Kingston DataTraveler Elite G2 (128 GB) Review

On this review, we are taking a look at the Kingston DataTraveler Elite G2. A USB 3.1 (Gen1) flash drive built for speed, capacity and reliability. It comes with 32-128 GB of capacity capable of reaching 180MB/s read and 50-70MB/s write speeds. Reliability comes with Kingston’s 5 year warranty, plus with a shock and water-resistant casing.

Technical Specifications

The Kingston DataTraveler Elite G2 we got is the 128GB variant, bearing the part numbers DTEG2/128GB. Certainly not cheap at 75 USD, the DataTraveler Elite G2 is aimed for power users that requires speed and capacity on the go. Learn more from the official product page and get it at Amazon.

Packaging and Accessories

The packaging is a hybrid blister pack we used to see from Kingston’s smaller devices. I’d like to see a larger 5 year warranty seal though.

There is nothing else bundled inside with of course, the exception of the drive.

Design, Build and Connectivity

The Kingston DataTraveler Elite G2 features a sleek zinc alloy body with a matching silky black coating. It is die-casted so you wont find any seams to nitpick, adding more allure to the drive’s professional looks.

Weighing in at 20 grams, there is a certain heft to the thumb size DataTraveler Elite G2. One gripe though is the translucent cap – you may only put it back on with the Kingston logo facing the front.

The DataTraveler Elite G2 features a USB 3.1 Gen1 interface. That said, it is basically a USB 3.0 device. Let’s head now onto the benchmarks!

Throughput

Throughput performance measured in MB/s is measured with CrystalDiskMark. First up on the test is the Sequential read and write performance, measured with a block size of 1MB and a 1GB transfer size. This test is more in line with large file transfers; similar to watching a movie.

The second one is the Random 4K read and write performance, measured with a random block size of 4KB and a 1GB transfer size. This test is more in line with small file transfers; similar to transferring installation files and reading game data.

Sequential transfers rate is excellent both read and write – able to achieve 250.9 MB/s for the read and 99.6 MB/s for the write. Random 4K performance is decent a 22.51 MB/s for the read while we cannot say the same for the write. This will definitely put a dent on the drive’s performance with smaller file sizes when it comes to writing.

IOPS

Input/Output Operations per Second is is measured with AS SSD. The Random 4K-64Thrd read and write benchmark is used for this test. Performance is measured with a random block size of 4KB, a 1GB transfer size and 64-thread IO requests. This tests the storage medium’s ability to use Native Command Queuing (NCQ) at higher Queue Depth. A Useful metric for server side applications.

IOPS performance shouldn’t be your major concern on any thumb drive but we tested it anyway just in case something’s up. No breath taking results here, let’s carry on.

Access Time

The read and write latency is measured with AS SSD using a 512KB block size. Access Time is just as important as the throughput and IOPS performance of the drive; allowing us to peak into how fast or slow a storage medium can access a given data. Latency is measured in milliseconds.

Read latency is recorded at 0.466ms, while the write latency is at 4.671ms. This is already a good access time performance for a thumb drive.

Productivity

Our real world performance test consists of 3 file folders containing 6GB worth of text files, images and videos each. The files are copied within the drive using TeraCopy to evaluate the storage medium’s performance. File copy performance is measured in seconds.

The Kingston DataTraveler Elite G2 featured excellent file copy performance for both images and videos, while we can’t say the same for the small files. Although the drive’s performance is excellent for sequential read and write, 4K write performance still matters.

Conclusion

The Kingston DataTraveler Elite G2 with 128GB of flavor is a thumb drive with a $75 MSRP. A drive intended to function with reliability, speed and capacity; and it did not miss the mark.

Performance wise, we are looking at a thumb drive with a strong sequential performance, fit for large files like RAW images, HD or even 4K videos. Build quality on the other hand is also just fitting. We have a zinc alloy body thumb drive with a matching shock and water resistance. Nice features for the expected price.

The Kingston DataTraveler Elite G2 is a proper thumb drive for the power user on the move. A fast and reliable drive able to store most of your requirements wherever you go.