This USB stick is indeed fast. My PC has only up to USB 3.0. The drive write speed is around 330MB/s while the read speed is 380MB/s. This is faster than the 3 x 700GB Western Digital Caviar Black striped array I have in the other room. :-o It is preformatted with the exFAT filesystem to 238GB and comes with ready to install secure access encryption software on the drive. I have not yet used the software. There is an activity LED which blinks blue when the drive is busy. Oddly, this device is advertised as USB 3.1 but the packaging has USB 3.2 written on it. I was originally going to get the 128GB version from elsewhere but RubberMonkey's price for the 256GB one was not much higher unlike from all other NZ sources, plus the store has a good "pricespy.co.nz" ... MoreThis USB stick is indeed fast. My PC has only up to USB 3.0. The drive write speed is around 330MB/s while the read speed is 380MB/s. This is faster than the 3 x 700GB Western Digital Caviar Black striped array I have in the other room. :-o It is preformatted with the exFAT filesystem to 238GB and comes with ready to install secure access encryption software on the drive. I have not yet used the software. There is an activity LED which blinks blue when the drive is busy. Oddly, this device is advertised as USB 3.1 but the packaging has USB 3.2 written on it. I was originally going to get the 128GB version from elsewhere but RubberMonkey's price for the 256GB one was not much higher unlike from all other NZ sources, plus the store has a good "pricespy.co.nz" reputation. That flash drive was a very good buy.

Blazing Fast, Nearly Like a SATA SSD On A USB Stick

I bought this Samsung 256GB flash to create a Windows To Go install as an emergency backup for my PC. The host PC has USB 3.2 ports so I am able to achieve the full speed on the Samsung flash drive. It really is nearly as fast as running from a Sata 6 GB/s SSD. Boot and response times are fine.As an alternative, this drive could easily be used for transporting large files between systems.Bottom line is that at the cost being asked for this flash drive, just under $60 at the time of this writing, the speed and size are truly amazing.

Concerns

So far, so good. I haven't used it extensively. I use this for recovery, backup, and passwords. Two of the three partitions are, therefore, used infrequently. I only have two concerns: 1) the outside edge of the key chain hole is very thin. I can envision a time when the key chain will wear through the edge allowing the flash drive to fall off the key chain. I'm currently enforcing the edge with zip ties and epoxy to make it thicker. 2) the device gets warm. I have several other USB flash drives none of which get warm. This occurs whether data is being read, written, or not at all. It also occurs whether it's in a charging port or not. There are no moving parts as I understand flash drives are solid state drives. Maybe this indicates the wrong resister, capacitor, ... MoreSo far, so good. I haven't used it extensively. I use this for recovery, backup, and passwords. Two of the three partitions are, therefore, used infrequently. I only have two concerns: 1) the outside edge of the key chain hole is very thin. I can envision a time when the key chain will wear through the edge allowing the flash drive to fall off the key chain. I'm currently enforcing the edge with zip ties and epoxy to make it thicker. 2) the device gets warm. I have several other USB flash drives none of which get warm. This occurs whether data is being read, written, or not at all. It also occurs whether it's in a charging port or not. There are no moving parts as I understand flash drives are solid state drives. Maybe this indicates the wrong resister, capacitor, or some other electronic part not working as it should. I guess I'll find out.

Extreme Pro has saved me hours

some people may think one thumb drive is as good as the next.not true.this drive has saved me literally hours.my audio computer is offline, and i shuttle mixes off to my laptopto send out to the world.this is the fastest and best made thumb drive i have found.i own at least 4 of them.

Failed in 9 months. Not good for Nvidia Shield

I bough this new Sandisk 128GB USB stick at much higher price) 9 months ago.It is on the recommended USB storage list for the Nvida Shield Pro 2019.I had it formatted for uses as expanded internal storage.It was a bit slow for transfer speeds via SMB share on the Shield, 30MB's to 50MB's, but the Nvidia forums claimed that was due to the poor SMBv2 implementation.I tested the USB stick on my PC 3.1 port and it did get near its advertised speeds, so I was confident the USB drive was good out of the box.Nvidia has since fixed the slow usb speeds via SMBv3 in the last update 5 days ago. But i was still getting slow, and increasing erratic and dropping write speeds. Dropping to 0 bytes, then going back up alot.I pulled it out, and tested it on PC again, and ... MoreI bough this new Sandisk 128GB USB stick at much higher price) 9 months ago.It is on the recommended USB storage list for the Nvida Shield Pro 2019.I had it formatted for uses as expanded internal storage.It was a bit slow for transfer speeds via SMB share on the Shield, 30MB's to 50MB's, but the Nvidia forums claimed that was due to the poor SMBv2 implementation.I tested the USB stick on my PC 3.1 port and it did get near its advertised speeds, so I was confident the USB drive was good out of the box.Nvidia has since fixed the slow usb speeds via SMBv3 in the last update 5 days ago. But i was still getting slow, and increasing erratic and dropping write speeds. Dropping to 0 bytes, then going back up alot.I pulled it out, and tested it on PC again, and SMART is bad, with "Spare Blocks Remaining" value RED.Bad and failing Write speeds also confirmed with HDTunePro test, as it started, but then error with I/O Failure reported.So this "EXTREME PRO" usb stick is not at all long lasting. SanDisk used to be very very good for reliability and longevity, no more it seems. On the Nvidia forums, i got a wave of other Sandisk users that also experience lots of failures of Sandik products in the last 2yrs, and not just for use on the Shield.Hooked up a older Samsung SSD i had lying around, via a sata to USB adapter cable, and i get full ~100MB's read write speeds transferring files to and form it over SMB now.

