Review: Kingston DataTraveler R3.0 flash drive

It’s not only external- and portable hard drives that are the stars of the storage show, as flash drives can also function as capable backup devices for your critical work and personal documents.

Kingston’s DataTraveler R3.0 flash drives enables PC users who have a USB 3.0 compatible system to access multimedia content, the likes of HD movies, TV series, music and high resolution photos at significantly quicker speeds. This difference in speed becomes significant when HD movies or large quantities of photos are transferred.

Features

The compact (70 x 22.68 x 12.4 mm) DataTraveler R3.0 USB drive is constructed out of a shock-resistant rubber casing, making the device a lot more durable. Although we did like the blue and black design theme and slightly slimmer dimension of the R3.0 (compared to Kingston’s DataTraveler Ultimate 3.0 G2), this stick is not quite as pocketable as the petit Imation Atom Flash Drive 8 GB. Like the Atom though, the R3.0 stick also boasts a handy keyring attachment, enabling users to keep it with them while on the road.

When it comes to storage, the Kingston sports a very usable 32 GB (16 GB and 64 GB versions also available) of data storage, and like Kingston’s DataTraveler Ultimate 3.0 G2 flash drive, it provides users with an impressive speed boost when connected to a USB 3.0 port.

A flash drive as fast as Flash

According to Kingston this drive delivers data transfer speeds of up to 70 MB per second when reading data from the device, and 30 MB per second when writing to the drive, whilst it is plugged into a USB 3.0 port. If this device is connected to a USB 2.0 system, however, it still offers snappy transfer speed of up to 30 MB per second (read) and 25 MB per second (write).

When we tested the DataTraveler R3.0, we managed to transfer (write) a 1.60 GB full HD (1080p) TV episode to the drive in just 45 seconds while it occupied a USB 3.0 slot and achieved the same feat in 1 minute 6 seconds, when it was connected to a USB 2.0 port. Copying this same file back to the PC (read) took a total of 48 seconds whilst the R3.0 was in the USB 2.0 slot and around 18 seconds when connected to the USB 3.0 port.

Final word

Kingston’s DataTraveler R3.0 USB Flash drive features USB 3.0 high-speed performance that will save you time whilst transferring large files to and from the drive. The rugged design of the memory stick also means that it can live with the occasional knocks, drops and bumps that road warriors are all too familiar with. It goes for a recommended retail price R383 (including VAT), whilst the 64 GB model goes for R730 and the 16 GB version comes in at a very affordable R170.

Pros:

USB 3.0 data speeds when connected to a USB 3.0 port, snappy speeds on USB 2.0 ports, and capacious.

Cons:

Not the most eye-catching or smallest flash drive we’ve reviewed.

PROS

USB 3.0 data speeds when connected to a USB 3.0 port, snappy speeds on USB 2.0 ports, and capacious.

CONS

Not the most eye-catching or smallest flash drive we''ve reviewed.

Kingston DataTraveler R3.0 flash drive

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