Store n Go V3 USB 3.0 16GB

Packaging & Contents

The Store n Go ships on a small piece of card with a plastic bubble housing the drive. On the front of the package we found the capacity of the drive and a diagram indicating how to operate the retractable mechanism. On the back of the package we found a list of supported operating systems, a limited lifetime warranty and details of Verbatims free flash drive software which we did not bother downloading. We have found that the freeware alternatives such as SyncBack for backups and TrueCrypt for encryption are far superior to the manufacturers own bundled software. No read/write speed ratings were indicated on the box but thanks to a reader we found them on Verbatims website where they claim read/write speeds of 60/12 MB/s.

Box Front

Box Back

Dimensions & Weight

The Store n Go measures 5.7cm long, 1.9cm wide and 1.1cm high. This drive is smaller than average but due to its width it may still obstruct adjacent ports on a computer. You might need to get an extension cable if you have a lot of devices connected to the same cluster of USB ports on your PC. Weighing in at just 9 grams the Verbatim is one of the lighter flash drives we have seen.

Build Quality

The Verbatim Strore n Go is reasonably solid but the retractable mechanism is clumsy. It's difficult to both engage and retract the drive head. There is a red indicator light inside the shell that flashes when the drive is in active operation. Finally there is a secure hole where a keychain can be attached.

Front

Back

Test System

CrystalDiskMark Speed Test^[FAQ]

CrystalDiskMark is a free disk benchmarking utility that is very simple to use. It takes eight measurements: the read and write speeds in megabytes per second (MBps) for sequential, 512KB, random 4KB and 4KB parallel disk operations. There are more screenshots from this benchmark posted on the web than any other, probably due to its clean and simple display. There is further information, including instructions on how to benchmark your own drives, on the CrystalDiskMark wiki page.

CrystalDiskMark Score

The Store n Go scored 81/45 MB/s in the sequential read/write tests. This drive has average read speeds and well above average write speeds. At 1.43 MB/s the Store n Go has the third highest random 4K write speed we have seen to date.

CrystalDiskMark Benchmark Speed Test

ATTO Disk Benchmark^[FAQ]

The Atto Disk Benchmark has probably been around for longer than any other disk benchmarking software, and you can tell from its dated interface! The utility was designed to measure regular disk drive performance but it's more than up to the task of measuring both USB flash drive and SSD speeds as well. The utility measures disk performance rates for various sizes of file and displays the results in a bar chart showing read and write speeds at each file size. The results are displayed in megabytes per second (MBps). There is further information, including instructions on how to benchmark your own drive, on the Atto wiki page.

ATTO Benchmark Speed Test

ATTO Score

The ATTO results for the Store n Go are broadly in line with the CrystalDiskMark scores and at 72/46 MB/s come in at reasonable levels especially considering Verbatim only claims read/write speeds of 60/12 MB/s.

AS SSD Real World Copy Speed^[FAQ]

The AS SSD benchmarking program was recently developed specifically for benchmarking SSD's. The utility is able to take several measurements that are well suited to solid state drives. One of the tests, ISO copy, is also relevant to slower storage devices including flash drives. The ISO copy test places two large 500MB files in a folder on the drive and then times how long it takes to copy the folder to another location on the same drive. The result is reported in both MBps and time taken. It's a real-world test that gauges a drives ability to read and write at the same time. Drives that have a good balance between their read and write speed fare relatively well on this test. There is further information, including instructions on how to use it to benchmark your own drive, on the AS SSD wiki page.

Real World Copy Speed Score

This test shows that the Store n Go would take 143.01 seconds to create a copy of a large 1GB video file. Generally flash drives complete this test at roughly half their sequential write rates. The Store n Go only managed to copy at 17% of its write speed, this indicates that Verbatims controller is optimised for either reading or writing but not both at the same time. The Store n Go will perform badly in situations that require both reading and writing at the same time e.g. running applications or an operating system.

AS-SSD Copy Benchmark Speed Test

Conclusion

The Store n Go had a quirky performance profile. For its price the drive shone in the CrystalDiskMark and ATTO tests but the AS-SSD real world speed test revealed that the drive was less able to both read and write at the same time. It might be best to avoid this drive if you plan to run applications or host an operating system. Our tests showed the drive outperforming Verbatims claimed write speed by a factor of three, an unusual result but confirmed by several other benchmarks found on the web. Overall given its low price we consider this drive above average at this time.

USBFlashPro
level
1,312

Original Review by:  
Updated 12 years ago.