Corsair 32 GB USB 3.0 Flash Voyager (CMFVY3S-32GB)

Just received this and quite impressed compared to previous USB2.0 drives I have owned. The case is made from a grippy, rubbery material that seems very durable. Most flash drives are quite rugged, but the main cause of failure is the case splitting in half where it snapped together, which can't happen with this guy.

CrystalDiskMark shows sequential read at 80 MB/s and sequential write at 20 MB/s over USB 3.0 (see my product image). These speeds were confirmed during file transfers. Speeds over USB 2.0 were 35 MB/s read and 20 MB/s write, still much faster than most USB2 flash drives.

I don't know what the previous reviewers were doing (none of those reviews are very specific anyways), but this is a very speedy drive.

I have used Corsair USB flash drives in the past and have been very pleased with their durability and reliability. I chose the 32 GB USB 3.0 due to its fast read and write speeds which are advertised as a maximum sequential read speed of 80 MB/s and a write speed of 40 MB/ s. The write speed is faster than the less expensive Corsair 16GB Flash Voyager USB 3.0 Flash Drive CMFVY3S-16GB version and the faster write speed is a good reason to choose the 32 GB USB 3.0 drive instead of the 16 GB version.

Note that there are two 32 GB USB 3.0 drives available. This model (CMFVY3S-32GB) is smaller than the slightly less expensive Corsair 32GB Flash Voyager USB 3.0 Flash Drive CMFVY3-32GB and...Read more

On the USB 2.0 drives, I noticed no difference or even saw a slighly slower transfer rate if I formatted as NTFS.

This USB 3.0 flash drive is different. I went from 15 MB/s to 22 MB/s solid with writes just by changing the formatting. I think I should be getting a higher write-speed, but even with the latest NEC drivers, that's the best I'm getting with a 7.2 GB folder holding 903 files (a mix of .jpg, .CR2 and Photoshop files).

As for reads, well, it is blazingly fast at 80 MB/s for the same folder full of files.

Some of the benchmark software maybe useful for comparing brands, but rarely do I see real-world speeds match the benchmarks. This is why I am writing this review, to give a more realistic report on how much gain you will get with USB 3.0 flash drives.

BTW, I'm testing this on a Gigabyte motherboard, a GA-x58-UD3 rev 2.

As for build quality, I like the rubbery feel. The litte lanyard loop feels strong enough, but I...Read more