PNY Duo Link V3 Flash Drive review: Up to 2TB of fast portable storage

Best Prices Today: PNY Duo Link V3 Flash Drive

In today’s world of cloud storage and painless wireless transfers plus inexpensive SD and microSD card readers, it’s easy to forget how useful the old-school flash thumb drives can be—especially as most still persevere with the old legacy rectangular USB-A connector that hasn’t been seen on a Mac since 2017’s MacBook Air.

Flash drives were once the kings of portable storage, prized for their portability, ease of use, and offline data transfer capabilities. If you wanted to quickly and securely move files between devices without an internet connection they were the perfect tool. Cloud storage is now the norm, but is slower, less data-secure and usually requires a monthly subscription.

SD cards vs flash drives

Modern MacBook Pros (and the Mac Studio) boast an SDXC card reader slot that can transfer data at a reasonable 250MBps when using a UHS-II card. Other Mac users can easily connect one of the best Mac USB-C hubs to add a similar card reader—indeed to a faster 312MBps.

If you need to store large capacities, the SD card is an affordable and super portable option. SD cards are generally easier to trust on data speed (100Mbps to 312MBps) as no-name flash drives rarely list their data-transfer rates.

A USB thumb drive takes up one of your Mac’s valuable Thunderbolt/USB-C ports, while the SD card reader is dedicated for portable storage only. For bulkier always-attached external storage, look at our roundup of the best external SSD drives for Mac.

However, we think you should reconsider the humble flash drive, especially one as capable as the PNY Duo Link V3 Flash Drive, which blends speed, portability, and broad compatibility into a sleek and still highly portable package.

This compact, durable device is designed for those who require rapid data transfer and the ability to seamlessly manage files across a variety of devices. If we’re comparing it to larger form-factor portable storage drives, the Duo Link V3 is an 10Gbps USB SSD (solid state storage drive). It’s a flash/thumb drive in form factor only. Technically it’s an On The Go (OTG) drive that makes it compatible with most phones and tablets as well as PCs, Macs and laptops.

It’s also very fast—much faster than even the speediest SD card. PNY claims speeds up to 1000MB/s read and 800MB/s write, making the Duo Link V3 one of the fastest USB flash drives on the market today.

Fast as a flash

In our tests the PNY Duo Link V3 got very close to those claimed speeds, recording scores of around 800-820MBps for read and 680-800Mbps for write, putting that 250MBps Apple SDXC card reader in the shade.

The drive does get significantly slower with much larger single transfers of over 250Gb or so. In tests at our sister site PCWorld.com, my colleague Jon Jacobi noted that in his 450GB test speed started at near 650MBps, then after approximately 250GB had been written, dropped to and vacillated between 15MBps and 100MBps. While the 450GB write result ruined the drive’s overall rating, he does note that “but “to be fair, the Duo Link V3 is about light-duty convenience, not heavy-duty workloads” and that “few users will ever write 450GB of contiguous data”.

The C Team beats the A Team

Personally, I wouldn’t go near a flash drive based on the old USB-A connector, and one of the attractive features of the PNY Duo Link V3 is its dual Type-A and Type-C connectors. This flexibility makes it an excellent choice for users with a wide range of devices, from older laptops and desktops with legacy USB-A ports to the latest iPhones, iPads and Macs with USB-C ports.

As fewer devices use the old standard, we should need that USB-A connector less, but it’s handy if you require maximum compatibility.

The performance of the Duo Link V3 is particularly notable, with its 10Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 2 compatibility. In our testing, the transfer speeds were noticeably faster compared to many other flash drives in the same category, with data moving between devices in seconds.

Durable design

With its sleek matte black metal swivel design, this pocketable flash drive is both durable and lightweight. The swivel design that manually switches between the C and A connectors means there’s no cap to lose, which I’ve found is often the case with other flash drives. The swivel satisfyingly clicks into place, which is a nice touch.

The lack of a cap might make you reconsider it if you are out and about all the time, in environments where it might be subjected to dust or physical impact, or you are keen to send the drive to others, as one end or the other will always be exposed. But around the home or office, the cap-less flash drive is more convenient if unprotected.

Price

The entry-level 256GB PNY Duo Link V3 is priced at an affordable $34.99 / £34.99. You’ll get twice that capacity with the 512GB model at $49.99 / £59.99, and then 1TB for $81.99 / £109.99, and the high-end 2TB flash drive priced at $154.99 / £179.99.

In comparison you can buy a known-brand 256GB SDXC card for around $25, 512GB for around $40, 1TB for $90 and 2TB going from $170 for a trusted brand. The prices therefore are cheaper for lower capacities but similar as the gigabytes pile on. Remember, however, that the data-transfer speeds of these cards are at most a quarter of the PNY flash dive.

Should you buy the PNY Duo Link V3 Flash Drive

The PNY Duo Link V3 Flash Drive is an excellent choice for users seeking a super-fast, reliable, ultra-compatible and portable storage solution. With capacity options from 256GB all the way up to 2TB and prices not dissimilar to slower SD cards it should be a strong candidate for your portable storage needs.

Best Prices Today: PNY Duo Link V3 Flash Drive