Photography News Issue 40

Photography News | Issue 40 | absolutephoto.com

50 First tests

Accessories First tests We get our hands on the

latest kit and share our first impressions – so you know whether or not to add it to your wish list

Reviews by Will Cheung and Kingsley Singleton

Samsung USB 3.0 Flash Drive Duo 32GB £14.99

Specs

Once it dried off I plugged it into the computer and there were no problems

Prices

£14.99 Data transfer speed Up to 130MB/s for USB 3.0 and 15MB/s for USB 2.0 Interface USB 3.0, USB2.0 for micro USB Water resistant Yes, 1mdepth, 72 hours Operating range Yes, 0-60°C Shock resistant Yes X-ray proof Yes, 500secs radiation time Magnet proof Yes, 15,000 Gauss Dimensions (wxdxh) 36.6x5.7x16mm Weight 5g Contact samsung.com/uk

One of the skills of modern day life is managing memory, especially on smart devices that can quickly be filled with pictures, audio files and apps. Hence the need for accessories like the Samsung USB 3.0 Flash Drive Duo. This device has two interfaces, USB 3.0 at one end and micro USB at the other, so ideal formanaging data of your smart devices and computer. It is a flashdrive so its reliable and features Samsung’s five-proof toughness. I tried the unit using the Blackmagic Disk Speed Test app and by shifting data around and timing how long it took. With the Blackmagic app, the USB 3.0 interface read speed rated at an impressive 148.9MB/s while write speed managed 44.1MB/s which is respectable. In a practical test, I used a folder containing 10GB of data. This is larger than backing up a few JPEGs off the phone. This was using a Mac Mini (late 2012) fittedwith a Crucial 750GB SSD drive and 16GB RAM. It took

just over six minutes for that data to write from the computer to the flash drive, which works out to 41.3MB/s, so not far off the Blackmagic tested speed. Doing the test in reverse, it took just 71secs and that works out to 148.7MB/s which is almost identical to the Blackmagic test. To test reliability I conducted some simple tests. The aim wasn’t to break the drive, but to put it through conditions to see how it would fare. To test shock resistance I dropped the flash drive three times from one and two metres onto a wooden laminate floor. The only result was that its micro USB cover popped off. For waterproofness, I left the drive submerged in freshwater for 24hours, and to test temperature operating range, I left it in the fridge for the same time. Once dried off, I quickly plugged it into the computer and there were no problems. The strongest magnet I have is that on the MagMod flash modifier so I left the drive sitting next

to it for 15 minutes and tried the drive, again with no problem. Well, the unit emerged from my tests unscathed and the data on the drive remained safe. WC

Verdict

The Samsung USB 3.0 Flash Drive Duo proved to be a reliable device – and with its attractive price it is a great buy and offers a dependable backup solution. Pros Samsung five-proof ruggedness, good price, fast read speed Cons Supplying a cord or lanyard to attach the drive to a key ring would have been a nice touch, an integrated cover would make it even better

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