Cruzer Titanium 1gb, the super heavy duty all metal bodied drive you wont ever see again, and it still works perfectly.Physical ImpressionsThis 256gb drive is physically the size thumb drive have pretty much been for quite a ... MoreI wanted to get a large flash drive to backup all my important files and photos Ive amassed a lot, and saw the prices of flash drives has come way down. I started using flashthumb drives for work back when the 1gb was considered a large drive, and when they announced a 4gb drive we all though whos going to put that much stuff on a thumb drive.Ive also used about every brand of flash drive available and still have a few of the old 1gb ones laying around and the only ones still working are the SanDisk branded ones, one in particular is the SanDisk Cruzer Titanium 1gb, the super heavy duty all metal bodied drive you wont ever see again, and it still works perfectly.Physical ImpressionsThis 256gb drive is physically the size thumb drive have pretty much been for quite a while now, the USB plug is retractable keeping it safe and secure when retracted. There isnt an activity light so you wont know if its doing anything, not important for me as its on the back of my desktop computer.SpeedThe flash drive is USB 3 and backwards compatible. Speed wise using Crystal Disk Mark Im getting around 116MBs Seq read, and 50MBs Seq write, not bad at all and Ive attached a screen shot of the test.Included SoftwareThe really nice thing is the software thats included with the flash drive. You get one year of Rescue Pro Deluxe, the key is inside the packaging and with it you can recover lost and accidentally erased files. It works for everything not just this thumb drive. I took a file folder with photos in it, about 1gb worth on the SanDisk drive, deleted it, emptied the recycle bin, and then had the software scan to recover it. Now it does take a while to scan this drive, its big so sit back or do something else while it goes about its business. After about an hour it was able to recover all the files in the test folder I created, now this will depend greatly on if youve written files to the drive after losingaccidentally deleting files. For the most accurate and thorough recovery you dont want to be using the media you are doing the recovery on till after youve recovered your files. Youll also have to rename your recovered files after it has finished running, but you can click on them to view in the recovery window so you know what you are renaming.Also under the flash drives main directory is the SanDisk Secure Access application. When you run it the first time it will ask that you set up an account and password for the secure folder. After entering your password you will be greeted with a simple file manager window. Just drag and drop files into the top secure area and it will encrypt all the files. If you view the drive with a standard file manager like the one in Windows 10 you will see the folder name but theres nothing in them to view, you will have to use the Secure Access application to view and unencrypt these files and folders. The whole process is reasonably fast too. I copied all my important stuff, about 175gb, in a couple hours, not bad for that much data.There is an upgrade option for the standard software, you can get a lifetime license for 15, I think thats reasonable just havent done it yet. It gets you 1024 bit encryption, automatic backup, syncing between devices, and sharing with others. Ill probably be upgrading to this in the future as it adds a lot of for low cost.Im keeping all my medical files on this as I do have some health issues and like to keep my entire medical easily portable if I happen to go see a new specialist. This way I can always have a backup of my records and theres plenty of space on this drive for xrays and, MRIs, CT scans and Ultrasounds. Plus with everything being encrypted I used a very secure password I wont worry much about someone getting my personal information if I do happen to lose the drive.OpinionThis is an excellent thumb drive, theres plenty of space for a lot of files, and I mean a lot. The included software allows you to encrypt your sensitive data so you wont have to worry about it falling into the wrong hands and the recovery software makes it pretty easy to recover any file you may have accidentally lost. The new flash drives from SanDisk are a real value.
