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The best one to buy depends on your budget and available USB ports, plus your size, speed, and security needs
A flash drive can be incredibly useful, but choosing the right one can be challenging if you're unsure which specs are important. Use this article as your flash drive buying guide so you know what to look for before you pull out your credit card.
What Is a Flash Drive?
A flash drive is a small, portable storage device. It can hold the same files a computer can hold: images, documents, videos, etc. It plugs into a USB port and functions much like a hard drive installed in a computer.
5 Things to Consider Before Buying a Flash Drive
Flash drives are relatively cheap (compared to traditional hard drives), but that doesn't mean they all work the same way or will work how you need them to. Before you buy a flash drive, consider the following factors:
- Connection type
- Price
- Capacity
- Speed
- Security
What USB Port Do I Need for a Flash Drive?
Flash drives work over a USB connection, either USB-A or USB-C. Confirming which port a flash drive requires is important because if your computer doesn't have a matching port, you'll need to buy an adapter to make it fit.
USB-C flash drives are a little easier to use because the plug is reversible, meaning there isn't a right side up (you'll plug it in correctly every time).
Older computers do not have USB-C ports, and new computers almost always include both types. Still, you should check your setup to be sure.
How Much Should a Flash Drive Cost?
Over the years, flash drives have gotten cheaper and cheaper, even as you reach really high capacities. The USB-C 3.0 type, however, will cost you a bit more.
| Price Range | What You Can Expect |
| Up to $25 | Up to 256 GB USB-A flash drives |
| $25-$50 | A 512 GB flash drive or a 256 GB USB-C flash drive |
| $50-$150 | A 1 TB flash drive or a 512 GB USB-C flash drive |
| Over $150 | A 2 TB USB-A or USB-C flash drive, or an encrypted flash drive |
How Big of a Flash Drive Do I Need?
USB flash drive capacities range from under 1 GB to over 1 TB. There's no "right" size for a flash drive; the amount of storage you need depends on how much data you want to store. For example, if you grab a few Word or Excel files from one computer, a 1 GB flash drive might give you more than enough capacity. However, if you plan to back up all your files, you could need anywhere from a few GB to 500 GB or more.
If you want to store all the images and videos from your phone, go into your phone's settings and see how much space your media files are taking up. It could be anywhere from 1 GB to several dozen GB. Whatever it is, that's the minimum amount of storage you need, considering you might add more files in the future. You can use the same method for other files, such as MP4s. Remember to consider what types of files you might want to store on the same drive.
How Fast Should a Flash Drive Be?
Transfer speed is another factor you need to consider when shopping for a flash drive. There are two primary types of USB flash drives: USB 2.0, which is an older standard, and USB 3.0, which is a newer one. The transfer speed for USB 2.0 is 480 Mbps, and USB 3.0 is 5,000 Mbps (5 Gbps). That means USB 3.0 is approximately 10 times faster than USB 2.0. There's also USB 3.2, which supports speeds as high as 20,000 Mbps (20 Gbps).
Generally, a 16 GB file, like a digital video project, will transfer in less than a minute using USB 3.0 but will take about five minutes when using USB 2.0.
What to Know About Flash Drive Security
With the convenience of USB flash drives come some security risks:
- Their small size may cause them to be lost or overlooked.
- They're hard to track physically (some companies ban their use for this reason).
- They can transfer malware from one computer to another.
You can't change a thumb drive's small size without giving up its portability, but software encryption and hardware encryption can help prevent malware transfer and unauthorized access. Complete disk encryption programs offer on-the-fly encryption of removable media. Another type of protection is a built-in keypad on which users must enter a PIN to use the drive.
These extra capabilities might not be necessary if you transfer a few non-confidential files from one home computer to another. But if you're transferring files between multiple computers or archiving important or proprietary data, you must protect the device. Data security adds to the cost of USB devices but, when making your purchasing decision, you should compare it to what the price would be (in time, money, and aggravation) if your unprotected drive fell into the wrong hands.
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Who Should Buy a Flash Drive?
A flash drive is a smart choice for people who need extra storage space but don't want to upgrade their internal hard drive. They're incredibly easy to plug in and remove, so they're useful for tasks like transferring large files between computers and backing up important data offline.
Another reason to get a flash drive is if you need to run software before your computer starts. For example, you can install the Windows operating system or run a bootable antivirus program by putting the setup files on a flash drive and then booting from the drive.
If you're running low on storage space, a flash drive is a quick way to get the room you need. However, you might choose an external hard drive if you have huge storage requirements.
What to Do After You Buy a Flash Drive
You don't have to do anything special with most new flash drives because they work right out of the box. Just plug it in. That's it! No unique drivers are needed.
Some flash drives, however, do include built-in backup tools to help you put your computer files on the device. These programs aren't necessary but you will need to configure them if you plan to use that feature.
If you're prompted to format the drive before using it, check out our guide on how to format a hard drive in Windows.
More Tips for Buying a Flash Drive
Choosing which flash drive to get is fairly simple once you've decided how big it needs to be and other factors like whether it fits in your budget.
Another thing to watch for is whether the flash drive has a warranty. Most tech devices have some kind of limited warranty from the manufacturer, so this shouldn't be a huge concern. But, considering that the flash drive might end up holding important files, an extended warranty could be smart.
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