PNY Serves Up 512GB USB Flash Drive In a Miniature Body For $100

PNY Elite-X Fit 512GB (Image credit: PNY)

There are many 512GB USB flash drives on the market, but very few come in a small presentation like PNY's Elite-X Fit offerings. As per a ComputerBase report, the Elite-X Fit is now available with a 512GB capacity.

The Elite-X Fit measures 2.16 x 1.52 x 1.55 cm, so it isn't a lot longer than the typical USB Type-A connector itself. The drive adheres to the USB 3.1 Gen 1 specification and, according to PNY, the Elite-X Fit 512GB (P-FDI512EXFIT-GE) delivers read speeds up to 200 MBps. PNY rates write performance as 30 times faster than USB 2.0 (3 MBps), which works out to 90 MBps.

Given the Elite-X Fit's dimensions, the SanDisk Ultra Fit is the only competitor within the same size class. The Ultra Fit, however, comes with a 2.97 x 1.42 x 0.51cm footprint, so the Elite-X Fit is a tad shorter. 

SanDisk advertises the Ultra Fit 512GB with a read speed up to 130 MBps. However, the manufacturer doesn't commit to a write speed, instead just touting performance up to 15 times faster than a normal USB 2.0 flash drive. By SanDisk's standards, USB 2.0 flash drives write up to 4 MBps, which would put the Ultra Fit's write performance to around 60 MBps. In summary, PNY's drive reads 53.8% and writes 50% faster than SanDisk's drive.

PNY sells the Elite-X Fit 512GB for $99.99 on the brand's online store. The Ultra Fit 512GB typically costs $10 less unless it's on sale. The Elite-X Fit 512GB is backed by a limited one-year warranty, which is a bit short considering that SanDisk offers a five-year warranty on the Ultra Fit.

Zhiye Liu
News Editor and Memory Reviewer

Zhiye Liu is a news editor and memory reviewer at Tom’s Hardware. Although he loves everything that’s hardware, he has a soft spot for CPUs, GPUs, and RAM.

  • Rdslw
    I just thought its usb-c and got so dissapointed. So close to perfection....
    Reply
  • ProfQuatermass
    Pitifully slow.
    Can't wait for a real 1TB USB 3.1 drive. Rather tired of fake adverts on Facebook trying to sell me one.
    Reply
  • cryoburner
    Rdslw said:
    I just thought its usb-c and got so dissapointed. So close to perfection....
    That probably wouldn't work without making the external part larger, seeing as the flash chip is undoubtedly housed inside the metal part of the plug, while a USB-C connector would likely be too small to do that.
    Reply