USB Flash Drive Review: ADATA UV128
Review of the ADATA UV128 64GB
ADATA is a Taiwanese memory manufacturer. If you build your own PCs, you have likely heard of this brand. They are the world's second-largest manufacturer in terms of DRAM and SSD sales share.
The UV128 being reviewed here is a mid-grade USB flash drive.
The manufacturer's stated specification for sequential read speed is approximately 100MB/s.
Benchmark Test (CrystalDiskMark)
It clears the manufacturer's stated sequential read speed specification perfectly. Looking at the individual items, the results seem balanced with no significant drops in speed for any specific item, but when looking at the CrystalDiskMark verification test as a whole, the random read speed might be a weak point.
CrystalDiskMark Ranking: ADATA UV128
・ SEQ1M Q8T1 (Read): 6th place
・ SEQ1M Q8T1 (Write): 5th place
・ SEQ1M Q1T1 (Read): 6th place
・ SEQ1M Q1T1 (Write): 5th place
・ RND4K Q32T1 (Read): 11th place
・ RND4K Q32T1 (Write): 5th place
・ RND4K Q1T1 (Read): 11th place
・ RND4K Q1T1 (Write): 4th place
※ This ranking is as of November 2023.
Capacity, Read, and Write Test (H2testw)
There were no issues with the capacity. I feel that both the write and read speeds reflect the results of the CrystalDiskMark sequential speed test.
Although the speeds are lower than the CrystalDiskMark test results, looking at the overall trend, there is about a 30% decrease, so this result fits that trend.
November 2023 ADATA UV128 H2testw Ranking
・ Read: 6th place
・ Write: 4th place
Ubuntu Installation and Boot Test
Installation Test
The installation took 14 minutes and 34 seconds. Even looking at this test as a whole, it is in the reasonably fast category. It modestly reflects the benchmark test and write test results, leading to a favorable impression.
Boot Test
Booting took 51 seconds. What was unexpected was that I had doubts about whether the boot would be slow based on the benchmark test results, so those doubts were wonderfully betrayed. It also runs surprisingly smoothly after booting, giving me a different impression than I had before the test.
November 2023 ADATA UV128 Ubuntu Test Ranking
・ Installation: 4th place
・ Boot: 4th place
Other Good Points and Points of Concern
First, a point where the good and the concerning are two sides of the same coin: the exterior appearance. The matte finish feels very good when held in the hand, but on the other hand, the blue part in particular looks like cheap plastic.
A good point is that despite being a slide-type, the body width is under 20mm, so you don't have to worry too much about the spacing of the USB ports on the device you are using.
ADATA UV128 Verification Results Summary
Although the random read speed in the benchmark test was not great, it produced good results in the Ubuntu boot test, so it seems you don't need to worry about it too much.
The ADATA UV128 can be called an all-around USB flash drive that has decent performance and can be used in any environment.
Looking at the details, it can be said that while it delivers average scores, it is also a model with decent cost-performance. (At Amazon's price, the cost-performance is top-tier!)
What situations is the ADATA UV128 suitable for?
You don't care about the brand, but you want reliability.
You are fine with average performance as long as it can be used for all-around tasks.
You also want to prioritize cost-performance. I think it can be recommended for people like that.