Different Thumb Drive Sizes Available In The Market

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Thumb drives, famously known as USB drives or flash drives are named after their tiny portable size and thumb-like shape. These little solid-state drives have made transferring and securing data a piece of cake, transferring data within the span of seconds. Although surprisingly, this small-sized drive can typically hold at least 256 megabytes of data up to 1TB.

The storage capacity of this device varies from model to model. Some USB thumb drives can hold even more than 2TB of data. The device’s storage capacity is quite impressive considering its compact structure, thanks to technological advancement over the years.

The best thing about USB thumb drives is that they come in various sizes. As technology is progressing, USB thumb drives are being made available in larger capacities. While in 2016, 256GB was the maximum size available, in 2018 USB thumb drive sizes have increased all the way up to 1TB of storage space. One can only imagine what the future may hold for these USB drives. The good thing is that the various thumb drive sizes available, give you the leverage of buying the best flash drive just as much storage as you need.

We do get, however, that it’s not easy to decide which size USB would suit your needs the best, without having ample knowledge of the various sizes, their storage capabilities, or in other words pros and cons. Below are a few thumb drive sizes most commonly used and available in the market. This will help you to get a better insight into what size do thumb drives come in? What is the biggest flash drive you can buy? What they are capable of and which one you should consider investing in. 

2GB

Although USB thumb drives with a data storage capacity below 2GB are easily available on the market, people don’t consider a thumb drive with a storage capacity of fewer than 2 GB. Why is that the case? Well, the minimum storage required to store files, both large and small, is around 2 GB. 

You’re probably wondering how much data can fit into a 2G thumb drive. In case you’re someone who works with a lot of heavy files or enjoys music a whole lot, a 2GB drive has the capacity to hold nearly 50’000 documents and 500 minutes’ worth your favorite playlist overall.

Everything has its drawbacks though, similarly a 2GB USB drive doesn’t have the capacity to hold large video files. Bottom line is that if you’re a movie freak or work with videos, this particular option isn’t for you.

4GB

There’s a drive for every kind of person out there, this one’s ideal for students. Offering twice the data space as the 2GB USB, the 4 GB thumb drive is comparatively a better buy for moderate use.

The 4GB drive is probably the most commonly used out of all thumb drive sizes, as it has enough storage to accommodate a relatively larger backup of student documents and projects or similar files. This makes this drive quite popular among students.

It also comes in handy when storing and transferring images, music files, and videos.

8GB

If you’re looking to up your storage game even further, a thumb drive with an 8 GB storage capacity might be a viable option for you. This thumb drive size is ideal for storing thousands of documents and files including images, music playlists, student documents, and even office work files.

The large storage capacity allows this device to last for a longer period of time before its storage capacity is full. This means it can easily store data and be used to backup data of several years.

In short, the 8 GB USB drive is capable of holding a great number of data files and folders. Although, if you’re dealing with larger sized videos more often, it’s better for you to get an even larger-sized thumb drive since videos normally take up a lot of storage space.

16 GB

This one’s for you if you’re looking to store and transfer a larger amount of data or media files and folders. This drive is created to support heavier files and is suitable for people who work with heavier files regularly. So if you’re looking to store or transfer thousands of music tracks, pictures, and even video files, 16 GB is a decent option.

For video editors and people who won’t deal with larger sized video files – such as movies, this is the minimum size you should consider as it’s suited to hold and transfer several videos at once.

32 GB

This thumb drive is sufficient to perform several tasks efficiently. From holding thousands of files, transferring huge amounts of data including high-resolution videos, the 32 GB option is attractive, to say the least. You can even store entire libraries or large-sized folders of music files and photos.

The best selling point for the 32 GB thumb drive is that it allows you to store several programs as well. So if you’re dealing with software or extremely heavy files, you already know which size thumb drive is better suited for you.

Biggest Thumb Drive Sizes Available

1. DataTraveler Ultimate GT

The largest size USB has recently been announced by Kingston Technology Company Inc. as the DataTraveler Ultimate GT in 2017. The drive offers a storage capacity of 2TB. In case you’re wondering, that it is equivalent to 2000GB. In more profound words, as stated by Andrew Ewing, Flash memory business manager, Kingston’ you can now store your entire digital world on a portable USB drive.

The drive is most suitable for people who like to store and transfer various large size video or graphic files. Or even gamers, who carry their entire library. These guys will appreciate this drive’s enormous capacity for sure. 

Holding an abundant amount of storage space, this drive does not lack behind when it comes to speed either. With full support for USB 3.1, the drive is capable of reading at the speed of 300MBps and writing at 200MBps. Although this best flash drive is extremely appealing, it’s just as costly. 

2. Pen Drive

A sleek capless design and a stylish body, this flash drive comes in diverse storage capacities with the largest being around 256 GB. The storage capacity is remarkable given the compact design of the USB. This 256 GB flash drive body is made out of an aluminium alloy. Overall, this USB offers both a large storage capacity as well as a stylish design. 

