SanDisk 128GB Extreme Go USB 3.1 Flash Drive - SDCZ800-128G-G46

The 128GB version of this is the "upgrade" pick from Wirecutter for flash drives, except it's only $4 more than their normal pick, at 64GB. 128GB in your pocket for only $32 (at the time of this review) is really ridiculous.The transfer speeds are very fast. I don't bother doing my own benchmarkings--google them if you care, but they're very good at USB 3.1 rates. I really like the sliding & locking mechanism to protect the USB connection. Bigger than a thumbnail sized drive, but small enough to put on my keychain.The included (for free) encrypted drive system is easy enough to use. Its GUI a bit clunky to navigate, but to launch it, just double click on the .exe file that's on the unencrypted partition. It uses the AES 128 synchronous cipher, which is more than strong enough for most needs. It looks like you can upgrade it for a price, but you can also store your own end-to-end encrypted Trucrypt or Veracrypt "file" (volume) if you're that paranoid.

Light to medium use deleted copied to many times reformated and used again.Still working seem to be asgood as when I purchased I don't brag about it to "friends" so glad that I still have them

The flash drive works as intended and this is why I'm giving it five stars. However I mainly bought it to add additional save space capacity for my Ps4 Pro. I was disappointed to find out that the body is too thick and does not fit into the USB ports of the Ps4. The ps4 has the USB ports in between these indentions. the only way I managed to make it fit is by using the third available port on the rear of the Pro. This is annoying since it makes it hard to easily remove and also not possible if you have the standard PS4 model.

I am mostly happy with this flash drive. Yes, 11GB missing from the 128GB storage space is annoying, but not a deal breaker. It is decently quick, though admittedly not the quickest. It gets a little warm, but I wouldn't call it hot by any means. I wish it was metal, or at least higher quality plastic. Overall, though, I think it was a good purchase. I was happy to see that it does light up when active, and I am also a fan of the spring loaded mechanism (which I probably play with more than I should).

