SanDisk debuts Type-C 'Plug and Stay' flash drive that never needs to be taken out of your laptop — get up to 1TB of extra storage for just $120, with 400MB/s transfer speeds

3 hours ago 9

(Image credit: Amazon - SanDisk)

Finding methods to increase storage capacity, without going to the cloud, is becoming increasingly difficult as device manufacturers remove SD card readers from their devices and replace M.2 or SATA storage with embedded solutions that can't be upgraded. SanDisk has developed a new USB flash drive that is designed to permanently stay in your device. The new drive is available in 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB options starting at $26, with the 1TB flagship model going for $120 (though at the time of writing, the 512GB and 1TB variants are "temporarily" out of stock).

Check out SanDisk's new thumb drive here

The new drive is part of a handful of "Plug and Stay" thumb drives Sandisk has created. This latest iteration features an L-shaped form factor that keeps the drive as thin as possible when connected to a laptop, tablet, or other USB-compatible device. When connected, the drive almost looks like a mini-display installed on the side of whatever device it's hooked up to. It isn't thin enough to completely blend into, say, a laptop, but it is small enough to completely forget about while you are using your device, which is the whole point.

The drive takes advantage of a USB 3.2 Gen 1 interface, boasting transfer speeds of up to 400MB/s. That might not sound fast in our age of PCIe 5.0 NVMe SSDs capable of speeds well over 10GB/s. But 400MB/s is more than acceptable performance from a thumb drive, approaching SATA 3 speeds. In fact, with 400MB/s, you could game on SanDisk's thumb drive without a problem (for games that don't require speedy PCIe NVMe SSDs).

SanDisk's offering is a great solution if you need an extra 128GB to 1TB of storage in a pinch. It is becoming increasingly difficult to expand storage capacity on laptops, tablets, smartphones, and other devices as manufacturers continue to prioritize embedded solutions and the removal of SD and Micro SD card readers. SanDisk mostly fixes this problem with its thumb drive, and the best part is that it is still a thumb drive at the end of the day, so you can use it as any other thumb drive or just leave it in your device forever as a secondary SSD.