INTRODUCTION

   The Nineteen Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case which we had the pleasure of reviewing two days ago is one of those products which prove that larger is always better but that doesn't really apply for everything in this industry especially when it comes to USB flash drives. Luckily that's something everyone agrees on and so most manufacturers have been doing their best to cut down the size of USB flash drives for a while now. The issue with that however is that currently most tiny USB flash drives are not only average in terms of design and build quality but they are also USB 2.0 compatible only so in the end size means very little when you need quite a bit of time to even fill just 16GB. Well it seems that Patriot may have the answer with their latest and quite elegant Spark USB 3.0 USB Flash Drive which we have here with us today.

   Established in 1985, Patriot Memory builds a full range of memory module and flash memory products, offering a perfect blend of quality and value. Patriot products include Extreme Performance (EP), Signature Lines (SL) and Flash Memory solutions (FM). Commitment, focus on innovation in technology, product quality, and customer satisfaction are the key enablers of our future success. Patriot's development and manufacturing facility are located in Fremont, California USA and Taipei, Taiwan. Our manufacturing segment is composed of a highly skilled production staff and multiple production lines optimized for modules, giving Patriot the ability and resources necessary to provide a full line of memory module solutions. We understand the value of designing and responding quickly and intelligently to the rapid changes inherent in the memory module industry. This commitment to R&D enables us to deliver the best quality memory modules powered by the latest innovative technology.

   I've been carrying USB flash drives with me for as long as i can remember (attached to my keychain) so I’ve always tried to use the smallest ones i could find regardless of speed and capacity. One thing however i did care about and that's quality so I’ve never carried a USB flash drive with me that didn't feature a metal or aluminum housing. Well the latest Spark does feature an nice looking metal housing and ontop of that it's also quite fast (according to its specs sheet) and is currently available in capacities up to 64GB something that we don't see very often with so tiny drives. Of course with such a tiny drive there are some things one needs to look out for in order to avoid misplacing it (or even worse losing it) but i think that for most people that will not be an issue at all. What remains to be seen however is just how fast a tiny USB 3.0 Flash Drive like the Spark can be so let's find out.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

Much like most USB flash drives out there you can see the Spark from the front of the box.

At the rear we see the list of supported systems, 2 years warranty and the features of the drive.

A keychain is present inside the package and although that's hardly anything impressive still many manufacturers skip bundling them lately.

THE SPARK 32GB

The Patriot Spark is perhaps the smallest USB 3.0 drive we've ever used (21mm length, 13mm width, 5mm thick) but what's really impressive is the quality of its metal enclosure.

To showcase just how small the Spark is we placed it next to some of the USB flash drives that we have here currently.

As expected the model name and capacity are engraved at the top of the drive.

On the left side there's a number which probably means we got the 1340th drive to roll out from the factory (probably).

Unfortunately the keychain hole although large enough for the bundled keychain (and most key chains for that matter) was not enough to fit around my keyring (i feel safer when everything is attached on the keyring directly).

Unlike the SuperSonic Mini USB 3.0 Flash Drive again by Patriot the Spark has no cover for the USB plug.

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), 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.

   All tests are performed with our main rig running Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate x64 Service Pack 1 complete with every update until January 16th 2014. 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 testing them all again and again would simply not be possible).

TEST RESULTS - AIDA64 / ATTO

TEST RESULTS - HD TACH RW / HD TUNE PRO

TEST RESULTS - SISOFTWARE SANDRA PRO / CRYSTAL DISK MARK X64

CONCLUSION

   When Patriot send us the SuperSonic Mini a while back we all liked its tiny size, the rubber weatherproof exterior coating and its very good read & write speeds although i have to admit that we never really liked its looks. Because of that i was wondering if and when Patriot would invest in releasing the same drive but with a metal housing and today i think that the Spark seems to be that drive (at least the 32GB model) since it performs on par with the SuperSonic Mini (well perhaps not the same exact components but you get the point). Now i would like to see a protection cap used with the Spark but so far I’ve yet to see a metal/aluminum USB flash drive similar to the Spark that has one so it can't be helped.

   With a price tag currently set at USD34.99 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and 45Euros inside the EU (Amazon.co.uk) the Spark 32GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive by Patriot is certainly not the cheapest 32GB USB 3.0 compatible flash drive in the market but it's the only one which combines a tiny size with a metal housing and very good read/write speeds. Of course not every single person out there cares about getting such a tiny USB 3.0 flash drive especially when there's a small price premium involved but people who do care can't go wrong with it. Overall the Spark 32GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive has everything going for it and that's why it gets our Golden Award.

PROS

- Build Quality
- Tiny Size
- 1.5g Weight
- Design
- Read/Write Speeds
- Keychain Included

CONS

- Price (For Some)