A number of reviews give low scores on the basis that the SanDisk Extreme Go is the follow-up to an older generation unit that had superior performance. They omit the fact that there are actually two different SanDisk Extreme storage fobs that are currently sold: the Go and the Pro.The Go (i.e. the cheaper unit described herein) still outperforms my other USB3 storage fobs by a comfortable margin and is in my opinion fast enough to be sold under the "Extreme" brand -- even if not quite as extreme as the Pro unit. I will state upfront that I am unhappy because I rushed the purchase and didn't realize that therer were two variants until after the order had already shipped -- and at the price, it's quite frankly not worth it to return it for the difference in performance. I may however buy the more expensive unit in the future, depending on the long term reliability of this one.Anyway, the benchmark screenshots tell the rest of the story. Please note that the second FlashBench screenshot shows the Go's performance compared to a 32Gb HP x702w that I also own. And before I'm accused of bias, I will point out that the one made by HP is several years old at this point, was for years connected to my Linksys WiFi router (for which it served as primary storage), and only claims to be USB 3.0 compatible in the first place. My objective for this comparison was therefore to demonstrate how the Go stacks up agains an existing fob you might already own / have had, for a while. Because FlashBench reuses the same colors for read/write, I will note that the HP results are represented by the thicker lines at the bottom, whereas the Go's performance metrics are represented by the thinner, dotted lines. I will also include the actual results (visible in the text box) at the bottom of this review, assuming I don't run out of space.Since different hardware can lead to different results, I should mention that these tests were conducted on an Alienware R17 M4 that's based on the Intel Skylake architecture and uses an Intel i7-6700HQ as its CPU.In conclusion, you get what you pay for. If you chose the Go unit -- even if by accident, not realizing that it wasn't the fastest USB storage fob sold by SanDisk at the time, like I did -- please realize that this is hardly SanDisk's fault. If you want the fastest storage device and you already bought this (recently), then return it for a refund and get the (slightly) more expensive Pro. In my opinion, this (cheaper) unit performs well enough to warrant the difference in categorization and price.--Refreshing devices.Refreshing devices. [Done]Starting benchmark.Bechmarking F:(4C530001171229109292)Started at 4/7/2019 11:43:01 AMFilename: F:\test.tmpStarting large file benchmark. With 100MB file.16384k:6 Write Speed:145.31MB/s16384k:6 Write Speed:148.56MB/s16384k:6 Write Speed:153.28MB/s16384k:6 Average Write Speed:148.98MB/s16384k:6 Read Speed:191.40MB/s16384k:6 Read Speed:194.11MB/s16384k:6 Read Speed:193.42MB/s16384k:6 Average Read Speed:192.97MB/s8192k:12 Write Speed:145.21MB/s8192k:12 Write Speed:151.06MB/s8192k:12 Write Speed:148.50MB/s8192k:12 Average Write Speed:148.22MB/s8192k:12 Read Speed:192.20MB/s8192k:12 Read Speed:193.76MB/s8192k:12 Read Speed:193.18MB/s8192k:12 Average Read Speed:193.04MB/s4096k:25 Write Speed:153.53MB/s4096k:25 Write Speed:141.26MB/s4096k:25 Write Speed:146.16MB/s4096k:25 Average Write Speed:146.81MB/s4096k:25 Read Speed:193.59MB/s4096k:25 Read Speed:193.29MB/s4096k:25 Read Speed:193.76MB/s4096k:25 Average Read Speed:193.55MB/s2048k:50 Write Speed:145.48MB/s2048k:50 Write Speed:142.89MB/s2048k:50 Write Speed:146.33MB/s2048k:50 Average Write Speed:144.89MB/s2048k:50 Read Speed:192.06MB/s2048k:50 Read Speed:193.19MB/s2048k:50 Read Speed:193.20MB/s2048k:50 Average Read