Here's our list of the best portable SSDs and the best external hard drives for Mac on the marketĪ flash drive is a tiny storage device that has no moving parts.

It's not quite as fast as many of the best USB flash drives we mentioned here, but if you want a small form factor USB stick, it's worth the trade-off. That’s not all it’s also very cheap, at around £10 for the 32GB version, with 64GB and 128GB versions also available. And, when it's plugged into your laptop, it doesn't stick out much from the body, making it more secure when you’re using it on the go. It’s small and light enough to easily carry around. If you don't want a USB stick jutting out the side of your laptop or tablet while you use it or having one is simple not ideal – for example, when you’re using it while traveling, then a low-profile USB stick is an excellent choice. These are our top picks for every need and budget.

And, unlike external SSDs or hard drives, they won’t cost you a small fortune. The best USB flash drives should let you store and keep safe your important files and documents in a tiny pocket-sized device. We also assessed their portability, overall performance, and pricing, among other things.

We've compared these flash drives on various points, from their storage capacity and connectivity options to their read and write speeds and encryption features. Many even come with data encryption and security to ensure that your files are safe. Better yet, these newer flash drives have increased their data transfer speeds and storage capacity to up to 256GB, which means that they’re capable of storing large files like videos, high-res photographs, and music. Whether you have files that you need to bring with you, are trying to back up important files, or simply need extra storage for your laptop, an excellent flash drive should save you some money.

Best flash drive for mac and pc