When it comes to flash drives, one brand that instantly comes to mind is SanDisk. The company has been frequently updating its product line-up every now and then. This time around, the company sent us its latest Ultra USB 3.0 Flash Drive for review. The Ultra USB 3.0 boasts faster data transfer speeds of up to 80MB/s, which the company claims is four times faster than USB 2.0 drives.

We put the flash drive to test how it performed in real world tests. Read on, to find out the results. The Ultra USB 3.0 flash drive is currently available in storage capacities of 16GB, 32GB, and 65GB. We received the 64GB version for product review. The new drive sports an attractive slider design. The body of the SanDisk Ultra USB 3.0 flash drive is constructed of a lightweight, black plastic.

While the top has a glossy finish, the sides and bottom have a rougher, matte finish which makes it a little easier to hang onto the drive. The SanDisk Ultra USB 3.0 flash drive also has a hole on the end so that it can be attached to your key ring.

The Ultra USB 3.0 flash drives also ships with SanDisk’s SecureAccess software, which protects files against unauthorised access by creating an encrypted, password-protected folder or “vault” on the drive. With 128-bit AES encryption, the drive keeps your sensitive files private, even when you share it with friends.

To top it all off, the Ultra USB 3.0 flash drive is compatible with Windows XP/Vista/7/8 as well as Mac OS X v10.5 or later, and is backed by a five-year warranty. To test the read and write speeds on the Ultra USB 3.0 flash drive, we used the ATTO Benchmark. The way we test is, we run the benchmark thrice and then take an average reading after completing the benchmark runs.

Having said that, we were quite disappointed by the overall performance of the SanDisk Ultra USB 3.0 flash drive. After running an 8MB ATTO Benchmark, we were able to clock a write speed of 18 MB/s, which is not at all impressive, when compared with what SanDisk claims on the product packaging. The Ultra USB 3.o flash drive meanwhile excelled in the ATTO Benchmark’s read test by registering 76 MB/s.

The SanDisk Ultra USB 3.0 64GB flash drive is an average USB storage device. The drive is a let down when it comes to write speeds, though it almost makes up for it by offering breezy read speeds.

Price: AED 199 (for 64GB drive)