iStorage datAshur SD

Given the use case here, actual drive performance is not as critical as reliability. As such, I wasn't too surprised to see sustained read and write speeds maxing out at 100 Mbps, which makes these drives plenty fine for USB 3.2 Gen 1 (USB 3.0) ports—no need to worry about needing USB 3.2 Gen 2/2x2 ports for making the most of them. At the same time, I am left wanting more since the point is to also share the memory cards around, whereby faster transfer speeds would be handy, especially for random file sizes.

In terms of performance, we saw speeds close to what iStorage reported, however, this device is designed to transfer documents, not download the newest Triple-A title. The speeds for documents will be just fine, and if it does become a problem, you could always ZIP a folder.

The datAshur isn’t your typical USB flash drive, so it does not operate totally like a regular generic one. Before you even think about plugging it into a computer, you need to unlock it first. The buttons are easily accessible with a fingertip though I can see how someone might “fat-finger” their PIN if they are rushing to unlock it for some reason or another. As long as the drive is unlocked and plugged into a USB port, the datAshur SD stays unlocked. It will auto-lock when you remove it from the USB port.