Fast File Transfer - what every USB drive should do

This USB flash drive is simply the fastest drive I've used - period. Yes, it's more expensive, but i's worth it. I transfer video files regularly with this (and the 512GB version) and that would simply be infuriating with a slower (cheaper) USB 3 drive. Only thing that tops this is a portable NVMe drive, but those are more bulky and bigger, with USB-C cables to mess with. No, this SanDisk Extreme Pro checks all the boxes - fast, portable, reliable, durable. Love it.

Fast and Lots of Storage

This flash drive was perfect for my application - real-time multi-track audio recording (from a SoundCraft Ui24R mixer). I'm currently recording 18 individual audio tracks to individual files in real-time: FAST! The drive is also very well packaged in an aluminum shell which is durable and looks great. Would definitely purchase it again!

Super F-Drive

Really happy with the super upload & download speeds this thumbdrive offers. Easily as fast as a fast spinning hard drive.Can copy 20GB of shoot footage in 40 secs. No quite the speed of a SS drive but plenty fast for a standard 256 thumb drive. Highly recommended!

Super Fast SanDisk - Extreme Pro 256GB USB 3.1 Fla

The SanDisk - Extreme Pro 256GB USB 3.1 Flash Drive - Black is very fast! I now own two of these and I am always using them at home and at work. I would highly recommend the SanDisk - Extreme Pro 256GB USB 3.1 Flash Drive - Black. Keep in mind that at the time of this posting BestBuy price matches against other online retailers. This can save money as other retailers may throw this on sale more often.Spec wise: I work in IT and I must say I really like the construction of the USB device. Please note that if you have a small work surface this USB device does stick out just a tad longer than most USB flash drives. The metal construction of it though makes it ideal for keeping it in your pocket so as long as one remembers it is in their pocket.Warranty: Lifetime ... MoreThe SanDisk - Extreme Pro 256GB USB 3.1 Flash Drive - Black is very fast! I now own two of these and I am always using them at home and at work. I would highly recommend the SanDisk - Extreme Pro 256GB USB 3.1 Flash Drive - Black. Keep in mind that at the time of this posting BestBuy price matches against other online retailers. This can save money as other retailers may throw this on sale more often.Spec wise: I work in IT and I must say I really like the construction of the USB device. Please note that if you have a small work surface this USB device does stick out just a tad longer than most USB flash drives. The metal construction of it though makes it ideal for keeping it in your pocket so as long as one remembers it is in their pocket.Warranty: Lifetime Warranty! Keep this in mind as most USB flash drives do not offer this type of warranty. With this being said, please don't forget to register the warranty when you first get it as it would make the process easier should something happen later down the road. So as long as your careful with the flash drive you shouldn't have any issues.Note: This flash drive is backwards compatible with USB 3.0, 2.0 etc. However, the speeds of the USB flash drive will depend on what type of USB slot you currently have the USB in -results will vary based on hardware used.All in all I'm trilled with this purchase! I got this USB flash drive on a great sale. Keep your eyes out on other retailers and have BestBuy price match it for you. You will really like your new purchase!

Transfer speed you can get used to

I´m working off a SSD HD in my PC. Nothing fancy but transfer rates are consistently anywhere between 75MBs to over 400MBs relative to the size and quantity of files being transferred. I´m using the drive very regularly (not always daily) and am very pleased with the performance of the drive.Only drawback is superficial. Scuff marks on the edges of the drive from ordinary use. I had to drag this down to Earth somehow, right?In the future I´ll only be using 3.1 SSD flash drives (unless some other future tech runs this over). Anything else is just plain slow. FYI: Weather or not you decide to buy this drive, just remember to check transfer speeds of the actual drives inside the casing. USB 3.0 or 3.1 is just an interface, check what the drive itself can deliver.