Security is a number one concern when it comes to your personal files and information. So an encrypted flash drive is something a lot of people will easily want to invest in for keeping those files you need to transfer between computers nice and secure, so for this reason Kingston have released a series of new encrypted flash drives. We are here to review DataTraveler Locker+ G2 16GB.
So let’s drive right in and take a look at the packaging and the device itself.
The flash drive comes in plastic packaging that also details some of the specs which are below
Kingston DataTraveler Locker+ G2 Features and Specifications:
- Hardware encryption: the best in personal security to keep your data safe
- Superior password protection: user sets a password to prevent unauthorized access
- Versatile: works interchangeably between Mac OS X and Windows systems
- Secure: drive locks down and reformats after 10 invalid login attempts
- Easy to use: no application installation required
- Password Manager: access and store user names and passwords for up to 20 accounts
- Stylish: durable metal casing with built-in key loop
- Customizable1: Co-Logo program available
- Supports: Windows® 7, Vista®, XP & Mac OS X
- Guaranteed: five-year warranty with free technical support
- Capacities2: 4GB, 8GB, 16GB, 32GB
- Speed3: 10MB/s read and 5MB/s write
- Compatibility: designed to USB 2.0 specifications
- No admin rights required
- Minimum System Requirements:
- USB 2.0 compliant and 3.0 compatible
- Two (2) free consecutive drive letters required for use
- Dimensions: 2.28″ x 0.73″ x 0.38″ (58.00mm x 18.6mm x 9.75mm)
- Operating Temperature: 32°F to 140°F (0°C to 60°C)
- Storage Temperature: -4°F to 185°F (-20°C to 85°C)
The device is a typical size you would expect from a flash drive, although you can obviously get tiny flash drives, they don’t have the hardware level encryption built-in. The flash drive also has an opening a small lanyard that is also supplied.
The flash drive has a virtual drive for installation of the software which is required to set up the flash drive or enter the password once setup.
The last step is filling in any contact information you which, this is great if you lose the flash drive and someone happens upon it, they will at least have the ability to contact you. That’s it for the set up, once you hit finish, the flash drive will be formatted and ready to go.
When you have the flash drive set up, anything you bring up the application you will have three options, which are show password hint, reset password(formats flash drive) and show contact information. Once you enter your password you are free to use the drive like you would any flash drive.
First for the benhmarks we have ATTO Disk Benchmark, which is very popular for checking the speeds of your hard drives, SSD’s and Flash drives. So looking at the results we can see that Kingston have understated the speeds of 10MB read and 5MB write. In fact the Read speed hits around 18MB/s which is 8MB/s above their rated performance and the write speed is hitting just under 15MB/s which is pretty much 10MB/s over their rated performance. Now while you can easily get much faster flash drives, but the hardware level encryption it makes these decent speeds.
Continuing with the benchmarks we are going to take a look at the results using HD Tune Pro which is yet another great benchmarking application that also gives great information and utilities for your storage devices. The results again speak for themselves and although they aren’t as high as they were on the previous benchmark again they show that Kingston underrated their speeds on the flash drive.
The last benchmark is CrystalDiskMark which again shows the same pattern of results which are basically over the specified speeds. This test shows difference performances when it comes to different write and read methods and the sequential speeds here show 18MB/s on the read speeds and 12MB/s on the write speeds. The 512k shows the same read speeds and 3MB/s on the write side of things with the 4K speeds basically crawling and taking their time.
