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Everything USB 
USB 3.0 Flash Drives
Let's face it, USB 2.0 flash drives just don't cut it anymore; everyone wants bigger, faster and better options which only USB 3.0 can provide. For the average consumer who wants more speed than USB 2.0 flash drives can offer, but doesn't want to spend an arm and a leg, Super Talent has line of thumbdrives which comes with a more value orientated price: the Express USB 3.0 flash drive. So how much speed does this reduced MSRP get you and is there any downside to it? Read on for my full review.
Don't Miss...
USB 3.0 Flash Drives Super Talent Express USB 3.0 Flash Drive Review
- Stylish good looks
- Not much bigger than USB 2.0 flash drives
- Very good performance
- LED indicator is not annoyingly bright
- Decent price to performance ratio
- Short warranty
- May block USB ports to either side of it
- Does get very warm during extended usage
- Requires USB 3.0 to get the most from it
First USB 3.0 Flash Drive
Anyone who has ever used a thumbdrive already has a pretty good idea what they look like and on first glance, the 32GB Super Talent Express USB 3.0 flash drive will not shatter any of your preconceived notions. While it is slightly longer than some flash drives, overall it looks exactly like it should with dimensions of 2.44" x 1.06" x 0.3" (62 x 27 x 7.5 mm). However, these dimensions only tell at best half the story and upon further investigation I realized Super Talent, unlike many flash drive manufactures, has taken the time to take the ubiquitous flash drive and sex it up! This flash drive may from a distance look like your typical USB flash storage device, but when you pick it up and take a close look at it you realize its not a just a flat box of a drive. The bottom of the Express Drive has a subtle concave shape to it and the top half has a concave shape to it. This is not something you can easily see, but something you can feel as the drive just fits "right". The black plastic exterior may me slick and smooth but this slightly curving feel actually gives the Super Talent Express drive 32GB a surprisingly firm and secure feel to it!
The rear half of the 32GB Super Talent Express USB 3.0 flash drive is capped in smoky gray plastic which not only has a integrated lanyard ring, but also allows the hidden LED to shine out. This rear LED glows a nice subdued blue when attached and rapidly blinks when it is being accessed. It is bright enough to be noticeable , yet not so bright as to be annoying in a darkened room. Once again reinforcing my belief that a lot of though and engineering when into this seemingly simple design! It really is shocking how much time and effort Super Talent spent on what is for all intents and purposes their "value orientated" line. To be blunt this drive would easily pass for a flagship model with most other companies as it exudes elegance and sophistication no mere "budget" device has any right doing!
Where this is a recently released drive, and is a USB drive, the Express Drive is of course USB "SuperSpeed" 3.0 enabled. This does mean the metal USB connection port is longer than what you will most likely be used to if all your flash drives are the older USB 2.0 devices. This length is perfectly normal and is what allows the Super Talent Express drive to be backwards compatible. Where it is a SuperSpeed drive, I really have high hopes for its performance as even one of the fastest USB 2.0 flash drives out there the Corsair Voyager GTR line has speeds that are slow for modern devices.
As with many high performance orientated devices, your default Microsoft drivers are just not going to allow you to get the most from the 32GB Super Talent Express USB 3.0 flash drive. Super Talent knows this and in what I feel is the correct move included a small secondary 32MB ROM which comes preloaded with a handy little program. In a nut shell, this program corrects the deficiencies of the standard drivers by loading the proper ones FOR you. As long as you have auto run enabled, every time you plug in you Express a small little program will load, and give you a nice little performance boost. The only caveat is the first time you use your Super Talent Express drive on a system the software will install and then prompt you to remove and then re-plug in the drive. This is so the software can load the drivers; however, after this first time there is no unplugging and plugging back it, or any extra hassles associated with this software!
Even better is the fact that its default setting is to give you all the performance; however, if for whatever reason your system does not like these drivers their is an option to disable it and opt for the more mundane default MS drivers. Of course, if this the case, simply turning off auto run will do the same thing as without this software your Express Drive will use the standard mass storage device drivers.
All in all, I really like that not only is this software setup so that you don't have to do anything to get the full speed but it comes preloaded on the drive itself. You latterly don't even need to know the program exists to get all the benefits from it. It really is that user friendly and really is a classic definition of "plug and play"! Simply marvelous.
Anyone who has ever used a thumbdrive already has a pretty good idea what they look like and on first glance, the 32GB Super Talent Express USB 3.0 flash drive will not shatter any of your preconceived notions. While it is slightly longer than some flash drives, overall it looks exactly like it should with dimensions of 2.44" x 1.06" x 0.3" (62 x 27 x 7.5 mm). However, these dimensions only tell at best half the story and upon further investigation I realized Super Talent, unlike many flash drive manufactures, has taken the time to take the ubiquitous flash drive and sex it up! This flash drive may from a distance look like your typical USB flash storage device, but when you pick it up and take a close look at it you realize its not a just a flat box of a drive. The bottom of the Express Drive has a subtle concave shape to it and the top half has a concave shape to it. This is not something you can easily see, but something you can feel as the drive just fits "right". The black plastic exterior may me slick and smooth but this slightly curving feel actually gives the Super Talent Express drive 32GB a surprisingly firm and secure feel to it!
The rear half of the 32GB Super Talent Express USB 3.0 flash drive is capped in smoky gray plastic which not only has a integrated lanyard ring, but also allows the hidden LED to shine out. This rear LED glows a nice subdued blue when attached and rapidly blinks when it is being accessed. It is bright enough to be noticeable , yet not so bright as to be annoying in a darkened room. Once again reinforcing my belief that a lot of though and engineering when into this seemingly simple design! It really is shocking how much time and effort Super Talent spent on what is for all intents and purposes their "value orientated" line. To be blunt this drive would easily pass for a flagship model with most other companies as it exudes elegance and sophistication no mere "budget" device has any right doing!
Where this is a recently released drive, and is a USB drive, the Express Drive is of course USB "SuperSpeed" 3.0 enabled. This does mean the metal USB connection port is longer than what you will most likely be used to if all your flash drives are the older USB 2.0 devices. This length is perfectly normal and is what allows the Super Talent Express drive to be backwards compatible. Where it is a SuperSpeed drive, I really have high hopes for its performance as even one of the fastest USB 2.0 flash drives out there the Corsair Voyager GTR line has speeds that are slow for modern devices.
As with many high performance orientated devices, your default Microsoft drivers are just not going to allow you to get the most from the 32GB Super Talent Express USB 3.0 flash drive. Super Talent knows this and in what I feel is the correct move included a small secondary 32MB ROM which comes preloaded with a handy little program. In a nut shell, this program corrects the deficiencies of the standard drivers by loading the proper ones FOR you. As long as you have auto run enabled, every time you plug in you Express a small little program will load, and give you a nice little performance boost. The only caveat is the first time you use your Super Talent Express drive on a system the software will install and then prompt you to remove and then re-plug in the drive. This is so the software can load the drivers; however, after this first time there is no unplugging and plugging back it, or any extra hassles associated with this software!
Even better is the fact that its default setting is to give you all the performance; however, if for whatever reason your system does not like these drivers their is an option to disable it and opt for the more mundane default MS drivers. Of course, if this the case, simply turning off auto run will do the same thing as without this software your Express Drive will use the standard mass storage device drivers.
All in all, I really like that not only is this software setup so that you don't have to do anything to get the full speed but it comes preloaded on the drive itself. You latterly don't even need to know the program exists to get all the benefits from it. It really is that user friendly and really is a classic definition of "plug and play"! Simply marvelous. 
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