Storage is a precious luxury on a device, giving us the space to keep important files, personal documents and our favorite pictures and videos of loved ones in a safe place. But there's always room for more, and that's where the SanDisk Extreme Fit USB-C Flash Drive, well, fits in.
It's the world's smallest 1TB USB-C flash drive, or so SanDisk claims, and it's quickly become a permanent solution for my laptop's storage. I know, flash drives have done this for decades, right? But being this petite with this much space comes with a huge perk: staying put.
Sure, the best external SSDs and hard drives provide an ample amount of room for our laptops, tablets and more (8TB and beyond), but to plug in this tiny cube of a device and just leave it there offers an easy way to upgrade storage on our most-used tech.
Instead of a flash drive jutting out from the side of a laptop or an SSD dangling, SanDisk's Extreme Fit is designed to neatly stay plugged into a machine. And it's not just meant to sit there piling up data, as it also delivers transfer speeds up to 400MB/s. So, a quick way to move files from one storage device to the other.
The 1TB SanDisk Extreme Fit USB-C Flash Drive will set you back $117, which isn't too pricey considering the storage (and size) it offers. But it also comes in 128GB, 256GB and 512GB capacities to match the storage and price you want, and it all starts at just $19 over on Amazon. In fact, even less thanks to Black Friday sales.
It's a wicked little wonder, and clearly a popular one, as the 1TB model is already out of stock at Amazon as of writing. But not to worry, as it's available to grab on SanDisk's official website, along with a decent price cut, so you can get it for $109.
I've been using this flash drive to keep the storage load off my MacBook Air, and it's taken the worry off having to comb through all my files and pick and choose which I have to wave goodbye to and delete. Better yet, it's stayed plugged in, even when I'm on the move.
Size matters
Remember that scene from "Lucy" when Scarlett Johansson takes all her cosmic knowledge and effectively turns into a USB stick? SanDisk's Extreme Fit kind of reminds me of that, although supremely less silly. Actually, this flash drive is even smaller.
Coming in at 0.73 x 0.54 x 0.63 inches, it's just about the size of my fingernail. And it's ultra-lightweight, too, at just 0.1 ounces (3g). Not only does this not take up much room on the side of my laptop, but it also fits in without being a burden on the device. It even beats my small 2TB Crucial X9 Pro SSD when it comes to portability, as I don't generally plug this in until I need it.
Stocking up a hefty amount of images to use on stories (like this one) and saving pages upon pages of documents comes with the territory of my job, and it takes up room fast on my 512GB MacBook Air. With the Extreme Fit USB-C Flash Drive, though, I've now effectively more than doubled the space I can store all these files in.
It's obvious, but that's the key advantage of having plenty of space to play around with on a tiny device. I've even used it to transfer files over to my Quoted Tech Frontier PC, and it's not adding an extra wire to what could be a cluttered mess of cords.
Simply storage
Now, I wouldn't use this to launch apps or games like an external SSD, as this USB-C 3.2 Gen 1 stick isn't nearly as fast as those drives. Using the Blackmagic disk speed test, I was getting read speeds of up to 372.9MB/s and write speeds of 320.4MB/s. That's good enough to transfer files, small and large, with not much waiting time.
But that's fine, as all I want to do is use the Extreme Fit for more storage. And I can imagine many need that extra bit of space. The most affordable way to buy the best laptops or best tablets is to grab the model with base storage, and these are generally the most popular picks. Sometimes, this isn't a lot. Take the MacBook Air as an example, which starts at just 256GB. Even the iPad 11 starts at just 128GB.
Bumping this up with a massive 1TB of storage in a puny flash drive is a huge boon, and will save you from spending more for that much extra on-device space. Oh, and with the SanDisk app, you can manage and back up files on a Windows PC or Mac, so all the important stuff is there when your PC (hopefully never) fails.
Put simply, this is a petite storage device with a massive amount of space, and if you're looking for an easy way to keep all your files without your laptop reaching capacity, the SanDisk Extreme Fit USB-C Flash Drive is the near-invisible 1TB upgrade that offers a (tiny) helping hand.
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