O-Sense
INTRODUCTION
Even though for reasons unknown to me encrypted drives are not popular where i live (and even that's an understatement) they are pretty much everywhere else and so it's no surprise that most manufacturers are always coming up with new and innovative products to cover even more segments of the market. Personally, i have a tendency to prefer keypad based models (old school and more "secure" in my eyes) but i do realize that some may not be able to remember (or just could be afraid they'll forget) a PIN and so the newly introduced Bluetooth models should fit such people like a glove. Such a model is the latest datAshur BT USB 3.2 Gen 1 Flash Drive by our friends over at iStorage and today with me i have the top of the line 128GB variant.
iStorage is the trusted global leader of award-winning, PIN authenticated, hardware encrypted portable data storage & cloud encryption devices. iStorage offers the most innovative range of products to securely encrypt, store and protect data to military standards; safeguarding valuable and sensitive data to ensure compliance with stringent regulations and directives such as GDPR, HIPAA, SOX, NRC, GLB and DHS Initiatives. Founded in London, England in 2009 by John Michael, a serial entrepreneur, with 32 years’ experience within the IT Industry, iStorage has fast become recognised as a leading innovator and supplier of ultra-secure, easy to use and affordable portable data storage devices.
The OS independent datAshur BT USB flash drive by iStorage is currently available in 16/32/64/128GB capacities and what makes it standout from keypad (PIN) hardware encrypted drives is that instead of directly inputting a password/PIN number for user authentication it connects with your smartphone and/or tablet via Bluetooth to do exactly that (via the datAshur BT Android/iOS app). Yes, this does require slightly more preparation at first (always compared to a keypad model) but once that's over with you can either use a biometric unlock (face ID/facial recognition, touch ID/fingerprint recognition or IRIS scanning) or a 7-15 character password which you can even store in the app and access the drive automatically (just remember to always lock your smartphone/tablet otherwise that could become a security risk). Other features of the datAshur BT include an IP57 certified aluminum housing (dust protection and up to 1m of submersion under water), interior covered in tough epoxy resin (makes it nearly impossible to recover components), FIPS 140-2 Level 3 validated military grade AES-XTS 256-bit full drive hardware encryption (GDPR compliant), dedicated hardware based crypto microprocessor which protects the drive against brute-force attacks (data in the drive is erased after the wrong password is entered a total of 10 times), step away autolock (drive gets locked if you move 5 meters away for over 5 seconds), bad USB protection mode (cuts off the drive completely from USB access until authorization is granted by the mobile app), read only mode and remote management (subscription service). Of course, just like with other product lines iStorage covers the datAshur BT models with a 3-year limited warranty.
SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES
PACKACING AND CONTENTS
iStorage packs the datAshur BT inside a blister package from where you can actually see the drive itself along with its main features and capacity.
At the rear of the blister package there's a quick look at how you can use the drive and the product barcode which can be seen from a small opening.
Included in the package are just the datAshur BT and the quick start guide.
THE DATASHUR BT 128GB
As expected, the datAshur BT is a tiny drive that measures just 60mm in length, 18mm in width and 7.5mm in thickness and weighs just 17.8g.
As always to showcase the size of the drive in my hands i have placed it next to several similar models including the Sentry K300 by DataLocker, DatAshur PRO2/CloudAshur/DatAshur PRO by iStorage, SECUREUSB KP by SECUREDATA, IronKey D300S by Kingston and the SECUREUSB BT by SECUREDATA.
Printed at the rear of the enclosure are the barcode along with the serial and part numbers.
The device ID number is printed on the bottom of USB plug (this is what you'll need to register the drive with the iStorage BT app).
DATASHUR BT & BT ADMIN ANDROID/IOS APPS
Once you install and launch the datAshur BT app it will detect any drives nearby (as long as the drive is powered up and bluetooth is enabled on your smartphone/tablet).
After that the drive will connect with your phone (after which you will also see its serial number).
The default password is 11223344 so that's also what you will need to input the very first time you will unlock the drive.
Accessing the drive takes you to the settings page from where you can change the name of the drive, change the password, enable/disable 2FA (factor authentication), recover your password, keep the password stored into the app, set the inactivity autolock timer, enable/disable the step away auto-lock feature, set read only for the drive contents, reset the drive settings to their factory presets and wipe all data.
The datAshur BT Admin App basically works like the regular datAshur BT app with two main differences, first you can remotely change the settings of many datAshur BT drives and second you can also enable Biometric unlock.
TEST BED
TESTING METHODOLOGY
Since flash drives are basically plain storage media devices just like solid state drives and hard disk drives, we are using almost the same testing methodology to successfully record the achieved performance numbers. The benchmark suites used are HD Tach RW (Read Speeds / Long Bench 32mb Zone Testing), HD Tune Pro (Read speeds), Sisoftware Sandra Pro (Read / Write speeds - some drives can't be tested for write performance), AIDA 64 Engineer Edition (Average Linear Read / Random Read speeds), Crystal Disk Mark x64 (100MB-1000MB Read / Write speeds) and finally ATTO (Max Read / Max Write speeds). Every test is repeated a total of 6 times after which the average performance numbers are recorded into our charts (0 = we were unable to complete that test).
All tests are performed with our main rig running Microsoft Windows 10 Pro installation on a HyperX Predator 480GB PCIe SSD with all updates installed up to the date of this review. As always for comparison purposes in the charts you will also find many other flash drivers which have been tested using the same exact test bench as the one in this review (we really can't keep every flash drive we get forever and also even if we could test them all again and again would simply not be possible).
* As of November 2020, secure USB flash drives have their own charts (also added write performance levels) for a more "direct" and "easy" comparison between similar models.
TEST RESULTS - AIDA64 / ATTO
TEST RESULTS - HD TACH RW / HD TUNE PRO
TEST RESULTS - SISOFTWARE SANDRA PRO / CRYSTAL DISK MARK X64
CONCLUSION
iStorage has released numerous innovative products over the years and even though some of them are not unique (some technologies are licensed after all) they do tend to outperform their competition. That being said the results are clear and so the latest datAshur BT model may not blow everything away in terms of read and write performance but it does very well, considering of course that we’re talking about a very compact drive. Yes most of its features I have to admit that I’ve seen in the past but again user authentication via bluetooth is very convenient and as for its encryption strength I was unable to bypass them, at least with the limited software tools I have at my disposal.
With just days away from entering February the datAshur BT 128GB USB 3.2 Gen 1 Flash Drive by iStorage retails for USD160 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for 144.09Euros inside the EU (Amazon.de). Now I don’t really have to point out 2 things, 1st that compared to regular USB flash drives hardware encrypted ones do cost more and 2nd that compared to just 3 years ago prices have taken a serious hit and so the datAshur BT 128GB is actually priced very well. At the end of the day it all comes down to personal but since the datAshur BT works as advertised it gets the Golden Award.
PROS
- Build Quality (IP57 Certified Aluminum Enclosure)
- Bluetooth Wireless Authentication (Password/Biometric)
- Security Features (AES-XTS 256bit Hardware Encryption/FIPS 140-2 Level 3/Crypto Chip/Interior Epoxy Layer)
- Very Good Performance
- Compact Size
- Remote Management (Requires Subscription)
- Available in 16/32/64/128GB
- 3 Year Limited Warranty
CONS
- Requirements (Bluetooth Compatible Android / iOS Device)
