Kingston Digital Ships Record-Breaking DataTraveler Max USB 3.2 Gen 2 Flash Drive

[btarunr]

Kingston Digital, Inc., the flash memory affiliate of Kingston Technology Company, Inc., a world leader in memory products and technology solutions, today announced it is shipping DataTraveler Max, a high performance Type-C USB leveraging the latest USB 3.2 Gen 2 standard. DataTraveler Max (DT Max) delivers record-breaking speeds up to 1,000 MB/s read and 900 MB/s write to make it one of the fastest USB drives on the market and the first of its kind.

DT Max is designed with portability and convenience in mind. The unique ridged casing protects the connector when it is not in use and is easily moved in a single motion. Seamlessly transfer and store large digital files such as HD photos, 4K/8K videos, music and more with top speeds and high capacities up to 1 TB. The addition of a keyring loop and LED status indicator makes the drive ideal for users who need storage on-the-go.



"DT Max offers industry-leading speeds and uncompromised storage space to enable consumers to create and keep up with today's content demands," said Carissa Blegen, flash product manager, Kingston. "We deliver unparalleled performance that our customers have come to know and expect, and with this launch we are proud to set a new bar for USB-C flash drives."

DataTraveler Max is available in capacities 256 GB to 1 TB and is backed by a five-year warranty with free technical support.

DataTraveler Max USB 3.2 Gen 2 Flash Drive Features and Specifications:

• Latest USB 3.2 Gen 2 Standard: Move your files in a flash with incredible speeds up to 1,000 MB/s Read, 900 MB/s Write
• Uncompromised Storage: Available in a range of high capacities from 256 GB-1 TB to carry your digital library on-the-go
• USB-C 1 Connectivity: Supports next-gen laptops and desktops for seamless file transfers
• Unique Design: Convenient one-handed sliding cap, LED status indicator, and functional keyring loop
• Capacities: 256 GB, 512 GB, 1 TB
• Speed: USB 3.2 Gen 2 - Up to 1,000 MB/s read, 900 MB/s write
• Dimensions: 82.17 mm x 22.00 mm x 9.02 mm
• Weight: 12 g
• Operating temperature: 0°C~60°C
• Storage temperature: -20°C~85°C
• Warranty/support: 5-year warranty with free technical support
• Compatible with: Windows 10, 8.1, Mac OS (v. 10.14.x +), Linux (v. 2.6.x +), Chrome OS

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[Valantar]

Could they at least make part of the casing aluminium to help with heat dissipation? This thing is going to throttle in seconds.

 

[Tomorrow]

On one of the previous news pieces someone was complaining that DIY solutions where you put an M.2 NVME drive inside an USB enclosure are still too bulky. This looks like a step in the right direction tho i dont understand why it's limited to 1GB/s?

USB 3.2 20Gbps provides roughly 2GB/s. So whatever flash they use in this drive is not as fast or they selected slower flash to keep the termals in check? I assume full 2GB/s drive would get a lot hotter. Obviously the cheap plastic housing does not help.

 

[Valantar]

On one of the previous news pieces someone was complaining that DIY solutions where you put an M.2 NVME drive inside an USB enclosure are still too bulky. This looks like a step in the right direction tho i dont understand why it's limited to 1GB/s?

USB 3.2 20Gbps provides roughly 2GB/s. So whatever flash they use in this drive is not as fast or they selected slower flash to keep the termals in check? I assume full 2GB/s drive would get a lot hotter. Obviously the cheap plastic housing does not help.

Might be a limitation of the controller - there might not be native USB flash controllers with a sufficient amount of channels to reach those kinds of speeds with the interface speeds of commodity flash today - reaching those speeds at least necessitates a 4-channel controller (unless it's using the fastest possible flash, which no thumb drive would do), but possibly even 8 - and that gets expensive and power hungry fast. It might also just be them cheaping out on the number of flash dice, going for higher capacity dice resulting in less paralellism and thus lower speeds.

