CONCLUSION
We’ve already seen several USB 3.0/3.1 Gen 1 flash drives with SSD internals so the impressive read & write performance levels achieved by the SuperSonic Magnum 2 256GB model didn’t really surprise us. Now it did turn out to be a bit faster compared to the IMPACT 256GB model by Mushkin but it’s just as fast (trades punches but the end result is 50-50) as the HyperX Savage 128GB model by Kingston (although half in capacity we don’t think its 256GB variant would do worse) so again it just doesn’t offer something new (we expect Gen 2 models to change that when we see them) In terms of performance. The brushed aluminum housing is perhaps the only aspect which some people may consider better compared to the rubber/rugged housing of the Savage drive since aside upping the build quality of the drive it also provides the means with which the Phison controller gets cooled (the downside however is that due to its size it may take up two USB ports in some systems).
What about price? At USD99.99 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and 108Euros inside the EU (Amazon.co.uk) the SuperSonic Magnum 2 256GB USB 3.1 Gen 1 flash drive is roughly 10% more expensive compared to the Mushkin IMPACT 256GB and 5% more expensive compared to the HyperX Savage 256GB. Personally although I think that choosing between the almost equally fast IMPACT and equally fast Savage drive is not easy in the end all three drives are at the top of our charts and that’s more than enough for us to give the SuperSonic Magnum 2 our Golden Award.
PROS
- Excellent Build Quality (Brushed Aluminum Enclosure)
- Top Of the Charts Performance
- 256GB
- 5 Year Warranty
CONS
- Size (For Some)