| Earn | 3x points |
| and collect | 87 Everyday Rewards points |
| Capacity | 32GB 64GB 128GB 256GB |
| Interface | USB 3.1 Gen 1 |
| Connector | USB-C |
SanDisk USB 128GB Ultra Type-C Flash Drive
Free delivery
SanDisk USB 128GB Ultra Type-C Flash Drive
Delivery $10
SanDisk USB 128GB Ultra Type-C Flash Drive
Free delivery between 11–15 June
Cloud continues to be all the rage in 2019, and SanDisk is riding the wave with the new SanDisk Ultra USB thumb drive. It offers a generous 256GB of storage for a reasonable price, but also includes a year of cloud backup for said drive. 256GB of cloud storage for a full year is included making this disk an excellent value if you are looking for a cost effective backup drive.The SanDisk Ultra 256GB is not overly different from other SanDisk drives. Its clad in a semigloss black with a slide mechanism to protect the typeA usb port when not in use. Its a tried and true design, and SanDisk rightfully doesnt mess with what works.Performance wise, the disk boasts performance up to 100MBs. This claim is not exaggerated for sequential read speeds in other words, large ... MoreCloud continues to be all the rage in 2019, and SanDisk is riding the wave with the new SanDisk Ultra USB thumb drive. It offers a generous 256GB of storage for a reasonable price, but also includes a year of cloud backup for said drive. 256GB of cloud storage for a full year is included making this disk an excellent value if you are looking for a cost effective backup drive.The SanDisk Ultra 256GB is not overly different from other SanDisk drives. Its clad in a semigloss black with a slide mechanism to protect the typeA usb port when not in use. Its a tried and true design, and SanDisk rightfully doesnt mess with what works.Performance wise, the disk boasts performance up to 100MBs. This claim is not exaggerated for sequential read speeds in other words, large files. Crystal disk mark placed sequential read speeds around 135MBs. The drive appears to use a fast write cache buffer.Sequential writes hover around 65MBs for the first gigabyte or so but sharply and predictably drop off to 2025MBs. Writes in bursts benefit from this cache, but it can easily fill up during large writes. The cache recovers pretty quickly however, so writing performs well in small batches. This squarely puts the SanDisk Ultra in the budget category as far as performance goes.The real interesting proposition with this drive is the cloud storage that comes with it free for the first year. You can backup all the data found on your drive meaning that if you have a 256GB drive, you can backup that amount of data to the online FlashBack service. I tested this theory by copying our family photos of around 70GB to the drive. While this took quite a while to accomplish, the backup took place during the copy, so I left it overnight. The FlashBack service not only had a copy of all my files, but presented them with a friendly photo browser, and broke down my files based on metadata, type, and provided a handy search feature. The user interface is modern and worked well with my files. You can share links to files, which is a plus, and manage those links. Essentially you could share out a document with someone, and then revoke the access to that link by simply deleting the sharing link. Its clear there was a lot of time spent to ensure a positive user experience with this service, which is appreciated. The app used to do the backup is unobtrusive and seemed to work well. It does get angry if its in the process of backing up files and you unplug it. It does take time to get to resuming a backup. If you delete files, theyll go in the Trash bin in FlashBack, and can be restored for up to 30 days.The first year is on the house, but after that pricing looks reasonable. At 9.99 for the 256GB drive a year, its hard to argue thats a bad deal. Having access to any of your files remotely and securely even with your pc off, and your thumb drive in the drawer is a nice selling feature. Do keep in mind that while SanDisk does look like they did a decent job with security, while still being able to provide sharing features, etc its still hosting your data remotely. Be sure to secure your account with a good password. Id like to see them implement two factor authentication to help bring further peace of mind to those backing up sensitive data andor financials.The SanDisk Ultra 256GB is a decent performing everyday USB pen drive with a large capacity.The real selling feature of the Ultra series here is the FlashBack service, and it seems to really hit the nail on the head. If youre looking for a good backup drive that can double as a carbonite or other backup service replacement this might fit the bill if your needs are simple. In any case, its a decent alternative to using Google Drive and offers a ton more storage for the money and gives you that storage free the first year. This new model of storage actually seems pretty compelling, I highly recommend trying it out.
