It’s time you stopped using USB flash drives

Many eons ago, USB flash drives were immensely useful. You have to remember that for a long time, many people didn’t have Wi-Fi, let alone a gigabit internet connection. If you wanted to shuttle files from place to place, a flash drive was often the best solution, especially since you didn’t have to burn a CD or DVD. Or later on, perhaps, a Blu-ray disc.

Flash drives still have some value, so I’m not saying you should toss them out. But they’re increasingly irrelevant for the needs of modern Macs, PCs, and tablets, not to mention the many other devices that have USB ports. There are three main alternatives.

Portable SSDs

Flash drives on steroids

Strictly speaking, both SSDs (solid-state drives) and flash drives rely on flash memory, but SSDs tend to be far more capable. At a base level, there’s storage capacity. Whereas many flash drives hold 256GB or less, it’s not hard to find portable SSDs with 1TB, 2TB, or 4TB. A single product can potentially replace a drawer full of flash sticks. In some circumstances, it would be impractical to fit your files on anything else — you’re not going to stash a decent 4K movie collection on anything short of a 1TB drive.

Next, there’s speed. That’s not going to matter much if you’re just copying a few PDF resumes, or even an MP3 collection. But it can make worlds of difference if you’re setting up a scratch disk for video editing, or backing up a PC’s internal drive. The best portable SSDs are fast enough to run apps from, although I’d recommend against that for other reasons — for instance, your OS might freak out if you disconnect a drive and several apps suddenly go missing.

One of the limiting factors on flash drive performance is port technology. You’re probably not going to find a flash drive with anything better than USB 3.2 Gen 2×2, which is capped at 20Gbps, and many still use USB 3.1, 3.0, or even 2.0. Conversely, some SSDs support USB 4 and Thunderbolt, doubling bandwidth to at least 40Gbps with a compatible device. Thunderbolt 5 ramps this up to a peak of 120Gbps.

You will of course have to pay more for better specs, but even reasonably-priced SSDs tend to offer another advantage: durability. Many have metal enclosures, and some ruggedized models are designed to survive drops or brief water exposure. It’s all too easy to break or lose a flash stick no bigger than your thumb.

SD cards

More flexible than you might think

SD cards can’t offer the same performance as an SSD, and you’ll need a separate card reader for most phones, tablets, and computers. But what SD cards lack in those areas, they make up for in affordability, at least if you stay below the 1TB mark.

Critically, SD cards are actually required for a number of devices, such as some drones and standalone cameras. They’re the only way of expanding storage on a Switch 2 or Steam Deck short of a delicate DIY internal operation. Setting up an SD ecosystem in your home may not only make it easier to shuttle files on and off of these products, but lead to a steady supply of cards ready to go when you need them. There are some photographers and videographers who burn through cards like a soldier reloading ammo, including YouTubers and wedding specialists.

Pay close attention to speed ratings before you buy anything. The fastest SD card type is SD Express, which comes in 150, 300, 450, and 600MBps (megabyte-per-second) speed classes. Realistically, though, most devices can’t take advantage of that, so there’s usually little point in buying anything beyond a regular SDXC card with a V60 or V90 rating. Check compatibility with your devices if you want to push their limits.

Apart from needing a specialized reader or slot, the one serious downside versus flash drives is fragility. SD cards are even easier to lose, and some may be flimsy enough that you can accidentally snap them in half. It’s worth investing in a case or binder if you amass enough of them.

Cloud storage services

Convenience, at a price

For devices with internet connections and app support, it’s hard to top the convenience of cloud storage. Anything you upload to a cloud locker becomes (almost) instantly accessible on other devices where you’re logged into the same service. There’s no need to carry anything between devices at all, eliminating concerns about losing or breaking something. Indeed this also opens up the possibility of sharing files with anyone, anywhere, at any time, as long as you’ve given them the necessary link permissions.

Sometimes, the cloud can also be the cheapest option. Companies like Apple, Dropbox, Google, and Microsoft provide a small amount of storage for free. If you’re only concerned with transferring a few documents and images, even a $20 flash drive may be a waste of money. If you’re willing to sign up for multiple services simultaneously, you might never run out of space.

In practice, however, this is all carefully engineered to get you paying a monthly or annual fee. Consider Google — the company gives you 15GB to start, but this is spread across all Google services, including Gmail and Google Photos. Simply syncing photos and videos from your phone could push you over the limit, and once you hit your cap, there’s no choice but to delete files, move them elsewhere, or pay for a Google One plan. If you go beyond Google, it may be maddening trying to remember which files are on which service, and whether you updated them recently.

It’s not hard to imagine some other flaws. You can’t exactly insert “the cloud” into a drone or DSLR, and even if you could, most internet connections top out at 1Gbps or less, under the 5Gbps of USB 3.0. That’s enough to stream music or video, yet woefully slow for larger file transfers, never mind running apps. Many services don’t even offer more than 2TB unless you’re willing to step up to an expensive business account.

The biggest drawback, naturally, is that you’re dependent on internet access. If you’re knocked offline for whatever reason, you won’t be able to fetch the latest version of a file if you don’t already have it cached locally. Local caching also means having enough local space, so often you’re not actually expanding your storage, just safeguarding the files you already have and making them easier to reach.

On that note, I recommend that for truly important files, you keep three copies: one on internal storage, one on an external drive, and one in the cloud. While the first two can be lost, damaged, or stolen, you should always have some sort of offline option. If you don’t have an SSD or SD card, a USB flash drive is going to be better than nothing.