A few weeks ago, I took a look at the super small PICO USB drive from Super Talent. I was extremely impressed with its size and portability along with its performance. Today I have an opportunity to look at another one of Super Talents USB drives. The Luxio series of thumb drives is a high capacity luxury design is for people who need to store larger amounts than can be found on the smaller PICO drives. Today we are going to test the performance and usability of a 64 gig capacity version of the Luxio series to see how it compares to its smaller PICO brother.
Product Name: Luxio 64 gig
Review Sample Provided by: Super Talent
Review by: Wes
Pictures by: Wes
Specifications
Capacities | 16 / 32 / 64 GB |
Read Speed | Up to 30 MB/sec (200x) |
Write Speed | Up to 16 MB/sec |
Encryption | Hardware based AES 256 bit |
Dimensions | 21 x 76.50 x 9.50 mm |
Package | Outer Zinc meta |
Temperature | Storage -20°C to 85°C Operating 0°C to 60°C |
USB | USB 2.0 & 1.1 compatible |
Data Retention | Up to 10 years |
Browser Support | Windows 98 & above Mac 10.x & above |
Features
Hefty: Capacities up to 64GB Safe: Hardware-based AES-256 bit encryption
Flash: Incorporates 2CE Flash
Protected: Comes with durable leather case
FIPS 140-2: Optional software-based AES 256 bit encryption
Stylish: Choice of black, silver or wood grain ABS/PC case
Hot Plug & Play:Yes
Guaranteed: 100% quality tested and verified
Long Lasting: Backed with Super Talent's lifetime warranty
Packaging
Super Talent made sure to show off the Luxio in a package as luxurious as the USB drive it holds. The box is black with a mirror gold trim on the LUXIO lettering and around the edge of the box. On the back you will find a very general feature list in six different languages. The front of the box opens up easily with only magnets keeping it closed. Inside we found our drive packed in its own foam slot with a leather carrying case in a slot next to it.
Performance
Testing the performance of the Luxio has two parts too it. How does it perform in file transfers, and the ease of use. To test the file transfers I decided to try out software made by the people who made HDtach that I use to test hard drives. The software is called Flash Memory Toolkit, and can be found HERE. I tested the Luxio against its sibling the PICO. The Luxio outperformed the PICO considerably in read and write performance, which considering how well the PICO performed against our other tests drives, was very impressive.
Luxio Below
PICO below
As for ease of use, the Luxio is a little larger than your run of the mill thumb drive due to its capacity (still smaller than most other USB drives in the 64 gig capacity; even with its size I had no trouble carrying it in my pocket. The drive really shined when I loaded it up for our LANparty. To keep from overloading the internet connection, I was able to load copies of each steam-based game we played along with extra utilities like 3dmark with lots of room left. Being able to pass around the files prevented us from having 10 to 20 people trying to download large files all at the same time. In the past, our internet connection came to a craw because of these downloads, this time I had no trouble at all checking up on the current celebrity gossip over at WWTDD.
Another feature that Super Talent slipped in with the Luxio was their SecureLock software for 256 bit encryption of your files. I found the ability to have a public and private folder on your USB drive to be especially useful if more than one person is going to use the drive. The encryption was a perfect way for me to lockup some of my upcoming reviews (porn) and pictures of not yet released products (more porn) while we used the drive at the LAN. This way I didn't have to worry about someone getting to my important files (porn), I only had to worry to not forget the password.
Overall
The Luxio is the James Bond of flash drives, sophisticated looks along with high capacity, fast data transfers, and 256 bit encryption means Super Talent packed a big punch in the Luxio. The performance numbers don't lie, the Luxio outperformed its kid brother. A high capacity USB has many uses for many different people, but I don't think anyone could be unhappy with the capacity, style, or speed of the Luxio. Of course, at just under $150 dollars, you will be paying a premium for those things.