INTRODUCTION

   My very first USB Flash Drive was the 512MB variant of the Voyager Pro line by Corsair a capacity which back in 2002 was considered very high and i have to admit that back then i didn't even have enough data to fill all of it. Since then I’ve used and reviewed countless USB flash drives in capacities up to 1TB which is why i feel that 128-256GB models offer the best possible balance between capacity and price (at least for people who need high capacities). Unfortunately there aren't that many models with such capacities in the market today for one to choose from but that seems to be changing for the best and so today we will be taking a look at the latest Extreme PRO 128GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive by SanDisk.

   SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK), a Fortune 500 and S&P 500 company, is a global leader in flash storage solutions. For more than 25 years, SanDisk has expanded the possibilities of storage, providing trusted and innovative products that have transformed the electronics industry. Today, SanDisk’s quality, state-of-the-art solutions are at the heart of many of the world's largest data centers, and embedded in advanced smart phones, tablets and PCs. SanDisk’s consumer products are available at hundreds of thousands of retail stores worldwide. For more information, visit www.sandisk.com.

   Although SanDisk reports pretty impressive read speeds up to 260MB/s and write speeds up to 240MB/s for the Extreme PRO USB 3.0 Flash Drive the two things that really steal the show are its quite large 128GB capacity and the elegant aluminum enclosure. Of course when we're talking about very high capacity USB flash drives speed is a very important factor but since it's not the first time we've seen such speeds we think that capacity and enclosure quality are equally important if not even more. To sweeten the deal SanDisk also bundles (in a way since you still need to download both) two software suites with their Extreme PRO 128GB USB 3.0 flash drive. The first is their very own SecureAccess software which allows you to secure the files you place in the drive via AES 128bit encryption while the second is called RescuePRO Deluxe and can help you recover files stored in the drive that you may have lost or may have accidentally deleted. Overall it seems that SanDisk may have a winner with their Extreme PRO 128GB USB 3.0 flash drive if it performs as advertised that is.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

Unlike most USB flash drives SanDisk packs the Extreme PRO inside a small cardboard box that has a small clear plastic window at the front from where you can see the top of the drive. The read/write numbers along with the capacity and the SanDisk logo are also present.

The main features are listed at the rear in 6 languages.

Aside the Extreme PRO 128GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive you will also get the promotional paper with the serial number required to activate the RescuePRO Deluxe software.

THE EXTREME PRO 128GB

The aluminum casing of the Extreme PRO measures 71mm in length, 21mm in width and 11mm in thickness.

Once again to showcase the size of the drive in our hands we placed it right next to several others of the ones we have here.

Both the company logo and the connectivity are printed on a glossy plastic surface at the top.

The Extreme PRO 128GB features a retractable USB 3.0 connector as you can see from the above pictures.

SanDisk has printed the capacity of the drive along with the model name and several certification icons at the rear of the drive.

SECUREACCESS SOFTWARE

You can download the software from the link found in the Extreme PRO product page as seen above (fastest way actually).

The program is very easy to use you just need to input a password and you are set to go.

Thanks to the user friendly design it's very easy to choose which files you want to store onto the drive and secure with AES 128bit encryption.

You can obviously use the program with other flash drives by SanDisk that offer up to PMC 512Bit encryption.

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 May 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

   Normally whenever i test a USB flash drive i expect end results that will surpass its advertised performance and 8 out of 10 times that's exactly what happens. Unfortunately this was not the case with the Extreme PRO 128GB USB 3.0 flash drive by SanDisk since it wasn't really able to achieve its advertised read/write speeds (the highest we recorded was 208.089MB/s read and 199.6MB/s write) and that's basically the only "drawback" i can think of. Of course even the recorded speeds are not to be taken lightly since there aren't many flash drives in the market that can match them and i think that says a lot. The aluminum casing looks very nice and is quite sturdy although i would like it much more if the Extreme PRO featured a rugged water-proof casing again by aluminum. Moving to the bundled software suites they can certainly come in handy but i don't know how professionals will look at AES 128bit encryption to safeguard their sensitive data especially when there are quite a few models out there that feature AES 256Bit (in lower capacities however).

   USB flash drive prices have dropped quite a bit compared to even just a year ago but high capacity models still cost quite a bit and so the SanDisk Extreme PRO 128GB USB 3.0 flash drive currently retails for USD150 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and 132Euros inside the EU (Amazon.co.uk).Compared to a similar product like the DataTraveler HyperX 128GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive by Kingston the Extreme PRO 128GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive by SanDisk is priced slightly higher and it doesn't feature a rugged housing, instead however it's faster in some tests (although it seems both drives are trading blows mostly) and features an elegant aluminum housing so in the end it's all about what you consider more important. SanDisk has created an elegant and very fast USB 3.0 Flash Drive with enough capacity to cover even the most demanding users and that's why it gets our Golden Award.

PROS

- Build Quality (Aluminum Casing)
- Read/Write Speeds (208MBs/199MBs)
- Storage Capacity (128GB)
- Software Bundle (SecureAccess/RescuePRO Deluxe)
- Lifetime Warranty

CONS

- Price (For Some)
- Could Not Achieve Advertised Performance