The 2 Best USB Flash Drives of 2025
Top pick
This flash drive delivers fast, reliable performance in a solid casing. It’s compatible with most modern phones and laptops.
Key specs
| CrystalDiskMark SEQ1M Q8T1 read, write average | 1,045.97 MB/s, 924.71 MB/s |
| CrystalDiskMark RND4k Q31T16 read, write average | 236.79 MB/s, 266.26 MB/s |
If you’re plugging a flash drive into a phone, car, or other USB-C-compatible device, we recommend the PNY Pro Elite V3 USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C (256 GB). It’s especially speedy, and it has a solid metal case that will fit easily in the coin pocket on a pair of jeans. It has a retractable USB connector, so there are no parts to lose, and it will shrug off damage when you throw it in a bag. The drive’s handle has a cutout where you could loop a retaining cord or a skinny zip tie, so you could hang it on a lanyard. PNY covers the Pro Elite V3 USB 3.2 with a two-year warranty.
Big-file transfer test
| Drive | Average read | Average write |
| PNY Pro Elite V3 USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C | 583.58 MB/s | 322.83 MB/s |
| Patriot Supersonic Rage Prime USB 3.2 Gen 2 | 495.90 MB/s | 390.83 MB/s |
| SanDisk Extreme Pro USB 3.2 | 350.43 MB/s | 275.65 MB/s |
| Kingston DataTraveler Max Type-C | 907.03 MB/s | 68.95 MB/s |
| Kingston DataTraveler Max Type-A | 988.62 MB/s | 80.19 MB/s |
| Lexar JumpDrive P30 USB 3.2 Gen 1 | 361.25 MB/s | 118.28 MB/s |
| Samsung Type-C | 340.93 MB/s | 97.29 MB/s |
| SSK SD300 | 40.87 MB/s | 30.49 MB/s |
We transferred large files back and forth from a PC’s internal PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD to each flash drive. Our results reflect an average of three tests.
It’s fast. The PNY Pro Elite V3 did well in both reading and writing files, achieving 583 MB/s read speeds and 323 MB/s write speeds in our large-file test, plus read and write speeds between 253 and 370 MB/s when we transferred thousands of small files. Notably, on the industry-standard CrystalDiskMark sequential read and write tests, the PNY drive achieved its 1000 MB/s read claims, and it outpaced its 800 MB/s write claims, which are almost portable SSD speeds. While some of the fastest portable SSDs can double or even triple those speeds, our picks are significantly faster than the USB flash drives we tested over the past few years. That means the PNY writes more than three times as fast as the Samsung Type-C flash drive. In the real world, this would mean you could copy a 1,850 MB box set of 355 MP3s in under 5 seconds, whereas the SSK SD300 would take over a minute.
It’s durable. The Pro Elite V3’s sliding cover for its USB-C connector is integrated into the drive’s metal body, and it will take a beating. Its knurled handle is also easy to grip, and the cover slides with a solid feeling.
It’s priced in line with its (slower) competition. This drive is priced similarly to its 256 GB–capacity rivals, so there’s no price premium for the Elite Pro V3’s extra performance.
It’s pocketable, or it can hang from a lanyard. The Elite Pro V3 has no cap to lose, and its ovalish casing measures just under 2.5 inches long. The knurled handle also has a hole that you can slip a thin cord or zip tie through, so you can add it to a key ring or hang it from a lanyard.
It’ll connect to your phone, car, or any laptop with a USB-C port. Android phones and iPhones both use USB-C ports, so you can connect the PNY drive to your phone for file, photo, or music transfer. We were able to play mp3 music files directly from the Pro Elite V3 on an iPhone and when it was plugged into a 2024 SUV’s USB-C port.
Flaws but not dealbreakers
It has a shorter warranty than the competition. PNY’s two-year warranty is shorter than the five-year or limited lifetime warranty that others offer. But two years should be long enough to find out whether or not the product is defective.
