CONCLUSION

   My first encounter with IronKey was back in 2010 (if i recall correctly) when i got two of their D20402 models (somewhat ground-breaking for their time) to test so when Imation suddenly acquired them over a couple of years later i thought it was the beginning of the end. Luckily things were turned around when Kingston took the helm and so things have never been better for IronKey. Aside being FIPS 140-2 Level 3 certified the D300 line also recently achieved the NATO restricted level certification thus placing it on the same level as other offerings by iStorage and SECUREDATA (we applied the same brute force and BadUSB ways to try and hack the drive as with previous reviews of hardware encrypted drives without luck – still do keep in mind that we're not hackers). Where the IronKey D300S really outshines the competition is performance since it’s clearly the fastest hardware-encrypted drive in our charts (and one of the fastest models overall). Unfortunately, unlike models by other manufacturers the highest available capacity for the IronKey D300 series is 128GB (two years ago this would be plenty) and that may “force” potential buyers with increased data storage needs to look elsewhere.

   With a price tag currently placed at USD213.18 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and at 269Euros inside the EU (Amazon.de) the Kingston IronKey D300S 64GB is among the most expensive hardware encrypted USB flash drives in the market today. On the other hand, we feel that both its performance numbers and the 5-year limited warranty make up for that (or at least part of that) and since it delivers on what really matters (data security) the IronKey D300S 64GB is definitely worthy of our Golden Award.

PROS

- Build Quality (IPX82 Certified Zinc Alloy Enclosure)
- Security Measures (AES-XTS 256-bit Hardware Encryption/ FIPS 140-2 Level 3 / NATO restricted level certified)
- Very Good Performance
- Standard, Serialized Managed Versions Available
- Secure Customization Service
- 5 Year Limited Warranty

CONS

- Price (For Some)
- Tops At 128GB
- Not Platform Independent