Lets face it. All USB flash drives are pretty much the same, as long as they have the same capacity, form factor and have the same basic specs. One USB3 256GB drive pretty much works the same as any other.But SanDisk is throwing in a nice little bonus with some of its new models. This SanDisk 256GB Ultra USB 3 Flash drive comes one year of free cloud backup for everything on the drive. It works with a nifty little app called Flashback, which is a breeze to install and setup and works seamlessly every time you plug your flash drive into the computer with the app.Once installed, all you have to do is drop the files you want backed up into the Flashback app and you are done. Since it is USB3, it uploads quickly, giving you a backup copy even if you dont have the flash ... MoreLets face it. All USB flash drives are pretty much the same, as long as they have the same capacity, form factor and have the same basic specs. One USB3 256GB drive pretty much works the same as any other.But SanDisk is throwing in a nice little bonus with some of its new models. This SanDisk 256GB Ultra USB 3 Flash drive comes one year of free cloud backup for everything on the drive. It works with a nifty little app called Flashback, which is a breeze to install and setup and works seamlessly every time you plug your flash drive into the computer with the app.Once installed, all you have to do is drop the files you want backed up into the Flashback app and you are done. Since it is USB3, it uploads quickly, giving you a backup copy even if you dont have the flash drive with you. You can even download it from the cloud.As another bonus, you can share files with anyone you choose. Simply click the link icon that appears on the file when you open it in Flashback. It copies a Web link to your cache, which can be pasted into anyone you want to email. They can access the file simply by clicking on the link.Even better, this is not one of those come on deals where you have to give them your credit card and it renews automatically and your credit card charged if you forget to cancel it before the free trial runs out. This deal truly is free. No strings attached. Cant beat that.Advantage SanDisk, if you are in the market for a flash drive.Be aware that although this drives looks identical to some older SanDisk Flash Drives, those will not work with Flashback. The app reports they are not compatible.The app only works with Ultra flash drives like this one and the more compact SanDisk Ultra Fit flash drives.This particular drive is my preferred form factor, ie, not one of those tiny mini USB flash drives that are so easy to lose. Or one twisted into some bizarre shape. This one is an old school traditional size and shape about the same as a thumb with a USB connector that slides in and out.
I wanted to get a large flash drive to backup all my important files and photos Ive amassed a lot, and saw the prices of flash drives has come way down. I started using flashthumb drives for work back when the 1gb was considered a large drive, and when they announced a 4gb drive we all though whos going to put that much stuff on a thumb drive.Ive also used about every brand of flash drive available and still have a few of the old 1gb ones laying around and the only ones still working are the SanDisk branded ones, one in particular is the SanDisk Cruzer Titanium 1gb, the super heavy duty all metal bodied drive you wont ever see again, and it still works perfectly.Physical ImpressionsThis 256gb drive is physically the size thumb drive have pretty much been for quite a ... MoreI wanted to get a large flash drive to backup all my important files and photos Ive amassed a lot, and saw the prices of flash drives has come way down. I started using flashthumb drives for work back when the 1gb was considered a large drive, and when they announced a 4gb drive we all though whos going to put that much stuff on a thumb drive.Ive also used about every brand of flash drive available and still have a few of the old 1gb ones laying around and the only ones still working are the SanDisk branded ones, one in particular is the SanDisk Cruzer Titanium 1gb, the super heavy duty all metal bodied drive you wont ever see again, and it still works perfectly.Physical ImpressionsThis 256gb drive is physically the size thumb drive have pretty much been for quite a while now, the USB plug is retractable keeping it safe and secure when retracted. There isnt an activity light so you wont know if its doing anything, not important for me as its on the back of my desktop computer.SpeedThe flash drive is USB 3 and backwards compatible. Speed wise using Crystal Disk Mark Im getting around 116MBs Seq read, and 50MBs Seq write, not bad at all and Ive attached a screen shot of the test.Included SoftwareThe really nice thing is the software thats included with the flash drive. You get one year of Rescue Pro Deluxe, the key is inside the packaging and with it you can recover lost and accidentally erased files. It works for everything not just this thumb drive. I took a file folder with photos in it, about 1gb worth on the SanDisk drive, deleted it, emptied the recycle bin, and then had the software scan to recover it. Now it does take a while to scan this drive, its big so sit back or do something else while it goes about its business. After about an hour it was able to recover all the files in the test folder I created, now this will depend greatly on if youve written files to the drive after losingaccidentally deleting files. For the most accurate and thorough recovery you dont want to be using the media you are doing the recovery on till after youve recovered your files. Youll also have to rename your recovered files after it has finished running, but you can click on them to view in the recovery window so you know what you are renaming.Also under the flash drives main directory is the SanDisk Secure Access application. When you run it the first time it will ask that you set up an account and password for the secure folder. After entering your password you will be greeted with a simple file manager window. Just drag and drop files into the top secure area and it will encrypt all the files. If you view the drive with a standard file manager like the one in Windows 10 you will see the folder name but theres nothing in them to view, you will have to use the Secure Access application to view and unencrypt these files and folders. The whole process is reasonably fast too. I copied all my important stuff, about 175gb, in a couple hours, not bad for that much data.There is an upgrade option for the standard software, you can get a lifetime license for 15, I think thats reasonable just havent done it yet. It gets you 1024 bit encryption, automatic backup, syncing between devices, and sharing with others. Ill probably be upgrading to this in the future as it adds a lot of for low cost.Im keeping all my medical files on this as I do have some health issues and like to keep my entire medical easily portable if I happen to go see a new specialist. This way I can always have a backup of my records and theres plenty of space on this drive for xrays and, MRIs, CT scans and Ultrasounds. Plus with everything being encrypted I used a very secure password I wont worry much about someone getting my personal information if I do happen to lose the drive.OpinionThis is an excellent thumb drive, theres plenty of space for a lot of files, and I mean a lot. The included software allows you to encrypt your sensitive data so you wont have to worry about it falling into the wrong hands and the recovery software makes it pretty easy to recover any file you may have accidentally lost. The new flash drives from SanDisk are a real value.
