14 DAY TRIAL // For a while, Corsair has been serving consumers worldwide with high-quality flash drives, such as the 128GB Flash Voyager GT pen drive that was, for a time, hailed as one, if not the fastest pen drive. This title is now going to a different product, also released by Corsair, known as the 128GB Flash Voyager GTR. While not designed for the next-generation USB .3.0 standard, the stick does feature data-transfer rates bordering on the theoretical limits of the USB 2.0 interface.
The 128GB Flash Voyager GTR ultra-large-capacity stick reaches its 128GB of storage thanks to its quad-channel design through dual controllers. It is not exactly the smallest of flash drives, but it is more compact than its predecessor, the Voyager GT, which will likely slowly fade out of the picture.
Of course, the drive cannot rival coin-sized flash drives in terms of portability, but it definitely beats a portable 128GB hard drive, though such a device's eSATA connection definitely enables higher speeds. Still, the Voyager GTS still manages to reach 34MB/s when reading and 28MB/s when writing. These are visibly higher than the 32MB/s and 25.6MB/s speeds boasted by the device's predecessor.
The drive is currently in a good position for claiming the crown of the best flash drive on the current market, at least as far as USB 2.0 is concerned. Still, considering that USB 3.0 flash drives have already been developed, it will be interesting to see what kind of capabilities the first such device from Corsair will have. Unfortunately, it is still unknown when the company is planning on releasing USB 3.0 sticks.
Until then, the 128GB Flash Voyager GTR will likely hold the reins of the USB flash-drive market. The device is priced at £270, a tag lower by about £45 when compared with that of the GT. The product will be accompanied by a ten-year warranty.