Kingston DataTraveler HyperX

Kingston attaches its ‘HyperX’ brand name to its top performing products and after testing the 32Gbyte DataTraveler, we can safely say the name is well deserved.

In our synthetic HDTach 3 benchmark, the drive returned an average read speed of 32.7Mbytes/sec along with a burst speed of 33.9Mbytes/sec. The former figure is very impressive and actually beats the 25Mbytes/sec figure Kingston claims for this drive.

In our real world tests, the drive proved its worth in spades as it was able to finish copying our 1.2Gyte test file (PC to flash drive) in one minute and four seconds. The SanDisk Extreme Cruzer Contour (reviewed above) took two seconds longer. In the read-test (copying the file back to the PC from the flash drive) the Kingston did the deed in 38 seconds, which made it two seconds faster than the SanDisk again. If you’re in need of a massive flash drive with quick performance, this is the best drive for the job.

As far as value for money is concerned, if you compare the Kingston to the SanDisk purely on selling price, the HyperX comes out on top. However, if you’re looking for extras such as password protection software, the SanDisk finishes ahead because despite costing US $14 more, it does ship with some useful software.

Aesthetically, the Kingston is quite a handsome flash drive though the SanDisk gets the nod as far as overall style is concerned.