Speed:192.81MB/s1024k:100 Write Speed:149.40MB/s1024k:100 Write Speed:132.13MB/s1024k:100 Write Speed:150.93MB/s1024k:100 Average Write Speed:143.63MB/s1024k:100 Read Speed:189.46MB/s1024k:100 Read Speed:191.28MB/s1024k:100 Read Speed:191.35MB/s1024k:100 Average Read Speed:190.69MB/s512k:200 Write Speed:140.69MB/s512k:200 Write Speed:127.46MB/s512k:200 Write Speed:141.81MB/s512k:200 Average Write Speed:136.33MB/s512k:200 Read Speed:183.97MB/s512k:200 Read Speed:186.62MB/s512k:200 Read Speed:186.94MB/s512k:200 Average Read Speed:185.83MB/sDeleting file.Starting small file benchmark. With 10MB file.256k:40 Write Speed:91.09MB/s256k:40 Write Speed:92.60MB/s256k:40 Write Speed:94.41MB/s256k:40 Average Write Speed:92.68MB/s256k:40 Read Speed:162.40MB/s256k:40 Read Speed:164.75MB/s256k:40 Read Speed:164.04MB/s256k:40 Average Read Speed:163.72MB/s128k:80 Write Speed:59.14MB/s128k:80 Write Speed:46.82MB/s128k:80 Write Speed:60.14MB/s128k:80 Average Write Speed:54.65MB/s128k:80 Read Speed:143.42MB/s128k:80 Read Speed:148.38MB/s128k:80 Read Speed:146.42MB/s128k:80 Average Read Speed:146.04MB/s64k:160 Write Speed:33.86MB/s64k:160 Write Speed:32.69MB/s64k:160 Write Speed:35.98MB/s64k:160 Average Write Speed:34.12MB/s64k:160 Read Speed:110.95MB/s64k:160 Read Speed:113.86MB/s64k:160 Read Speed:114.91MB/s64k:160 Average Read Speed:113.21MB/s32k:320 Write Speed:19.90MB/s32k:320 Write Speed:20.04MB/s32k:320 Write Speed:19.92MB/s32k:320 Average Write Speed:19.95MB/s32k:320 Read Speed:76.47MB/s32k:320 Read Speed:80.88MB/s32k:320 Read Speed:79.70MB/s32k:320 Average Read Speed:78.97MB/sDeleting file.Starting tiny file benchmark. With 1MB file.16k:320 Write Speed:10.94MB/s16k:320 Write Speed:9.77MB/s16k:320 Write Speed:9.21MB/s16k:320 Average Write Speed:9.92MB/s16k:320 Read Speed:45.59MB/s16k:320 Read Speed:48.54MB/s16k:320 Read Speed:48.72MB/s16k:320 Average Read Speed:47.57MB/s8k:640 Write Speed:8.19MB/s8k:640 Write Speed:7.23MB/s8k:640 Write Speed:7.72MB/s8k:640 Average Write Speed:7.69MB/s8k:640 Read Speed:26.43MB/s8k:640 Read Speed:28.30MB/s8k:640 Read Speed:28.01MB/s8k:640 Average Read Speed:27.55MB/s4k:1280 Write Speed:4.01MB/s4k:1280 Write Speed:4.15MB/s4k:1280 Write Speed:3.91MB/s4k:1280 Average Write Speed:4.02MB/s4k:1280 Read Speed:14.70MB/s4k:1280 Read Speed:14.99MB/s4k:1280 Read Speed:14.73MB/s4k:1280 Average Read Speed:14.80MB/s2k:2560 Write Speed:0.51MB/s2k:2560 Write Speed:0.51MB/s2k:2560 Write Speed:0.51MB/s2k:2560 Average Write Speed:0.51MB/s2k:2560 Read Speed:4.70MB/s2k:2560 Read Speed:4.81MB/s2k:2560 Read Speed:4.79MB/s2k:2560 Average Read Speed:4.77MB/s1k:5120 Write Speed:0.19MB/s1k:5120 Write Speed:0.19MB/s1k:5120 Write Speed:0.19MB/s1k:5120 Average Write Speed:0.19MB/s1k:5120 Read Speed:3.03MB/s1k:5120 Read Speed:3.05MB/s1k:5120 Read Speed:3.02MB/s1k:5120 Average Read Speed:3.04MB/sDeleting file.Benchmark done.Ended at 4/7/2019 11:46:32 AMRefreshing devices.Refreshing devices. [Done]Starting benchmark.Bechmarking F:(AA530427D0000158)Started at 4/7/2019 11:50:02 AMFilename: F:\test.tmpStarting large file benchmark. With 100MB file.16384k:6 Write Speed:21.06MB/s16384k:6 Write Speed:21.08MB/s16384k:6 Write Speed:21.04MB/s16384k:6 Average Write Speed:21.06MB/s16384k:6 Read Speed:33.01MB/s16384k:6 Read Speed:33.10MB/s16384k:6 Read Speed:33.09MB/s16384k:6 Average Read Speed:33.07MB/s8192k:12 Write Speed:20.91MB/s8192k:12 Write Speed:20.66MB/s8192k:12 Write Speed:24.97MB/s8192k:12 Average Write Speed:22.01MB/s8192k:12 Read Speed:32.85MB/s8192k:12 Read Speed:32.91MB/s8192k:12 Read Speed:33.08MB/s8192k:12 Average Read Speed:32.94MB/s4096k:25 Write Speed:20.18MB/s4096k:25 Write Speed:20.13MB/s4096k:25 Write Speed:23.93MB/s4096k:25 Average Write Speed:21.27MB/s4096k:25 Read Speed:33.01MB/s4096k:25 Read Speed:32.91MB/s4096k:25 Read