 

[AnarchoPrimitiv]

On one of the previous news pieces someone was complaining that DIY solutions where you put an M.2 NVME drive inside an USB enclosure are still too bulky. This looks like a step in the right direction tho i dont understand why it's limited to 1GB/s?

USB 3.2 20Gbps provides roughly 2GB/s. So whatever flash they use in this drive is not as fast or they selected slower flash to keep the termals in check? I assume full 2GB/s drive would get a lot hotter. Obviously the cheap plastic housing does not help.

USB 3.2 Gen2 is only 10Gbps....you're thinking of USB 3.2 Gen2x2 which is 20Gbps, and the article clearly specifies that it is the 10Gbps version.

 

[trsttte]

Could they at least make part of the casing aluminium to help with heat dissipation? This thing is going to throttle in seconds.

That speed and it's plastic??? Loool forget about throttling, that thing is gonna die real fast

When I built my pc i bought a regular usb 3.x drive for os install and didn't even mind it was plastic (sort by price basically), it died in less than 6 months, learned my lesson

 

[Tomorrow]

USB 3.2 Gen2 is only 10Gbps....you're thinking of USB 3.2 Gen2x2 which is 20Gbps, and the article clearly specifies that it is the 10Gbps version.

USB 3.2 Gen 2 could be both 10Gbps or 20Gbps. Kingston by not specifying proper transfer mode in the name or using a much more sensible USB-IF branding (SuperSpeed USB 10Gbit/s) left the door open for misinterpretation. And no. The article or even Kingston's own website does in no way specify the link speed. USB 3.2 should always be referred to with proper branding. Either 10Gbps or 20Gbps. Failing that using proper transfer mode names like Gen 2x1 or Gen 2x2 (i really hate these btw).

Using only USB 3.2 Gen 2 does not say anything about the maximum transfer rate of the drive.

 

[Post Nut Clairvoyance]

I don't trust USB drives anymore since most drives released by big brands now are terrible quality. They could build a drive in full metal enclosure and advertise it as drop or shock resistant but is no good when data gets corrupted for no reason. That and no one to do teardown, and even if they did, the spec sheet is hard to find and god knows what kind of awful NAND they put in these USBs, since they wear out much faster than SSDs putting TLC or QLC in these drives are straight up data negligence.
And if you want something that is properly going to store your data and be resistant to data loss from pulling without ejecting, you got to fork out hundreds for a few gigabytes of SLC, for something of known or reliable quality.
And finally there are tons of relatively cheap MLC USB drives on sites like aliexpress but their quality is not consistent/known, they could use some MLC NAND that failed QC for a higher tier product or we don't know.

I am contemplating getting a 16 or 32GB Intel Optane M10 and throw it in the NVME only enclosure I have (RTL9210), which would be absolutely overbuilt in the TBW department.
And still then it is far bigger than a standard USB drive. Even a naked 2280 drive is already much bigger than sub 128GB USBs.
It looks like everyone is treating USB flash as toys, even though they kind of are. Portable drives might be the only way to go.

 

[Selaya]

They really are.
Not to mention 4k QD1 speeds that are struggling to race spinning rust.
Supposedly the cheaper ones are filled with refurbished memory chips salvaged from discarded phones. Sometimes they don't even wipe them properly.

 

[Mussels]

On one of the previous news pieces someone was complaining that DIY solutions where you put an M.2 NVME drive inside an USB enclosure are still too bulky. This looks like a step in the right direction tho i dont understand why it's limited to 1GB/s?

USB 3.2 20Gbps provides roughly 2GB/s. So whatever flash they use in this drive is not as fast or they selected slower flash to keep the termals in check? I assume full 2GB/s drive would get a lot hotter. Obviously the cheap plastic housing does not help.

3.2 x2 is the 20Gb port, most systems still only have regular 3.2 with 10Gb support (and the overwhelming majority still use 5Gb rebranded 3.0)