The SanDisk Extreme Fit USB-C flash drive demonstrates exceptionally high read speeds and stable performance when editing 4K video, despite its ultra-compact size. However, a decrease in write speed was observed when transferring large files.
The author had the opportunity to test the SanDisk Extreme Fit USB-C because it was exactly the device he planned to purchase. In an era where outdated USB-A ports are becoming less relevant, adding a compact USB-C drive to a daily work setup made significant sense.
The 128GB model was tested, and its ultra-compact design, roughly the size of a thumbnail, seemed quite original. The first test involved editing 4K video directly from the drive itself. Aside from a false data storage error message from Final Cut Pro on Mac, the drive handled this load impressively.
Slowdowns were minimal, considering the work was being done from an external drive; only intensive color grading caused a slight delay. Even when playing two 4K clips simultaneously on the timeline, performance remained smooth.
Nevertheless, for most users, heavy video editing is not the primary task—file transfer speeds in daily use are more important. To check the real throughput, the author conducted several copy tests using a 25GB folder.
When copying the folder to the flash drive, macOS initially predicted a completion time of three minutes. After one minute, the estimated time remained unchanged—three minutes, and the transfer speed fluctuated around 60 MB/s, with random deviations up to 30 MB/s. At the 3:30 mark, 15GB had been transferred, but the write speed dropped to approximately 25 MB/s. It was also noted that the drive became noticeably warm to the touch—a common situation for tiny drives powered directly by the host device. Ultimately, the writing process took 7 minutes and 10 seconds.
When it came to reading data from the drive, SanDisk demonstrated its strengths. Transferring the same 25GB folder back to the Mac's internal drive took only 1 minute and 8 seconds, thanks to a consistent read speed reaching 400 MB/s—which is incredibly fast for such a small device.
For comparison, moving the same 25GB folder to an external Western Digital portable hard drive took 7 minutes and 6 seconds—almost identical to the SanDisk write time. However, moving this folder from the WD drive back to the Mac took 5 minutes and 58 seconds. Thus, SanDisk outperformed the traditional hard drive by almost five minutes during data reading, proving the amount of performance that can fit into such a miniature form factor.