I tracked the best Cyber Monday USB flash drives from less than $0.40/GB but my favorite is this $100 one performs like an SSD

This SSK-made thumb stick may well be the fastest flash drive right now but you will need a compatible USB 3.2 Gen2x2 Type-C connector to benefit from speeds of up to 2GBps. This is, of course, on par with the fastest external SSDs (excluding USB 4.0 and Thunderbolt models). It uses a zinc alloy metal case for extra protection but doesn’t come with any IP rating or piece of software. If you are after a USB flash drive of similar capacity but with two ports (for legacy compatibility), then consider this SSK drive, albeit with a slightly higher price and lower performance.

UK: £127.49 at Amazon

This was the first mainstream 2TB flash drive that we reviewed earlier this year (read the review here). With speeds of 850MBps write and 1050MBps read, it is extremely fast, faster than some portable SSDs. It does come with a Type-A port rather than a Type-C one. There’s a rubber cap and an all-metal body to provide extra durability; note that it is neither IP68-rated nor MIL-STD-810D compliant. You have to register the device to get a 5-year limited warranty.

I couldn't find it on sale in the UK.

This is the fast USB flash drive with the lowest per GB cost at just over than $0.043. Using USB 3.0 technology, it reaches speeds of up to 80MBps, which is neither spectacular nor disappointing. What I like though is that it comes with a five-year warranty. On the other hand, it has a cap (not a big fan of those).

I couldn't find it on sale in the UK.

This is Amazon's best-selling USB flash drive. It is neither the smallest, nor the fastest. It is not even the best value for money. It is however the cheapest USB drive with a 128GB capacity and speeds of 130/30MBps in read/write respectively. As always, I recommend getting a 3-year data recovery plan to match the 3-year Amazon warranty on the drive.

UK: £12.39 at Amazon

The UE800 was one of the first 1TB USB flash drive that launched. It has a 5-year warranty and a capless design. I like the fact that it can reach up to 1GB/s in read/write speeds. Its Type-C connector means that you can plug it in a smartphone as well.

I haven’t found a smaller flash drive that can achieve such speeds. The Samsung Fit Plus is tiny as well and won’t protrude too much from any device you connect it from. Backed by a five-year warranty, it is also built to last; Samsung says that it is waterproof as well and claims that it can reach up to 400MBps (read), not bad at all for a flash drive of this size (and price). I also like the fact that it doesn't have a cap.

UK: £21.99 at Amazon

Save almost 50% with this Black Friday deal on the Sandisk Ultra Slider flash drive. It is probably the best value Type-C data storage right now, from a known brand. Type-C means you can plug it in a tablet or a smartphone. It has a capless design, has a keyring hole, can reach up to 400MB/s, has 256GB of storage and costs a mere $17 on Amazon Prime. Pay only $4 for a 3-year photo and data recovery plan, a no-brainer in my book.

UK: £18.99 at Amazon

For those looking for multiple USB flash drives, this is the best deal I could find. Five 128GB PNY flash drives for a mere $24.99, that’s less than $4 per drive and PNY is well recognised brand name in data storage. And at $32 per TB, that's as cheap as it gets. These thumb drives are USB 2.0 models so won’t break any speed records. Still, PNY backs them with five year warranty and the capless design means you won’t lose any loose caps. If you don’t care about capacity and need more drives, you can get ten 32GB PNY flash drives for less than $25 or five 32GB Silicon Power USB drives for $15

UK: £20.20 at Amazon

SK Hynix may not be a well known storage brand but it is one of Samsung’s biggest rivals. The T31 is one of its first mainstream USB flash drives in the west and boy does it deliver. It is cheap, fast, has a lot of capacity and is backed by a three-year warranty. Plus it has a nice design and uses DRAM to maintain sustained performance. On the other hand, this is a Type-A Flash drive only, so you can’t use it with a smartphone.

UK: £56.99 at Amazon

Forget about the cheap, fake 4TB thumb sticks, this is the real deal, the only 4TB USB Flash disk on sale right now, a perfect partner for content creators. This is the Oyen Digital Dash Pro and it delivers speeds up to 1.05GBps in read/write performance, on par with some of the faster portable SSDs. It can be formatted into different drive spaces and while it is expensive, it simply doesn’t have any competition out there. Note that it uses a USB Type-A port and comes with a three-year warranty.

UK: £427.49 at Amazon