Today we are testing out the latest PNY Elite-X USB-C flash drive. As a regular user of both portable SSD storage and cloud options, I thought it would be a good idea to put one of these old school-style flash drives to the test for a month or so to see if it was even useful. PNY’s latest release landed at the tail end of 2023 and I immediately thought to myself, are these tiny drives still something that can come in handy? Head below for our hands-on impressions.
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Hands-on with PNY’s new Elite-X USB-C flash drive
PNY has now unleashed its latest lineup of flash drive solutions headlined by the Elite-X USB-C model. Featuring USB 3.2 Gen 1 support, it delivers a versatile and universal (providing you don’t need a USB-A jack) for quick and easy file storage.
Alongside 200MB/s data transfers, it features a push-out design to keep the USB-C jack hidden away in between uses and allows users to “access and stream digital content anytime, anywhere, directly from Elite-X Type-C with no Wi-Fi connection needed,” alongside your standard drag and drop data storage.
Free up space on Type-C equipped mobile devices by transferring photos, videos, music and more to the Elite-X Type-C, making room for more memories…Transfer digital content from Type-C mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets to full size devices such as newer gen PC & Mac laptop and desktop computers for more permanent storage
It is currently available on Amazon in 64GB and 128GB configurations at just over $10 and $14 respectively.
Take a closer look at the specs:
- The new PNY Elite-X Type-C USB 3.2 Gen 1 Flash Drive is the ideal mobile storage solution for easy and quick file management with your USB Type-C devices
- Free up space on Type-C equipped mobile devices by transferring photos, videos, music and more to the Elite-X Type-C, making room for more memories
- Transfer digital content from Type-C mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets to full size devices such as newer gen PC & Mac laptop and desktop computers for more permanent storage
- Access and stream digital content anytime, anywhere, directly from Elite-X Type-C, no Wi-Fi connection needed
- Exceptional performance with read speeds of up to 200MB/s
- A sleek, stylish, and light housing with a sliding design to store, share, and protect important content
9to5Toys’ Take
Everything works just as you would imagine here after testing on iPhone 15 and MacBook machines – no compatibility issues, the pop-out mechanism works nicely, and it otherwise does what it says on the tin.
There’s nothing overly special in terms of specs on this model – for a late 2023 device going up against some of the more advanced flash drive-like solutions out there, it feels slightly under-powered in terms of speed. Having said that, it does start at just $10, so it certainly isn’t trying to compete with things like the OWC miniature flash drive-sized SSDs that cost a whole lot more than that.
But that does bring a few questions to mind here though: Are flash drives still useful? Do folks even use these things anymore?
They were certainly all the rage at some point, but that sort of feels like it was ages ago. Considering how small portable SSDs are these days, and with the proliferation of both cloud storage and flash drive-sized SSD products, the traditional flash drive category does feel like it is one on its way out to some degree.
I do still think there is a place for these tiny storage mediums though. They are obviously far more affordable than just about all portable SSD solutions – some of them aren’t much more than a few cups of coffee. They also remain a more compact solution – something you can loop around your keychain for a price, in some cases, less than one of those fancy keychains. I don’l’t, but I guess some folks still use them for streaming purposes on projectors and the like?
But why not just use email, Wi-Fi streaming, or cloud-based file storage instead? There’s nothing you can misplace, you likely already have some form of online storage at your disposal, and it is readily accessible from just about anywhere. This is certainly true, but you might also say the same thing about the smaller capacity portable SSD drives out there if you’re not a content-creator capturing large files and the like. I, for one, still believe in having multiple copies of important files, and a flash drive can provide a simple and budget-friendly way to add one more layer of redundancy to the cause.
In the end, not everyone is going to need these tiny storage drives, but there is still a place for affordable storage you don’t need to pay a recurring fee for every month, something cheap enough you can give away in business settings, or some extra backup space that doesn’t take up hardly any space at all in your EDC. And with the dual USB-A and -C models, something that will be compatible with just about any system you might bump into. I just happen to be the type to not find much use for the smaller capacity models these days.
Buy the PNY 128GB Elite-X Type-C USB 3.2 Gen 1 Flash Drive
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