Speed:33.07MB/s4096k:25 Average Read Speed:33.00MB/s2048k:50 Write Speed:19.14MB/s2048k:50 Write Speed:28.52MB/s2048k:50 Write Speed:20.11MB/s2048k:50 Average Write Speed:21.89MB/s2048k:50 Read Speed:33.02MB/s2048k:50 Read Speed:33.10MB/s2048k:50 Read Speed:33.09MB/s2048k:50 Average Read Speed:33.07MB/s1024k:100 Write Speed:22.78MB/s1024k:100 Write Speed:19.38MB/s1024k:100 Write Speed:22.73MB/s1024k:100 Average Write Speed:21.51MB/s1024k:100 Read Speed:32.79MB/s1024k:100 Read Speed:32.67MB/s1024k:100 Read Speed:32.59MB/s1024k:100 Average Read Speed:32.68MB/s512k:200 Write Speed:18.41MB/s512k:200 Write Speed:18.30MB/s512k:200 Write Speed:21.39MB/s512k:200 Average Write Speed:19.27MB/s512k:200 Read Speed:32.71MB/s512k:200 Read Speed:32.79MB/s512k:200 Read Speed:32.90MB/s512k:200 Average Read Speed:32.80MB/sDeleting file.Starting small file benchmark. With 10MB file.256k:40 Write Speed:29.96MB/s256k:40 Write Speed:30.90MB/s256k:40 Write Speed:28.82MB/s256k:40 Average Write Speed:29.87MB/s256k:40 Read Speed:31.65MB/s256k:40 Read Speed:32.61MB/s256k:40 Read Speed:32.54MB/s256k:40 Average Read Speed:32.26MB/s128k:80 Write Speed:29.98MB/s128k:80 Write Speed:26.22MB/s128k:80 Write Speed:30.34MB/s128k:80 Average Write Speed:28.72MB/s128k:80 Read Speed:31.09MB/s128k:80 Read Speed:31.95MB/s128k:80 Read Speed:31.95MB/s128k:80 Average Read Speed:31.66MB/s64k:160 Write Speed:29.22MB/s64k:160 Write Speed:20.85MB/s64k:160 Write Speed:29.18MB/s64k:160 Average Write Speed:25.76MB/s64k:160 Read Speed:30.16MB/s64k:160 Read Speed:31.20MB/s64k:160 Read Speed:31.17MB/s64k:160 Average Read Speed:30.84MB/s32k:320 Write Speed:26.11MB/s32k:320 Write Speed:13.42MB/s32k:320 Write Speed:25.64MB/s32k:320 Average Write Speed:19.76MB/s32k:320 Read Speed:27.09MB/s32k:320 Read Speed:27.72MB/s32k:320 Read Speed:27.99MB/s32k:320 Average Read Speed:27.60MB/sDeleting file.Starting tiny file benchmark. With 1MB file.16k:320 Write Speed:21.19MB/s16k:320 Write Speed:3.94MB/s16k:320 Write Speed:21.12MB/s16k:320 Average Write Speed:8.62MB/s16k:320 Read Speed:23.07MB/s16k:320 Read Speed:23.08MB/s16k:320 Read Speed:23.70MB/s16k:320 Average Read Speed:23.28MB/s8k:640 Write Speed:8.73MB/s8k:640 Write Speed:14.90MB/s8k:640 Write Speed:8.06MB/s8k:640 Average Write Speed:9.81MB/s8k:640 Read Speed:17.51MB/s8k:640 Read Speed:18.27MB/s8k:640 Read Speed:17.89MB/s8k:640 Average Read Speed:17.89MB/s4k:1280 Write Speed:9.18MB/s4k:1280 Write Speed:7.59MB/s4k:1280 Write Speed:9.10MB/s4k:1280 Average Write Speed:8.56MB/s4k:1280 Read Speed:9.60MB/s4k:1280 Read Speed:9.74MB/s4k:1280 Read Speed:9.80MB/s4k:1280 Average Read Speed:9.71MB/s2k:2560 Write Speed:5.07MB/s2k:2560 Write Speed:4.54MB/s2k:2560 Write Speed:5.15MB/s2k:2560 Average Write Speed:4.91MB/s2k:2560 Read Speed:5.98MB/s2k:2560 Read Speed:6.09MB/s2k:2560 Read Speed:6.06MB/s2k:2560 Average Read Speed:6.04MB/s1k:5120 Write Speed:2.21MB/s1k:5120 Write Speed:2.23MB/s1k:5120 Write Speed:2.19MB/s1k:5120 Average Write Speed:2.21MB/s1k:5120 Read Speed:3.37MB/s1k:5120 Read Speed:3.35MB/s1k:5120 Read Speed:3.38MB/s1k:5120 Average Read Speed:3.37MB/sDeleting file.Benchmark done.Ended at 4/7/2019 11:54:29 AM

They still work flawlessly and read and write quickly even after we have been using them for a while.

As USB memory sticks increase in size, speed becomes more important. For me, transferring large files between network devices prior to configuration means using portable media, with long transfer times. There are some rugged storage devices available that are fast, but very expensive. The SanDisk Extreme Go is not as robust as some of the metal variations, but it's just as fast, and my transfer times have decreased substantially, even though none of my devices support the full USB 3.1 speeds this flash drive is capable of.