28-03-2025
PNY Technologies Starts Shipping Its New High-Speed USB-C Thumb Drive
The PNY PRO Elite V3 Type-C USB flash drives is available in capacities from 256GB to 2TB.
Memory brand PNY Technologies has begun shipping its new USB Type-C series of flash drives with write speeds as high as 1,000MB/s and capacities up to 2TB.
In a world where USB thumb drives still seem to mostly use USB-A connectors, it's a bit of a mystery as to why there hasn't been more USB-C drives launched, especially now that most new laptops exclusively have USB-C ports.
Now PNY Technologies has started shipping its latest USB Type-C flash drives, headed up by the brand's flagship PRO Elite V3 with read speeds up to 1,000MB/s and write speeds up to 800MB/s which is as fast as many external SSD drives. The new drives are available in a selection of capacities ranging from 256GB to a large 2TB.
The new and extended choice of PNY's Type-C thumb drives also include the ultra-compact Elite-X Fit and a basic Elite model which will ship a little later. All drives use, USB-C connectors with a range of data transfer speeds.
The Blackmagic Speed Test returned write speeds of 910.4MB/s and read speed of 796.1MB/s.
Quoted data speeds don't always translate into real-world performance so I decided to give one of the new PRO Elite V3 thumb drives at test. Using Blackmagic speed test software, the drive returned a respectable 910.4MB/s write speed and 796.1MB/s read speed which is pretty close to the quoted 1,000MB/s and 800MB/s read and write speeds. In fact, the write speed was slightly faster than the quoted spec and the read speed slightly slower.
It's good to see a storage product living up to its quoted performance. However, the speed of port the users has can also make a significant difference. If you are using a USB 2.0 port or a dock then you could see speeds reduce significantly.
For small files, data speed isn't a huge issue, but when it comes to transferring large 4K video files between two computers using a thumb drive, the time taken can be painfully slow. So, if you are a content creator, graphic designer or photographer with large amounts of data, speed matters.
The USB-C connector on the new PNY PRO Elite V3 Type-C USB flash drives retracts into the aluminum ... More body to protect the connection.
PNY says that the PRO Elite V3 is made with premium components which should give it the kind of durability and performance a professional users would demand. The drive features a sliding cap for protecting the USB-C connector when not in use. An integrated key loop also makes it easy to attach to a keyring.
A small point worth noting with these new faster drives is they are still quite wide which can present a problem when slotting them into a USB-C port if a neighboring port is already in use. For this reason, it would be nice to see the drives ship with a USB-C cable extender which could make life a little easier.
The PNY Elite-X Fit drives really are the size of a thumb. These little USB-C drives aren't the ... More fastest but they are convenient and affordable.
Also shipping now are PNY's new and ultra-compact Elite-X Fit Type-C thumb drives. These tiny drives have a USB-C connector and are suitable for plugging in directly to a laptop. Unlike the PRO Elite V3, the Elite-X Fit drive is much slower. It's designed for transferring and storing small files and has a leisurely write speed of 100MB/s and a read speed of 200MB/s.
The micro-sized format of these smaller drives is easier to carry around and its narrow enough to leave adjacent ports accessible. These smaller Elite-X Fit drives are primarily designed for portability and convenience and are aimed at general office and school duties where price will always win out over performance.
The PNY PRO Elite V3 Type-C USB 3.2 Gen 2 and Elite-X Fit Type-C USB 3.2 flash drives are shipping now from or PNY PRO Elite V3 Type-C USB Flash Drives: 256GB: $29.99, 512GB: $49.99, 1TB: $74.99, 2TB: $144.99. PNY Elite-X Fit Type-C USB Flash Drives: 64GB 3-Pack: $27.99, 128GB 2-Pack: $24.99, 256GB: $24.99.
PNY PRO Elite V3 Type-C Flash Drive
PNY Elite-X Fit Type-C Flash Drive
