Do you remember the time when everyone had to own one of the USB sticks? They are also known as Pen Drives or USB Flash Drives. These fancy things enabled you to transfer data from one PC to another, and today, you can even use them on your TV, music players, printers, and more. Even Smartphones can support USB sticks if it has a Type C USB or Type C Adapter, at least.
With such versatility, and still one of the ‘cool’ things that you can own, let’s help you find the best USB sticks in today’s world:
1. Start With The Obvious – Storage
The first thing you will have to decide while buying the USB stick is the storage capacity. Today, you have models that range from 16 Gigabytes to 512 GBs and even 1 TB. The higher the storage capacity, the higher the pricing will be.
Remember that more storage means that you can store more files and content on it. So, that’s always a bonus. And don’t forget, sometimes a company markets the USB sticks to have high storage, but some of it is reserved or unusable; beware of that.
2. Balancing The Utility Factor
This is the clause where it isn’t necessary for you to have the highest storage capacity. You can decide the purpose of the USB stick. Is it just to store your files as a backup, or is it just for work to transfer a few files from time to time?
For the latter, you can choose smaller sizes, like 16 to 256 GB, depending on the file size and transfer requirements.
3. Don’t Forget The USB Version
Remember when we said that higher storage capacity means higher pricing? Sometimes, the pricing doesn’t seem all that high compared to the storage it offers. That’s because of the USB Version. If you have an older USB version, the pricing will be lower.
It will also be less compatible with the modern tools and devices. At least a minimum of USB 3.0 is a must-have in today’s blazing-fast digital world. Anything higher is a bonus.
4. Security And Privacy Are Necessary
Nowadays, you can find USBs that come with a built-in lock feature, at the least. You can securely lock them and prevent anyone from opening them. Similarly, many advanced USB sticks come with hardware encryption, fingerprint sensors, and many other protections. Depending on the scale of security you need, the cost of the USB stick will vary, as well.
5. A Few More Things As A Bonus
The design and form of the USB sticks vary, so that is up to personal preference. But make sure to not compromise on the build quality in case you drop it and stuff. Similarly, make sure that it offers optimum transfer speeds. Because sometimes, they may market it as USB 3.0, but the stick might offer lower transfer speeds. And most importantly, whenever you shop for a USB stick, make sure to check for the warranty.
