Sandisk Ultra fit USB 3.1 flash drive 32GB Review

SanDisk 32GB Ultra Fit USB 3.1 Flash Drive review: Design, benchmarks and real scenario test screenshots plus video.

Each and every gadget or device on this earth are trying to be shrunk by the engineers but without compromising the performance. For example earlier we used tapes to record data, then CD/DVD ROM came into existence but we didn’t stop there and replaced them with extremely shrunk devices called Flash drives/USB drives/Pen drives. Wait for a second, are we still decreasing the size of  Flash drives, the answer is YES, it can be seen in the Sandisk Ultra fit 3.1 flash drive but without degrading the performance which we are going to test in this article.

Sandisk is a veteran storage manufacture company which not only produces Pen drives but also Mobile Storage devices, Cards and Readers, SSDs, Hard disks, and MP3 Players. This year released Sandisk Ultra fit 3.1 flash drive is one of the compact and small size pen drives that come in different storage sizes such as 16GB, 32 GB and 256GB. We got the SanDisk 32GB Ultra Fit USB 3.1 Flash Drive – SDCZ430-032G-I35 model for review. After spending some time with it, here we will give you the complete review and performance benchmarks of the SanDisk Ultra Fit USB 3.1. So, let’s see at the budget price of Rs 549 (Amazon) or $8 approx. would it be worth to purchase or not?

SanDisk ultra fit USB 3.1 flash drive 32GB review

SanDisk Ultra fit USB 3.1 Design and Packaging

As I said the pen drive’s size is really very small, it is more or less equal to the 1 Rupee coin, therefore, the packaging of it will also be quite compact. It comes in Red & white colour packaging that’s size is not much longer than a credit card. All the information about the Ultra fit 3.1 have mentioned clearly on the front and rear side of the packaging to ensure the consumer select the right one, while shopping. On our 32GB pack, it holds the info such as storage space up to 32GB, speed up to 130 MB/s and also tells that the speed of the drive is up to 15 times faster than USB 2.0.

On the first glance, the pen drive looks like a portable wireless Bluetooth receiver for different peripherals because of compact size and lightweight. Even after inserting the pen drive into the system port, it concealed itself in the USB port as only around one-third portion of the drive would be visible at all. The SanDisk Ultra fit looks premium in black colour and also has the keychain hole.

And it is necessary too because being small in size and it could be a disadvantage for a careless person who is liable to lose or forget things easily. Taking everything into account, design-wise there is no flaw, it built using hard plastic which also thwarts the pen drive to get any damage due to mishap shocks. However, the connector end of the Pen drive should be in metal for better strength because the plastic end appears flimsy when we pressed it.

SanDisk Ultra fit USB 3.1 Specifications and Compatibility

The Model number of the Ultra fit we had was  SDCZ430-032G-I35. The weight of the drive was 4.54 g with dimensions of  3 x 1.4 x 0.5 cm or 19.1 x 15.9 x 8.8 mm. As per the company, the SanDisk Ultra Fit USB 3.1 is available in storage capacity of  16GB, 32GB, 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB with an ability to provide up to 130MB/s read speed. The operating temperature for the Ultra fit is 0 C to 35 C while the storage temp is between -10 C to 70 C.

The drive compatible with all USB 3.1 ports with backward compatible to USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 ports devices. Software/System-wise, it perfectly works on Windows OS such as Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 10. Apart from the Windows, we also didn’t find any compatibility issues with other operating systems like Mac OS X and Linux. As we know, we use smartphones more than laptop/computers, so we decided to test it on Andriod phone with the help of USB type C to USB type -A converter and the Ultra fit also worked fine on that too.

SanDisk Ultra fit USB 3.1 32GB Performance

As we mentioned above, the top data transfer speed for the SanDisk Ultra Fit USB 3.1 flash drive claimed by the SanDisk is up to 130 MB/s and in this performance section of the review, we will test that.

To test the Ultra fit, we used the Windows 10 operating system running on 8GB RAM and Intel i7 processor and USB 3.0.

Note: To get the optimum performance and transfer speed out of Ultra fit 32 GB, you should use it only on USB 3.0 or USB 3.1 port of your system which always appears in blue colour.

First Test Benchmark: CrystalDiskMark 6.0

The CrystalDiskMark is one of the professional benchmark meant to measure the performance of the storage devices such as flash drive, SSDs, and hard disks. After inserting the Ultra Disk on USB 3.0, we ran the CrystalDiskMark which tested the drive against different files size to find out the maximum reading and writing speed. In our test, we got max. read speed 123.5 MB/s and write speed of 18.51 MB/s on 1GB of sequential data which is not exactly as the company claimed but almost near.

Real Scenario test…

Moving to a real-world test in which we used unsorted Data of 19 GB which contained videos, music, and other document files. The top speed we received while writing the SanDisk Ultra Fit was 59 MB/s and on average it was between 23 to 33 MB/s. On the other hand, when we start reading the Data, means transferring from USB Drive to a Computer system’s SSD drive, the top speed it delivered was between 110 to 133 MB/s.

However, point to be noted, the top speed all depends on what type complex data you are transferring. For example, music or document files transfer speed will be greater than ISO image files.

 

In addition, to the above test, we also used the Ultra fit with Android smartphone to watch HD videos directly on the phone. The smartphone, we used was Oneplus and all the operation were smooth without any kind of lags.

Real Scenario Test Glance: USB Write speed

Review Conclusion

As per our test, the drive has pretty much impressive data transfer rate and at the price which is ₹ 549 (Amazon), the SanDisk Ultra Fit USB 3.1 flash drive with USB 3.1 compatibility is a perfect deal to store and carry your all sensitive or personal data of daily usage impeccably. However, it would be great if it has the same metal connector as its predecessor SanDisk Ultra Fit USB 3.0 had.

Pros:

• Budget Price
• USB 3.1
• Small Footprint or size
• Impressive speed

Cons:

• The connector is a bit flimsy and should be like the SanDisk Ultra Fit USB 3.0

 

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Other Useful Resources:

• What is USB OTG and How to use it?
• What is USB Type-C?
• What is the difference between USB 3.2 and 3.1 and how fast is it?