The SanDisk Ultra USB 3.0 flash drive is exactly that, a 256GB flash drive in the basic portable format. I wouldnt call it rugged but the USB connector can be recessed into the housing to protect it. This necessarily increases the size of the drive a bit, but useful for something that youd essentially toss into bags, sit on in your back pocket, and generally abuse the way keys get abused on a day to day basis. Unlike keys which are typically made of metal and are both easy and cheap to copy, this drive is not so having builtin protection for this everyday device is nice to have.The 256GB capacity is nice. In fact, its almost hilarious thinking just how not too long ago, having a 256GB spinning platter drive was amazing in itself and certainly not something youd ... MoreThe SanDisk Ultra USB 3.0 flash drive is exactly that, a 256GB flash drive in the basic portable format. I wouldnt call it rugged but the USB connector can be recessed into the housing to protect it. This necessarily increases the size of the drive a bit, but useful for something that youd essentially toss into bags, sit on in your back pocket, and generally abuse the way keys get abused on a day to day basis. Unlike keys which are typically made of metal and are both easy and cheap to copy, this drive is not so having builtin protection for this everyday device is nice to have.The 256GB capacity is nice. In fact, its almost hilarious thinking just how not too long ago, having a 256GB spinning platter drive was amazing in itself and certainly not something youd casually toss in your bag when heading out the door. Its an amazing amount of storage when you consider that typical drives in home computers are barely breaking 2TB. This means you have 25 to 100 or more of the typical storage available on an entire computer. The great news this can serve as ad adhoc complete backup for most home applications as there is likely few files too large for this drive.The drive does come with some features softwarefirmware that puts it above a basic drive. Namely backup software always a plus and a secure access vault pretty much encrypted storage for your files. This is the biggest selling point for me. Secure storage that covers a significant amount of my personal machine capacity thats easy to move around is awesome. Generally, I dont access such files as often so it is nice to have them stored and not taking up space on my main machine. Because I have large files that need to be stored encrypted, accessing them across a couple different machines can be a pain due to the bandwidth requirements necessary to bridge machines via cloud storage, storage needs on the cloud, and then keeping encryption software synchronized on multiple machines. This provides a onestop shop for such files. Now, to be clear, I still maintain yet another backup on my large network storage at home as due to the size and mobility, this drive is more likely to be lost.SanDisks software also has its own cloud backup feature. It works, but then youre tied to SanDisks ecosystem. Normally, this results in me dropping a star in the rating, however, given that youre completely free to use your own, no harm no foul.
I built a custom desktop for myself in 2013. At the time, I was a poor college student redundant, I know but using some gift money and the whole DIYinsteadofprebuilt thing I was able to put together a system that wasnt totally terrible. It ran Windows an objectively superior operating system and also Premiere an objectively accessible nonlinear editing program for someone using an objectively superior operating system sorry, AVID, which was really what I cared about, because I was a film student. Oh, how I lusted over the BH catalogue in those days. For much of that time, I used an SD card to transfer files between my system and others, because my camera used SD cards I was shooting mostly on a T2i that I had bought from BH several years prior, which was good enough ... MoreI built a custom desktop for myself in 2013. At the time, I was a poor college student redundant, I know but using some gift money and the whole DIYinsteadofprebuilt thing I was able to put together a system that wasnt totally terrible. It ran Windows an objectively superior operating system and also Premiere an objectively accessible nonlinear editing program for someone using an objectively superior operating system sorry, AVID, which was really what I cared about, because I was a film student. Oh, how I lusted over the BH catalogue in those days. For much of that time, I used an SD card to transfer files between my system and others, because my camera used SD cards I was shooting mostly on a T2i that I had bought from BH several years prior, which was good enough for the most part, though Ill admit that it wasnt perfect, but I was in college and it was better than the Panasonic camcorders they were trying to shove onto us I care about shallow depth of field because I am knowledgable about cinematic language and techniques and read internet blogs about how to make movies on budgets, and my laptop that I also acquired at some point during this time had an SD card reader, so it was easy. Sometimes, I had wished that I was using a flash drive, but... it just never happened. Flash forward to 2016. I have a job that pays me enough per hour that I could buy at least one flash drive every single week if I wanted to, but instead of doing that, I decided to take the logical extension of that and upgrade my custombuilt PC with some new hard drives. And by hard drives, I mean solid state drives. My 128 GB primary SSD simply wasnt big enough to fit all of the things I wanted, so I bought a new SSD. And then I remembered, Oh no Im going to have to create a backup or something I dont know how this works, exactly on probably a USB Flash Drive in order to transfer my OS to a new drive without having to buy a new version of the OS. The internet and by that I mean Microsoft said that I should get a 16 GB hard drive, but as a blueblooded American, I knew that supersize was the only size. But, as I said, I get paid enough for one per week, so I didnt go crazy. I got a 64 GB drive. Honestly, if I need more than that, Ill use a real external hard drive, which I wont be able to afford for several more months, but I intend to eventually get anyway. Ive been told they are very important for film shoots, though I wouldnt know because no one ever wants me to be on their set, which makes me sad but isnt relevant to this review. Anyways, so I bought this flash drive, went to the internet, followed the instructions on how to setup a bootable USB drive, booted from it, installed the OS, and now I have Windows 10 lovely, beautiful Windows 10 on a new solid state drive that is significantly larger than my old one, so I should be all good, which I am happy about. Without this drive, it would have probably been a bad day. But it wasnt, so I think four out of five stars are in order. Id give it five, but Im probably going to lose it because its small, and I wont be really sad when it gets lost because I dont Love it like five stars requires I just like it, which is what four stars is. tldr see title of this review
Overview The performance of the drive is decent, generally matching what is advertised, and fitting well with the price point. I found the valueadding software to be quite disappointing, and not something Id recommend using. While usage of this software is optional, and I wouldnt usually take them into consideration when purchasing or recommending this type of product, as a Tech Insider, Ive been asked to focus my review on this software, which includes Flashback and SecureAccess. As a result, my overall rating gives significant consideration to this software. Flashback The Flashback software and service are designed to automatically backup files that are on the flash drive, to the cloud. While it is perhaps misleadingly indicated that you get Flashback with these ... MoreOverview The performance of the drive is decent, generally matching what is advertised, and fitting well with the price point. I found the valueadding software to be quite disappointing, and not something Id recommend using. While usage of this software is optional, and I wouldnt usually take them into consideration when purchasing or recommending this type of product, as a Tech Insider, Ive been asked to focus my review on this software, which includes Flashback and SecureAccess. As a result, my overall rating gives significant consideration to this software. Flashback The Flashback software and service are designed to automatically backup files that are on the flash drive, to the cloud. While it is perhaps misleadingly indicated that you get Flashback with these drives, as found on the Flashback landing page, it is important to note that what youre actually getting is a oneyear trial period of the service, after which a scaled fee is charged based on the storage capacity of the drive. While the promotional materials direct users to the Flashback landing page sandisk.comflashback to create an account and download the software, I was unable to find a means of achieving either from this page. I had to go out of my way to search the web for the download page sandisk.comflashbackapps.Once downloaded, installation of the software was quick and simple, and directed me through the required account creation process. The software