About.com Rating



The ADATA DashDrive Durable UD310 USB flash drive is just about the cutest thing you will ever see. We are long past the days of flash drives jutting out of the USB port, just begging to get snapped off by a passing beverage cart on an airplane. Now is the time of the nano receiver or the pico receiver, both of which are designed to sit nearly flush with the side of the laptop. ADATA brings this design technique to its portable storage with the UD310 drives, which are offered in 8GB, 16GB and 32GB capacities.

At a Glance

The Good: Portable, pretty

The Bad: Would have liked a keychain attachment ring on either the drive or the cap

Design & Price

The UD310 drives come in red or black and are meant to look like little jewels. They are tiny little things, measuring just 0.7 inch long by 0.9 inch wide and are roughly the size of a nickel. I tested the red 16GB version, which had a ruby red top with jewel designs and comes with a removable red cap. Here is where my only real complain enters. These drives are itsy-bitsy and are just asking to get lost. It would have been great if ADATA had included a tiny ring attachment to either the cap or the drive, allowing you to thread a string through for use on a keychain or something similar. Other teeny-tiny USB flash drives (like the Verbatim Tuff n Tiny drives) have included such details.

Like nano receivers, the UD310 drives take up very little real estate on your computer and shouldn't interfere with your other USB ports. They are billed as being water-resistant, although ADATA doesn't qualify the parameters for this.

Despite their size, they seem very durable and could survive getting stepped on.

The drives are priced at $7.99 for the 8GB, $12.99 for 16GB and $21.99 for 32GB -- all very affordable.

Speeds

These are USB 2.0 drives, so no SuperSpeed USB 3.0 rates here. If you haven't made the switch to USB 3.0, you won't notice a difference. But those who are already firmly on the bandwagon could be a bit disappointed. (Not sure what USB 3.0 is? Read a handy FAQ here.)

In reality, the speeds likely won't be a huge issue for anyone. Because of their small size, these drives should be not be used for crucial data backups. These are great drives for traveling or daily commuting -- load some documents on them and toss the drive your pocket or purse. But these are just way too easy to lose to consider using them for something especially important like photographs or financial statements.

The Bottom Line

The UD310 flash drives are small in size and low in price, and would be a good option for those who are confident in their ability to keep track of things.



Disclosure: Review samples were provided by the manufacturer. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy.