Gadgets8.11.2024

Best USB-C flash drives in South Africa

South African online stores are offering a wide range of USB-C flash drives at prices starting from as little as R79.

USB-C has increasingly become the standard connector for powering consumer electronics.

The latest USB ports and cables can support up to 240 watts of output thanks to power delivery (PD) technology.

That is sufficient to power laptops, monitors, TVs, and even charge up chunky portable backup power stations.

USB-A connectors can only support up to 4.5 watts of output, less than a quarter of the maximum charging speed of many smartphones.

But USB-C’s capabilities also extend into data transferrals. USB-C supports up to the latest USB 4.0 standard whereas USB-A maxes out at USB 3.2.

That means USB-C supports data transfers of up to 40Gbps compared to 20Gbps with USB-A.

Many larger external hard drives or solid-state drives now feature USB-C ports and cables for optimal data transfer speeds.

Several popular thin-and-light and premium laptops no longer even offer full-size USB-A ports, as USB-C is sufficient for delivering power and connecting devices for data transfer.

Examples of these devices include Apple’s latest line-up of MacBooks, extending from the entry-level MacBook Air all the way up to top-end MacBook Pro.

These users must connect an adapter or dock to their laptop to view the content of a conventional USB-A flash drive.

Having a USB-C connector can also be useful for transferring files between a drive and a smartphone.

With Apple adopting the connector with the iPhone 15 released in September 2023, nearly all smartphones now feature USB-C ports.

A USB-C flash drive may be of huge help to content creators who primarily use their smartphones for shooting videos or photos.

Aside from its technological advantages, the USB-C connector and port is smaller, allowing for more compact devices.

Unlike USB-A, a USB-C connector does not have to be plugged in with one side pointing a particular way.

USB-A connector (front left) and USB-C connector (top right)

MyBroadband searched popular online stores in South Africa for the most affordable and best-rated USB-C flash drives on the market.

The most affordable USB-C drive available online is the Kingston DataTraveler 70, priced from R79 with a 64GB capacity at Tech.co.za.

This is roughly the same price as the Kingston DataTraveler Exodia with a regular USB-A connector, which offers the same write speeds but slower read speeds at 100MB/s.

If this is not fast enough for your taste, you can opt for the SanDisk Ultra USB-C drive, priced from R99 with 32GB storage and read and write speeds of 150MB/s and 45MB/s, respectively.

For those who want the best of both worlds, there are also several dual-type drives featuring a USB-C connector on one end and a USB-A on the other. These were priced from R109 at the time of publication.

Below are some of the most affordable, high-speed USB-C flash drives available in South Africa in early November 2024.