automatically detected my flash drive, at which point the automatic backups were working. The software quickly detects new files as well as file changes, and by default displays a notification that a backup is underway. This notification, thankfully, can be disabled. The flashback service site is clean and easy to navigate, allowing users to quickly find files that have been deleted or lost, as well as shareunshare, preview, and download individual files. Sharing a file provides a URL that can be used by anyone to preview the file for supported file types, as well as download it. While the ability to download all backed up content was included, its implementation is rather clunky, where an email is sent containing a download linkURL for the archive Both the software and service are quite basic, missing many features found in competing productsservices. Noticeably lacking are file versioning, which would allow you to viewdownload old versions of backed up files, control over which filesfolders get backed up, as well as integrated clientside encryption. Granted, you can still perform encryption independently, with either Sandisks own SecureAccess software or similar thirdparty software.Unfortunately, the Flashback software has what I consider to be a critical flaw, making it rather unwieldy to use. While the Flashback software is running, the flash drive is locked such that using the safe removal or ejection features of Windows fails, and the Flashback software doesnt seem to provide its own safe removal option. This means that in order to safely remove the drive, I must terminate the Flashback process. I then must remember to manually launch Flashback once Ive reinserted the flash drive, if I want the automatic backups to resume. SecureAccess SecureAccess is a way of storing and backing up files in encrypted form. This is basically sharewarecrippleware used to promote a paid product that goes by a different name. Setup is quick and easy, and usage is fairly straightforward, if a bit clunky. The features provided are a small fraction of what can be found in free competing products. Features such as singlefile containers, being able to mount a vault as this software calls it as a drive, having choice of encryption algorithm used, and integration with any type of backup service even Sandisks own are all noticeably missing. Hardware The outer design of this drive isnt great. The thin, tapered notch used for the mechanical sliding action is particularly bad, worse than those found on any other similar drive Ive owned, including several Sandisk Cruzers that each have different slide designs. On the potentially positive side, the case has a hole that allows attachment to a keyring with reasonable ease, whereas most other USB flash drives Ive owned are only designed for attachment to lanyards.The drive benchmarks well, backing up the advertised speeds as reasonable. These speeds are considerably faster than much cheaper drives while falling short of higher end drives that charge a premium for increased speeds particularly write speeds, putting this drive in a comfortable middle zone. The good capacity and performance to cost ratio should serve most people well. Conclusion My experience with Sandisks flash media have been mostly positive its a brand I trust. I find this drives capacity and performance at this price point to be a good value. The optional valueadding software is not great, and I wouldnt recommend their use. I would, however, recommend the device itself.
First, the 32gb Ultra drive performs largely as SanDisk describes. They make no mention or promise or write speeds, only reads. I hope to provide clarity on what they dont say, and demonstrate how it works on older legacy USB2.0 ports. Primarily I wanted this to transfer large burned DVD MKV files typically 47 GB sizes on average. For that purpose, I cant recommend it. The following was a readwrite test of a 3.25 GB MKV file on a fairly modern machine with an super fast SSD on the other end freshly formatted flash drives using exFAT Measured speed on USB 3.0 port Read 63.5 MBs Write 9.69 MBs Measured speed same PC, older USB 2.0 port Read 31.1 MBs, Write 8.25 MBs For reference, a much older PC with USB2 only ports measured an even less 6.35 MBs write, 19.2 MBs read ... MoreFirst, the 32gb Ultra drive performs largely as SanDisk describes. They make no mention or promise or write speeds, only reads. I hope to provide clarity on what they dont say, and demonstrate how it works on older legacy USB2.0 ports. Primarily I wanted this to transfer large burned DVD MKV files typically 47 GB sizes on average. For that purpose, I cant recommend it. The following was a readwrite test of a 3.25 GB MKV file on a fairly modern machine with an super fast SSD on the other end freshly formatted flash drives using exFAT Measured speed on USB 3.0 port Read 63.5 MBs Write 9.69 MBs Measured speed same PC, older USB 2.0 port Read 31.1 MBs, Write 8.25 MBs For reference, a much older PC with USB2 only ports measured an even less 6.35 MBs write, 19.2 MBs read with the SanDisk Ultra 32GB. By comparison, a fairly high performing for its time 8GB USB2 competitor from a few years back brand named after a person who virogously defends their country, the model is angry, copying the same files does the task on a USB2 port 26.6 MBs read, 15.2 MBs write. All machines running WIndows 7 64 bit, all the latest driver and OS updates installed. If your purpose is to write files on it in no big hurry through the course of a day, and pull them off rapidly all at once on another USB3 machine, then this is probably a good choice for you. Theres nothing wrong with it in that regard. It works as advertised, just wont knock your socks off. But if youre like me and need to copy large files en masse to move elsewhere, well ... the write time is excruciating and has me looking longingly at my old USB2 flash drive. This isnt the best choice for that.. The Extreme series of this Sandisk brand promises faster write and read speeds, and is well reviewed. Ill return this and fork out the extra cash for one of those, or perhaps an SSD, instead. Its a great brand and highly recommend their media for camera gear, but with this I expected better.
