14 DAY TRIAL // The reason consumer electronics devices come in cases is because the inner circuits are either vulnerable to harm, or dull/ugly to look at, or really, both, but Kingmax sees another side to this.
Since unusual devices usually get attention because they are, well, unusual, the company figured that a storage unit with visible inner workings would catch on with buyers.
It couldn't simply release a naked flash drive though, so it put the NAND chips and circuits inside a case that had a transparent glass section on one side.
“Revealing the UI-05's circuit structure gives consumers a new product experience and expresses a sleek new direction in high-tech styling,” the company says in its announcement.
Kingmax is very proud to have designed what it calls “the world's 1st glass-ceiling USB flash drive.”
To make it as small and capacious as it is (4 GB / 8 GB / 16 GB / 32 GB), the COB technology was used (chip-on-board).
Meanwhile, the glass ceiling and the rest of the case (made of metal) is built/put together in such a way that the UI-05, as the flash stick is called, can shrug off dust and water exposure.
It may not survive actual submersions underwater, but rain and soda splashes should be mostly harmless.
Furthermore, Kingmax tossed in a blue LED activity indicator, RoHS regulations compliance (restriction of hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment) and a 5-year warranty.
All in all, the metallic silver Kingmax UI-05 is a nice-looking and reasonably capable drive of 42 (L) x 12 (W) x 4.5 (H) mm (1.65 x 0.47 x 0.17 inches). We can't, in good conscience, call it excellent due to the distinct lack of USB 3.0 support. Also, we don't know the price yet, so we can't form an accurate opinion about the storage unit at this time.
