With great capacity and speed comes a
massive price
The Kingston
DataTraveler HyperX Predator 512GB is unique in so many ways, but the one
aspect that will turn most people's head is the price. At just under $1,057 including
VAT, this is the most expensive USB memory stick I've ever reviewed in any
publication by some considerable margin.
Kingston DataTraveler HyperX Predator
512GB
Let's deal with that
up front, because given how easily these devices get lost, would you really
want to spend that much on one? In an effort to avoid that eventuality,
Kingston provides a metal presentation tin in which the devices lives with its
tiny USB 3.0 extension cable and beautifully made keychain attachment.
If you transport it
like that, this device is much bigger than an SSD in a USB 3.0 caddy, which
would cost less, at least half this, and perform even better. That said, in
terms of what one might generally expect from USB memory devices, even USB 3.0
ones, this is an order of magnitude faster than any I've tested.
At just under $1,057 including VAT, this
is the most expensive USB memory stick I've ever reviewed in any publication by
some considerable margin.
Kingston quote read
speeds of 240MB/s and writing of 160MB/s, which aren't huge by SSD standards,
but are fast by USB key levels. Of the benchmarks I used, CrystalMark best
supported Kingston's assertions, with read speed of 246.7MB/s and writing of
167.8MB/s. It's worth noting that at those average levels of performance it
would take about eight minutes to read the whole 478GB capacity, and about 12
minutes to write it.
Kingston quote read speeds of 240MB/s
and writing of 160MB/s, which aren't huge by SSD standards, but are fast by USB
key levels
Those racing to catch
an international flight might consider those wonderful numbers, but SSD-based
external drives could halve those scores. If you've only got USB 2.0, the
Predator is entirely pointless because the best speed you can get is about
35MB/s in both reading and writing - the practical limits of that tech. I also
noticed that if I used the extension cable on my Intel test rig, it connected
using USB 3.0 but gave USB 2.0 levels of performance. That's probably Intel's
fault, but anyone who has this issue might consider ditching that cable, if
possible.
Even with an all-metal construction the
likes of which normally only appear in Bond film gadgets, the DataTraveler
HyperX Predator massively fails in the value for money department.
It also doesn't have
any built-in encryption or software tools to do this, which is a puzzling
omission for something so clearly destined for commercial use. Even with an
all-metal construction the likes of which normally only appear in Bond film
gadgets, the DataTraveler HyperX Predator massively fails in the value for
money department.
Anyway, it’s Super-Fast, Super-Cool,
Super-Slick, and Super Unaffordable
The gamble Kingston is
making is that those in business won't flinch at the cost when the majority of
public would recoil like they'd been approached by a lethal species. However, I
think even those used to spending plenty on business supporting technology might
not want something this outrageous appearing on their expenses sheet.
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Details:
·
Price: $1,065.99 (including delivery)
·
Manufacturer: Kingston
·
Website: www.kingston.com
·
Required spec: USB 2.0 or USB 3.0 port,
Windows (all versions that support USB), Apple Mac OS X, Linux
Scores:
·
Quality: 9/10
·
Value: 2/10
·
Overall: 5/10
Features
·
Fast speeds – 240MB/s read and 160MB/s write
(in USB 3.0 mode)
·
Massive 512GB capacity (1TB coming soon)
·
USB 3.0 functionality, backwards compatible
with USB 2.0
·
Exclusive metal casing with custom key ring
and HyperX Valet Keychain
·
Supports XP or later, Linux and Mac
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