3. Corsair 

Corsair Flash Voyager Premium Drive

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One of the largest USB storage devices is Corsair Flash Voyager USB 3.0 512GB, having the capacity to hold up to 512 GB. This drive is not only known for being one of Corsair’s largest but is also famous for its sleek metallic design.

Another stand out factor for this drive is its outstanding speed, it reads and writes at the speed of up to 290MB/s. Although, it’s important for this drive to be supported with the right USB port to reach its maximum efficiency. 

4. Patriot Supersonic Rage

Patriot has upgraded the majority of its USB’s up to 512 GB capacity. But when it comes to speed, the Patriot Supersonic Rage 3.1 512GB supersedes all. The device is not just fast and sleek, but the biggest selling point is its affordable price.

You can find this USB for a price as low as 100 USD, that’s a deal you don’t want to miss. The 3.1 version of the rage makes this USB compatible with previous USB standards as well.

5. PNY Pro Elite 512GB USB 3.0

If you’re looking for an affordable USB, that can give you an enormous amount of storage, the PNY Pro Elite is what you’re looking for.

This thumb drive is capable of holding 512GB data. Not only is it light on the pocket, but it is as fast as lightning. It has the reading and writing speed of 400Mbps and 250Mbps making it quick, compact, and ideal to store large size files and folders.

Looking to download movies, loads and loads of music, or even software and systems? It’ll handle it quite well. Although the only drawback is transferring smaller files is a little time consuming compared to the larger ones. Regardless, this device is great value for money.

5 Easy Ways to Get Maximum Thumb Drive Size

Running short on storage space? Don’t worry, it’s not the end of the world. Here are some tips to help you free some space in your thumb drive that won’t cost you a single penny:

Delete Unwanted Hidden Files

Sometimes your USB tells you it’s full, yet it’s hard to figure out why. Well, there’s a very high possibility it’s due to the hidden files stored on it, every time you connect it to your computer. On the brighter side, you can get rid of those hidden files in just a few steps:

For Windows:

1. Go to control panel and click on the ‘Appearance and Personalization’ icon
2. Then go to ‘File explorer/Folders
3. As soon as you press the Folders icon, a pop-up will appear giving you the option to disable hidden extensions, untick it.
4. Now all your files will be visible to you, so time to skim through and delete the files that are of no good.

For Mac:

All you have to do is press ‘CMD + SHIFT +’ to show or hide these files. Then you can choose whether to keep them or trash them.

Compress Files To Increase USB Storage Capacity

Did you know you could compress your files to free up some space of your storage device? Well, sometimes files take up more space than their size. In this scenario, compressing the file will not only free up space but make the file easier to transfer. It also increases the files downloading and uploading speed. All you have to do is follow these simple steps:

For Windows:

Select the file you want to compress, right-click it, and go to send to option. Then click ‘compressed zipped folder’

For Mac:

It’s even simpler. Go to the file/folder you wish to compress, right-click, and choose compress. The compressed file will appear right next to the original file.

Use File Achievers to Compress Your Files

This is an alternative way to compress your files through software, including WinZip, 7-Zip, and WinRAR.

WinZip is famous for being the first-ever archiving software, yet it is still commonly used. WinRAR is known for being the only software proficient enough to process files with RAR format. 7-ZIP on the other hand, is the best, for those who looking for cost-free archiving software.

Reformat Your Drive Using Software

One of the easiest ways you might regain some storage space on your device is to use the software in order to reformat your drive. It not only frees space, but it also allows you to repair write-protected thumb drives.

Split Large Files Into Smaller Sizes Before Transferring

Sometimes you might face an issue while transferring files from your USB, stating there isn’t ample space. Yet you’re wondering, how is that possible?

Well, these error messages can be a false alarm. Sometimes the issue is the size of your file being transferred rather than the available space.

So all you have to do it divide or resize your larger folders, into smaller files or folders.

The Benefits Of Thumb Drives

There are numerous benefits of thumb drives. Some of the more prominent ones include its portable design. The lightweight, thumb-sized USB’s are super easy to carry around. You can just hang them onto your keychain or slip them into your pocket and it’ll be like it’s not even there.

Other than that, it’s highly compatible, as most computers and other devices have ports for USBs. There isn’t any other device that can give you so much storage space and allow you to store and carry loads of files with such ease. Carrying data is great, but the ease of transferring data from one device to another makes this thumb drives an even better buy.

Transferring data is not just easy but barely takes time if you have a good thumb drive in hand. Another constructive point to consider is that it barely consumes any power, the non-movable parts of this device make it power-friendly.

Thumb drives are definitely the star of the digital era. We humans have gone from scripting information on pieces of stone, animal hides and leaves, to storing, carrying and transferring data in a device as tiny as a human thumb. Who knows what the future holds for these thumb drives? Although as for now this drive has gone from a luxury to a necessity.

Anyone dealing with large amounts of data would agree upon the fact that these USB drives are a game-changer. So why not know more about the 25 best thumb drives that can never disappoint you?