I really like that the Sandisk USB 3.0 256gb flash drive has plenty of space for all of my music files, videos, and documents. Even though it is stated as 256gb drive, actual available storage space is 233gb. Build quality on the drive is poor. The all plastic enclosure is loose and wobbly and it gives the impression that it can break off if inserted or removed with force. Youll need to handle this drive with care.I performed a nonscientific test of write speed. I transferred 27 gb of music files to the flash drive and it took 27 minutes, so 1gbmin. The drive does become warm during file transfer, but the amount of heat generated appears normal.The flash drive comes with two useful software to enable file security and access. The first is Sandisks Secure Access ... MoreI really like that the Sandisk USB 3.0 256gb flash drive has plenty of space for all of my music files, videos, and documents. Even though it is stated as 256gb drive, actual available storage space is 233gb. Build quality on the drive is poor. The all plastic enclosure is loose and wobbly and it gives the impression that it can break off if inserted or removed with force. Youll need to handle this drive with care.I performed a nonscientific test of write speed. I transferred 27 gb of music files to the flash drive and it took 27 minutes, so 1gbmin. The drive does become warm during file transfer, but the amount of heat generated appears normal.The flash drive comes with two useful software to enable file security and access. The first is Sandisks Secure Access Vault which is a file encryption software. You simply create a password and encrypt your files by dropping them into the Sandisk Vault. They are then electronically locked or encrypted. Nobody will be able to access your files without the decryption password. The only way to access the files is to enter your password in the Vault.Another handy tool is Sandisk Flashback. Flashback automates the backup process by transferring the entire contents in the flash drive to Sandisks Cloud. Youll be able to view and download the contents in the flash drive online without having the flash drive physically present. This becomes handy if you either left your flash drive at home or, worse, lost your flash drive entirely. You can recover all of your backed up content online. You can also share files with anyone by simply sending them a link to access the files in your Sandisk Cloud without having to attach large files onto an email.In order for all of this to function, Flashback software needs to be installed locally on your desktop or laptop computer to upload files to Sandisks Cloud server. Youll also need to create an account on the Sandisk Flashback website to access your files in Sandisks Cloud server. Flashback is free for the 1st year, after that youll need to pay an annual subscription fee to continue access to your backed up files in the Sandisk Cloud. Ive attached a picture showing the subscription pricing at the time of my review.One limitation of the cloud backup feature is that backing up to the Sandisk cloud only works if you have the flash drive connected to a computer that has the Flashback software installed. In practice, there are numerous instances where youll be using the drive at a workstation, say at work computer or a friends computer, where the Flashback software isnt installed. The flash drive becomes a regular, run of the mill storage drive. Theres nothing wrong with this, you just simply need to be aware that no Cloud back up is being performed until you plug the flash drive back into your computer that has the Flashback software installed.Another limitation is that if you have files encrypted in the Sandisk Vault, those encrypted files will naturally remain encrypted, as they should, when backed up to the Sandisk Cloud. However, there is no way for you to access the encrypted files online in the Sandisk Cloud website since you wont be able to decrypt the files without the Sandisk Vault. The encrypted files can only be decrypted locally from within the flashdrive.All in all, this is a decent high capacity flash drive with some extra bonus features for securing your files and automatically backing up your flash drive to the cloud. I would recommend the flash drive.
