When I was offered the opportunity to write a review on a USB stick, my first reaction was to miss myself. Little to write about a simple pendrive, right? It connects via USB to our computer and saves all the files you want (and fit) into it. It is small, portable, comfortable and has helped to leave optical media behind to store content.
But of course, it did not count on what type of USB memory would count. And in this case we are talking about the Kingston Ultimate GT, the authentic flagship brand with an immeasurable capacity of 2 terabytes. Suddenly, desktop hard disks or NASs that have this capability become something much simpler.
A great little storage monster
What does a 2TB USB stick look like? Well the one you can see in the image above: is something bigger than a normal USB memory, but I think we can still call it USB memory. It fits perfectly in the palm of my hand, in the pockets and in the compartments of any backpack where you want to carry it. Yes, you can see that it weighs considerably more than a normal USB memory whose weight almost never notice: the Ultimate GT weighs 136 grams.
Its thickness can plug other USB ports on the computer, but Kingston has thought about it and offers a small extension cord that solves the problem. And to protect the connection, its zinc alloy casing expands to hide it. Also included in the box is a carry bag if we want to protect it better.
Good compatibility and better reading speed than promised
Let’s go to specifications. The Kingston Ultimate GT comes preformatted in ExFAT, ensuring compatibility with Windows 7 SP1 and later in addition to Linux, OS X / macOS and even ChromeOS. This file system is an heir of FAT32, but it gets rid of the limitation of the maximum 4 GB that can have the files that are stored.
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This little monster has USB 3.1 Gen 1 speeds up to 5 Gbps, although it is the internal memory itself that determines the speeds. In the same box of the Kingston Ultimate GT we are promised speeds of 300 MB / s of reading and 200 MB / s of data writing. That’s right? Nothing like a speed test to check it …
After doing the test several times the reading speeds are between 250 and the promised 300 MB / s, but sometimes even exceed 300 MB / s. The writing speeds are shorter, reaching 130-140 MB / s compared to the promised 200 MB / s. We are not going to get picky: for a USB memory, they are high speeds. We could edit without any problem 1080p video at 60 frames per second from the device, and we could even dare with content at 2160p.
Something more enormous than its capacity
On the whole we are faced with an authentic USB memory cucumber. A huge storage of 2 TB, very respectable speeds … is there a problem? Yes, its price. The Kingston Ultimate GT costs a whopping 1800 euros, with a slightly more “cheap” version with 1 TB of storage for 1061.84 euros.
Yes, this USB stick is the best way to get 2TB wherever you want, it’s the most comfortable thing you can find. But there are disks with the same capacity of 2 TB and a very similar size as the Samsung T3, which can be yours for 757.92 euros. And with read speeds of up to 450 MB / s and a USB-C port ready for the future that we almost have over.
Therefore, the feeling that gives me the Ultimate GT is that it is a USB memory that is ahead of its time. And like any technology advanced in time, it is too expensive for the general market and even for the professional market. Kingston has done it because he can do it, period. And that in itself has an advantage: now that it has been shown that the 2TB flash drives can exist, the simple phenomenon of competition will cause more models to appear and technology become cheaper.
