Review on 💨 High-Speed Performance: HP 512GB x770w USB 3.1 Flash Drive for Quick Data Transfer by Braden Douville

One would think that the ubiquity of flash drives would already make them a commodity with a minimal model for performance and performance modeling. While I certainly forgive you for making such an assumption, that is not the case at all. The sad fact is that capacity is an easy selection criteria, but performance varies widely. At $46, the HP x770w 256GB is significantly more expensive than most other 256GB flash drives (and even some 512GB and 1TB drives!). If you want to know why, all you have to do is look at the screenshot of ATTO that I've attached to this review. With 305MB/s write STR and 385MB/s read STR, the x770w is almost as fast as some inexpensive SATA SSDs. The STR's write speeds alone are three to four times faster than most 256GB flash drives. Just because a flash drive has a USB 3.1 Gen 1 interface doesn't mean it will be running near capacity, so it's good to see that drive can actually use the interface's bandwidth. As for the rest of the ride, there's not much attention. The drive isn't so bulky that it blocks other ports from being used. The drive retracts to protect the USB-A connector, which (to me at least) is preferable to loose caps. The "Smoky Chrome" look is nice, but is a little prone to fingerprints. There's no free software like recovery or encryption software (some OEMs ship with them) but I don't see why you wouldn't just use Bitlocker instead. The x770w isn't the cheapest USB drive, but I know having a 300MB/s write speed is better than saving a few bucks. I mean, once you hit those device capabilities, do you really want to be stuck at 70-100MB/s write speed? hicks. Not me. Highly recommended Highly recommended