Kingston DataTraveler Max 1TB USB-C Flash Drive with USB 3.2...

Most Helpful Review

"I have reviewed this 1TB Kingston DataTraveler Max on two different Dell XPS laptops. In both situations, the flash drive is too wide and cannot be plugged into the USB C ports without any existing USB or HDMI cables plugged in. I have to unplug my mouse (type A USB and I have to unplug my HDMI cable to have enough room to plug this flash drive into the USB C port.The cheap plastic enclosure that Kingston is using for this lead product feels like a PEZ dispenser. Very cheap and difficult to slide open and closed. For the price, the Sandisk Extreme Pro series of flash drives perform faster sustained reads and writes and are physically smaller (no USB crowding) and have a much better build quality for nearly the same price.The performance of this drive seems fast at first, but quickly drops off. This is now the fourth or fifth Kingston flash drive product I have purchased that I have regretted. I think I am no longer going to recommend Kingston flash drives, as they have become more similar in build quality and performance as cheaper no-name brands while still maintaining a premium price tag.I have attached the screenshots of results from both Crystal Disk Mark (which is a bit misleading on the performance numbers in real-world use) and H2Testw, a free flash drive capacity verifier and speed tester. As you can see from that screenshot, it took 2.5 hours to fill this flash drive to capacity averaging just 105MB per second. This is nearly 3x the amount of time compared to the equivalent capacity Sandisk Extreme Pro flash drive. To read the 1TB back (and verify the integrity of the written data) the Kingston performed admirably requiring just a little over 35 minutes with an average read speed of 446MB per second.As you can see, these real world numbers are no where close to the claims Kingston is making. It seems Kingston is focused on reporting momentary peak speeds rather than actual sustained speeds. That kind of marketing from a big brand like Kingston is extremely disappointing. It has over-promised and under-delivered.Also, with no activity LED, its impossible to know if the drive is reading or writing. You certainly do not want to unplug a USB drive that is in use or it could corrupt the data and potentially damage the flash drive. Again, at this price range, I expected some form of activity LED and I expected the enclosure to be of a much higher quality material.Overall, this flash drive represents the last nail in the coffin with Kingston products for me."