Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

The Sony Microvault USB Flash Drive and SanDisk Ultra Micro USB 2.0 OTG Flash Drive are very similar in terms of functionality. So which one is a better product? I own both and here is my comparison between them: [Compatibility] Both drives are immediately recognized when inserted to the micro-USB port of my cell phone (Samsung Galaxy S3 running Android 4.4.2). The 'My Files' app pops up automatically, showing '/storage/UsbDriveA' (this device). I can then navigate between Device storage (phone's internal memory), SD memory card, and the external USB drive. It is very intuitive to copy or move files around. When tested on an older tablet (D2-721) running Android 4.1.1, the Sony 32GB drive is recognized, but the Sandisk 64GB drive is not. This is probably because the 64GB drive is formatted in exFAT, which is unsupported by older Android operating systems. The 32GB drive is formatted in FAT32, which is universally supported. I also tested both drives without problems on my computers running Win7 Home and Win7 Pro. On an old computer running Win XP, however, the 64GB drive is not recognized. Again, this is not the fault of the drive, but because exFAT is not supported by XP natively. [Mechanical design] Both the Sony and Sandisk drives are very compact, with the Sony version being 1/4 inch shorter. See the photo I uploaded to 'Customer Images' for a side-by-side comparison. Note that both drives allow attachment of lanyards, but none is provided. - The Sony drive has a twist-off cap for the micro-USB port, and nothing for the USB port. - The Sandisk drive has retractable covers for both micro-USB and USB ports. Note that they do not prevent dust from entering the opening of ports, but at least they can prevent the metal parts from scratching your cell phone or tablet. [LED indicator] - Sony unit has a green LED that lights up when the drive is being accessed. - Sandisk unit does not have any indicator lights. [Data Transfer Speed] I measured the sequential Read and Write speeds for both drives on my computer, using the CrystalDiskMark 3.0.1 x64 benchmark program. The Sony drive shows about 10% faster in Read and 30% faster in Write: - Sandisk Ultra OTG: Read=20.7MB/s, Write=9.6MB/s - Sony Microvault: Read=23.4MB/s, Write=12.9MB/s I also measured the data transfer rate manually, by copying large video files to and from my Samsung Galaxy S3. The outcome is again in favor of Sony: - Sandisk drive: Read=12.1MB/s, Write=5.1MB/s - Sony drive: Read=15.3MB/s, Write=8.8MB/s [Bottom Line] Which drive is better, you ask? That's a tough question. The Sony Microvault is slightly more compact and quite a bit faster. The Sandisk Ultra drive has a more protective case and is cheaper per GB. So it is a toss-up. You cannot go wrong with either brand, anyway.