Review: SanDisk 1TB Thumb Drive and “Extreme” Micro SD Cards

SanDisk has proven to be one of the all time leaders in personal storage devices. From Internal and External Hard Drives to SD Cards and Thumb drives, SanDisk has you covered. As the years move forward, file sizes for photos, videos and even some documents have gone up drastically. As a random comparison, today a single five minute uncompressed raw video from a mid to high level camera can be around the same file size as an entire video game that runs on a PC or console. This means that as our cameras produce higher quality video, we need to find the best media that can record fast and securely at these larger dimensions while not breaking the bank. Highly recommended microSD cards and Flash drives are the saving grace for most products that quickly save files for storage usage. In this case, a company with a highly proven track record matters when it comes to quality and our own personal information.

SanDisk has storage drives that can fit in with your personal needs from minimal to large capacity. The largest flash drive they have to offer at this time is the (one terabyte) 1TB Ultra Dual Drive Luxe USB Type-C which is outstanding! This little keychain size flash drive is very well designed in all metal. It has a reversible USB Type C and Type A connector to quickly move files between multiple devices. Having these two USB options almost guarantees the ability to work with anything. Its compact design and build quality exceeds most peoples expectations when holding it in your hands. It actually feels like a solid piece of metal, based on the weight and smooth texture.

Small Size, Enormous Capacity

Although the pandemic is still hitting us all pretty hard, especially with new unfortunate variants, life still needs to keep evolving. In most parts of the world, schools have been re-opened and resumed as well as colleges. Students will need to store assignments, videos, photos and written documents for each of their classes in something they will keep on them at all times, allowing them quick access to upload and download to on the fly. What better way than this tiny, sturdy and easily accessible ‘premium’ thumb drive by SanDisk. Simply keep it on your keyring, backpack, wallet, purse, honestly anything that has a way of being attached to your items. Thankfully SanDisk has removed all complications by adding an opening on the swivel for just that! The storage capacity SanDisk provides will be whatever is needed by the user, however 1TB (one terabyte) can hold more than what most people will end up using. If you think about it this way, the newest iPhone 12 Pro peaks its storage amount at 512GB (one half of 1TB) which runs our entire lives. So we can be confident knowing that the storage space on this small drive will be enough.

Differences between Thumb Drives and Flash Drives?

When it comes to the all around use of these handy little drives, we think of the convenience, accessibility and storage size. We usually don’t take the time to understand what is under the hood as long as it works like promised. Not all Flash drives are made the same. So as a quick explanation, here are the differences and what to expect from each of them.

People refer to thumb drives and flash drives as if they are the same storage tool. Although they both store data and perform similar function with no moving parts inside, they are very different when it comes to build quality and the mechanics inside. 

Thumb Drives mostly use a type of flash memory known as a solid-state drive (SSD) that is built without magnetic properties for read, write and storage. They usually will be built with a better overall protective casing and a higher price point. These drives can have a longer life span of rewriting data over and over, but usually have a slower transfer speed unlike SSD’s used in Hard Drives and can be damaged if abused.

Traditional Flash Drives use a type of compact flash (CF) which may be faster and more durable from drops and misuse, but can sustain significant damage if you delete and/or rewrite over the content frequently. This can lead to failure and losing the drive’s content completely.

Thumb Drives are a bit slower overall, but have better longevity and reusability.

Flash Drives are faster and more durable when accidentally dropped, but won’t last as long as an SSD.

Now that we have a basic understanding of the differences, we can ask ourselves. What makes the 1TB Ultra Dual Drive Luxe USB Type-C so enticing? For starters, knowing the build quality is very sturdy and beautiful helps with the aesthetics of this SanDisk product. The transfer speeds and durability shows that it will last a good amount of time with excellent re-writability. Choosing this Thumb-drive will be a smart investment and will keep your files safe for a long time.

On the other side of high speed storage and securing data is the SanDisk Extreme micro SD. This is the Fastest form of capturing and transferring information on the market with a well known and reputable company name behind it. SanDisk calls this brand of micro SD’s “Extreme” because they can read at an amazing 160MB per second and write at 90MB/s. Most storage devices like the Ultra Dual Drive Luxe Thumb Drive above, do not need transfer speeds at this rate. However with the changing of time, we now have drones and cameras that need to capture 4k raw video at blazing speeds. This micro SD can handle the type of data transfer these new devices can put out. DJI, Sony, Black Magic, Skydio, Panasonic, Canon, Parrot, Autel, all of these new high efficiency cameras and drones capture video at incredible speeds and SanDisk is ready to do the heavy lifting for them. The professionalism SanDisk has with quality control and perfecting their product is outstanding. Although these Extreme Micro SD’s sometimes can come with a bigger price than other micro SD’s, we can be confident that with SanDisk’s name behind it, all our data will be secure and stable. As of September 2021, SanDisk has a 1TB Extreme Micro SD card as the largest capacity, all the way down to 32gb.

Personally I use a Black Magic Pocket Cinema 4K video camera with the SanDisk Extreme 256gb and it works flawlessly. The video footage comes out crisp and beautiful without any defects or missed frames. I also have a 128gb SanDisk Extreme micro SD card for my Skydio 2 Autonomous Drone and the same micro SD for the DJI Osmo Pocket 4k. Not one time have I encountered any issues or corruption within the files it stores.

Final Thoughts

When it comes to storage devices, Western Digital who owns SanDisk has proven to be one of the highest respected companies in the world. They have a proven track record and have continued to flourish with staying ahead of the competition in almost every avenue in their genre. Hard Drives, both HDD and SSD, Internal, External and personal Cloud storage, Thumb Drives, Flash Drives, SD Cards, Micro SD’s and Game Drives, are top of the line WD/SanDisk products that should definitely be of interest when searching for a new storage device. Check Out Amazon for the best prices or the Official Website for all your data storing needs!