A long time ago, people wondered why USB devices, a tool which has only two orientations, require at least three tries to connect. Men were dumbfounded, asking the highest powers the reason why such tragedies occur. With a spur of genius, engineers crafted a tool which can be connected either way. The answer. The USB 3.1 Type C. Well, enough of that corny intro, let’s get on with what’s on the table – the Kingston DataTraveler microDuo 3C, a storage drive that has both USB Type A and Type C compatibility.
Looks
Well, it looks like a USB thumb drive. The only difference is that it has two ports, one for the conventional Type A USB and the other for the Type C. A plastic shielding covers the C port because it’s a bit more important than the A. Not to mention that the Type A standard has continued to prove itself as a robust design.
Harnessing the Power of USB 3.1
The Kingston DataTraveler microDuo 3C’s main feature is that it’s a Type C USB flash drive that small, compact, and is compatible with traditional USB ports. Think of it as a digital Swiss Knife with a bit of silliness.
Finding a compatible device to test the Type C is a hard labor since there’s a difficulty in the availability. Suffice to say, you’re preparing for the future in having the Kingston DataTraveler microDuo 3C.
For the tests, I utilized an ASUS ROG Maximus VIII Hero for the USB 3.1 functionality.
I did several tests and downloaded three USBs to confirm Kingston’s claim of the following:
Crystal DiskMark
CrystalDiskMark is a disk benchmark software.It measure sequential reads/writes speed,measure random 512KB, 4KB, 4KB (Queue Depth=32) reads/writes speed,select test data (Random, 0Fill, 1Fill),provide theme support and Multi-Language support.
USB 3.1 Type C Speeds
USB Type A Speeds
I tested both sides of the device and the Type C has more than double of the speed of its other half.
ATTO Disk Benchmark
The ATTO Disk Benchmark performance measurement tool is compatible with Microsoft Windows. Measure your storage systems performance with various transfer sizes and test lengths for reads and writes.
ATTO Disk Benchmarks shows the consistent 100MB/s behavior that we saw in Crystal Disk Mark.
USB Flash Benchmark
Light and as simple as its name, this benchmark tool is pretty straightforward.
Well, there you have it. The USB 3.1 performs more than double than its 3.0 counterpart, averaging at 100MB/s transfer speeds.
Conclusion
The Kingston DataTraveler microDuo 3C is not a fast USB. There are definitely other high-speed thumb drives out there if you’re looking to be a speed demon. But the main point of the device is its USB Type C functionality. The new standard can be expected to be integrated with most devices in the next couple of months or years. Presently, finding compatible devices are hard as they are either scarce or still expensive. So, that’s where the USB Type A functionality comes into play, whereby giving the user freedom to jump between the traditional and the new standard.
Since having a personal USB thumb drive is sort of a requirement nowadays, getting your hands onto one that’s built to last is a must. The Kingston Type C functionality does open the doors for the future of the standard so I can recommend this for those looking for a newer thumbdrive or at least a means to transfer files mano-a-mano between the newer MacBooks and upcoming Google devices. The good thing about everything is: you don’t have to flip it.
The device is yet to be available in the Philippines, but expect the price to play within these values: PhP690 (16GB), PhP950(32GB), and PhP1500(64GB)
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