What Size Flash Drive Do I Need

What size USB flash drive practice y'all need?

(Epitome credit: Sandisk)

One of the most important considerations when purchasing a USB flash bulldoze is size. While factors like reliability and compatibility are important (although well-nigh drives tin now be formatted to suit either Windows PC or Mac), it's the size of the bulldoze that matters the near. Smaller USBs are fine for backing up things like documents and a limited selection of photos, whereas you'll need to go with larger HDD options - running to 3-4TB - if you want to store a decent amount of large file types, like videos and video game saves.

Most of the best home computers (opens in new tab) will come with large difficult drives, which will handle most of your storage needs. The standard size on most PCs is about 2TB, whereas about of the all-time laptops (opens in new tab) run between 512GB and 1TB. That's more than plenty for the boilerplate user, who will be storing photos, documents, music, and a limited number of videos. Even when you take into account the size of certain apps and software you may have installed, 512GB to 1TB is enough. Even the best smartphones (opens in new tab) take 128GB-256GB of storage now.

It'due south when you start introducing things like home-generated videos, video games, and other forms of rich media that you'll need to consider additional storage. Whereas nosotros'd always recommend external hard drives for this kind of thing, USB flash drives can give you lot a fiddling breathing room for just a few actress dollars. As an thought of how much space today's files tend to occupy, we've created the below table.

How much can you lot shop?
Size of USB	Photos (12MP)	Songs	HD Video (Minutes)	1 Folio Word Document
16GB	Up to 3,800	Upwards to 4,000	Up to 250	Up to 320,000
32GB	Up to 7,600	Upwardly to 8,000	Up to 500	Up to 640,000
64GB	Up to xv,200	Up to 16,000	Upwardly to 1,000	1m +
128GB	Upwardly to thirty,400	Up to 32,000	Up to 2,000	2m +
256GB	Upwards to 60,800	Upwardly to 64,000	Upwards to 4,000	4m +
512GB	Up to 121,600	Up to 128,000	Upwardly to 8,000	8m +

Of course, the reward of the USB flash drive is that it's very pocket-size and easy to carry with yous. While external HDDs can too be pocket-size enough to carry in a rucksack or briefcase, USB drives tin be carried in a pocket or purse. That's their large advantage in today's digital earth.

You can buy USB wink drives up to about 512GB nowadays, with the smallest usually being 16GB. While you can go smaller, the 16GB drives only cost about $half dozen-10, so there's fiddling incentive to go for annihilation smaller. They all come with USB three.0 or iii.i connections besides, so transfer speeds are reasonably quick. If yous're copying beyond several 100GB of data, you don't desire to be waiting hours, although that will depend on the speed of the USB device you accept.

In terms of brands, y'all want to go with one of the more reliable manufacturers, as it's piece of cake for USB flash drives to go damaged and to lose your data and files that are stored on them. We recommend Sandisk, Samsung, and PNY every bit the top makers - annihilation from them should be fine. Although if yous are storing large files and loads of them, we definitely recommend an external hard bulldoze instead. Here, you should be looking at WD (Western Digital), Seagate, Samsung, and Toshiba.

You should also consider how you're going to behave and care for your USB bulldoze. Most have keyring attachments, and then yous can carry one with your business firm or motorcar keys. This does mean they get knocked around in your pocket or handbag, and then we wouldn't recommend storing your only copy of of import files on them, equally they will eventually break. If you won't be carrying the USB drive effectually every day, then just brand sure yous keep it in a dry out identify, away from magnets or microwave radiation.

That'south really all you need to know well-nigh USB flash drives - they're an inexpensive way to expand your storage, and take your files with y'all wherever you go. You tin fifty-fifty accept USB wink drives on airplanes. Check out the lowest prices on our recommended USB drives below.

Andy was the previous Editor-in-Chief of Top Ten Reviews. With over 18 years experience in both online and print journalism, Andy has worked for a host of world-leading tech and gaming brands, including PC Gamer and GamesRadar. He specializes in photography, applied science and smart home, and has provided expert annotate for sites like The Guardian. In his spare time Andy is an amateur photographer, and teaches at the National Film and TV School.