I have been an avid SanDisk drive fan, whether it be SSD, compact flash, SD, or their older USB drives. However, over the past few years, I have found their USB drives lacking, and getting worse. Previously, I purchased some USB 2.0 Cruzer Glide drives, and found them painfully slow when writing compared to others I had from other companies. This week, I wanted to give them another try by buying the newer USB 3.0 Ultra SBCZ48032G and 128G the price was very attractive when on sale.Bottom line, I am returning the Ultra drives. They are still too painfully slow to use. I bought USB 3.0 drives and expect to get somewhere near that speed I do not expect USB 2.0 flash drive speeds with a USB 3.0 device.Comparing these drives to a PNY 128GB USB 3.0 drive I purchased a few ... MoreI have been an avid SanDisk drive fan, whether it be SSD, compact flash, SD, or their older USB drives. However, over the past few years, I have found their USB drives lacking, and getting worse. Previously, I purchased some USB 2.0 Cruzer Glide drives, and found them painfully slow when writing compared to others I had from other companies. This week, I wanted to give them another try by buying the newer USB 3.0 Ultra SBCZ48032G and 128G the price was very attractive when on sale.Bottom line, I am returning the Ultra drives. They are still too painfully slow to use. I bought USB 3.0 drives and expect to get somewhere near that speed I do not expect USB 2.0 flash drive speeds with a USB 3.0 device.Comparing these drives to a PNY 128GB USB 3.0 drive I purchased a few years ago, I did some testingbenchmarking. My tests were simple1 Use CrystalDiskMark 7.0.0f to benchmark the drives this is a commonly used tool.2 Copy 15 files, 8.62 GB total from a Corsair MP600 NVMe drive to selected USB Drives all using USB 3.0 ports, and as a checkpoint, to my local NAS this latter to ensure the MP600 NVMe drive was not the bottleneck.Summary see attached picture as well The PNY drive performed well and within what I expected regarding speed. It copied the files quickly, roughly 88 MBs consistently, taking approximately 1 minute, 41 seconds. The Ultra128 ran the benchmarks OK, but when it came to real world usage, it fell on its face after what appears to be that its internal cache was filled it went from roughly 78 MBs down to about 12 MBs after a few seconds of copying. It took approximately 3 minutes, 50 seconds to copy the same data to the Ultra128, more than twice the time required by the PNY. The Ultra32 ran the benchmarks fairly, but its internal cache appears to be smaller, and the 1GB benchmarks picked up on it. Unfortunately, the drive died become read only and I could no longer test it. And for those tech savvy folks out there, yes I did try DiskPart and other tools to fix it. From untimed tests, the 32G drive performed slightly worse than the 128GB drive.These benchmarkstests were performed with a home assembled machine Windows 10 Pro Asus TUF Gaming X570 WiFi motherboard AMD 3800X CPU Corsair MP600 NVMe 1TB Drive Corsair Vengeance memory, running at 3200MHz.SanDisk, time to pick up your game, or someone else will come along and beat you at it. If your SD cards are now able to handle up to 170MBs write speeds, why can your USB flash drives not handle even half of that Yes, I know, comparing apples and oranges.
Good drive while it worked. Fast, portable, USB-C connectivity. What's not to like? Sadly it died after 30 days. Bought on August 28 and by the end of September it's dead (emergency write-protected), just past the return policy of BB so will need to warranty through WD / SanDisk.No complaints towards BestBuy. They didn't make the USB stick. WD (SanDisk parent company) products in general are fairly low quality these days in my experience from their USBs to their SSDs. I have smaller capacity drives from other brands that have lasted a decade or more with continuous writes and this one merely a month with just basic storage. I don't believe I've even had 1x capacity worth of writes on this product.Not related to this purchase, but out of my 5x SSD's my one WD has ... MoreGood drive while it worked. Fast, portable, USB-C connectivity. What's not to like? Sadly it died after 30 days. Bought on August 28 and by the end of September it's dead (emergency write-protected), just past the return policy of BB so will need to warranty through WD / SanDisk.No complaints towards BestBuy. They didn't make the USB stick. WD (SanDisk parent company) products in general are fairly low quality these days in my experience from their USBs to their SSDs. I have smaller capacity drives from other brands that have lasted a decade or more with continuous writes and this one merely a month with just basic storage. I don't believe I've even had 1x capacity worth of writes on this product.Not related to this purchase, but out of my 5x SSD's my one WD has the least overall disk health, the rest of my drives have more projected lifespan left and far more write history.I will probably try my luck with another brand's offerings and avoid WD / SanDisk in the future.
| Earn | 3x points |
| and collect | 87 Everyday Rewards points |
| Capacity | 32GB 64GB 128GB 256GB |
| Interface | USB 3.1 Gen 1 |
| Connector | USB-C |
