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While most USB flash drives strive to offer high storage capacities at reasonable prices, the 16GB Kingston DataTraveler 4000 G2 ($113) makes keeping your files safe its top priority. You get multiple layers of advanced protection, so you pay a high price relative to its low capacity. Still, if security is your top priority, and you don’t mind paying a premium for it, the DataTraveler 4000 G2 is worth considering. But the Lexar JumpDrive M10 Secure (64GB) ($11.99 at Amazon)(Opens in a new window) is a much better value and remains our Editors’ Choice for encrypted flash drives.
Design and Features
With an attractive all-black, stainless steel casing with titanium coating, the DataTraveler 4000 G2 has a premium look and feel, with a solid weighted heft. A simple cap protects the connector, and can be attached to the bottom of the drive to keep it from being misplaced when the drive is plugged in. The drive uses USB 3.0 for fast file transfer speeds, but the real draw is the 256-bit AES hardware-based encryption to protect your information.
Your data is guarded by FIPS 140-2 Level 3 Validation, a U.S.-government-level security standard. The drive also has a tamper-evident seal and offers a read-only access mode to avoid potential malware. If your drive should end up in someone else’s hands, the DataTraveler 4000 G2 will lock itself and reformat after 10 failed intrusion attempts.
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The drive requires that you enter your key each time you plug it in. Once you do, the files on the drive become accessible, while seven failed attempts prompt a warning that three more incorrect guesses will delete all of the data on the drive. As long as you don’t accidentally lock yourself out and wipe important data, that’s an excellent security feature if you’re worried about keeping sensitive information safe.
Pricing and Performance
At a list price of $113 for 16GB, you’re paying a very high $7.06 per gigabyte for this drive. The DataTraveler 4000 G2 is also available in 4GB ($53), 8GB ($68), 32GB ($186), and 64GB ($337) versions. The price-per-gigabyte breakdown for these capacities are $13.25, $8.50, $5.81 and $5.26, respectively. As is typical with storage, the more capacity you buy, the less you’ll pay per GB.
In contrast, the Lexar JumpDrive M10 Secure has 256-bit AES encryption, but lacks FIPS 140-2 Level 3 Validation and a read-only mode. That said, it offers four times as much storage. At $72.99 for 64GB, it comes to $1.14 per gigabyte. Still, the DataTraveler 4000 G2 isn’t the most expensive compared with some other secure drives we’ve tested. The 4GB Kingston DataTraveler Vault Privacy ($88.59 at Amazon)(Opens in a new window) comes in at $10.50 per gigabyte, and the IronKey Personal S250 16GB Secure Drive ( at Amazon)(Opens in a new window) is $20 per gigabyte.
In our timed file transfer test, the DataTraveler 4000 G2 offered quick read speeds of 194 megabytes per second (MBps) and write speeds of 22MBps via USB 3.0. The read speed over a USB 2.0 connection was much slower at 39MBps, but the write speed was only slightly slower at 20MBps. The Lexar JumpDrive M10 Secure’s read speed of 92MBps on USB 3.0 is not nearly as fast, but its 56MBps write speed is much quicker. The IronKey Personal S250 is USB 2.0-only, and demonstrated speeds of 35MBps (read) and 21MBps (write) in the same test. The Kingston DataTraveler microDuo 3.0 ($14.85 at Amazon)(Opens in a new window) , our Editors’ Choice USB flash drive, posted speeds of 12MBps (read) and 38MBps (write) over USB 3.0, and 31MBps (read) and 9MBps (write) over USB 2.0.
Conclusion
The Kingston DataTraveler 4000 G2 is a well-made drive aimed at the security-conscious. It does not have the best value in terms of storage capacity for your dollar, but if you’re shopping for encrypted drives, you’re likely focused more on security than price. Its focus on data protection and corresponding high cost are more suited to businesses buying in bulk than individual consumers. The 64GB Lexar JumpDrive M10 Secure remains our Editors’ Choice for secure drives, since it provides encryption and much more storage at a lower price.
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The 16GB Kingston DataTraveler 4000 G2 secure USB flash drive provides high-end security for your files, but it comes at a steep price.
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Source link : https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/kingston-datatraveler-4000-g2-16gb
