Sandisk gives its new Extreme Fit USB-C Flash Drive the crown as “the world’s smallest 1TB USB-C flash drive.” It’s undeniably very, very small — so tiny that you can leave it plugged into your MacBook. That means it can semi-permanently boost the storage capacity of your older notebook — and at quite a good price.
I tested the miniature external SSD with a variety of Apple devices, including my iPhone. Here’s how it stood up to real-world use.
Sandisk Extreme Fit USB-C Flash Drive review
This is a typical scenario for many users: Your older MacBook still offers all the performance you need, but you’ve outgrown its storage. You can’t crack open the laptop and put in a larger SSD, but there is a solution: a tiny “leave in” external SSD. You can plug one of these into a USB-C port and simply leave it there, effectively treating it like seamless, always-attached storage. Such drives run cool and silent, and draw very little power.
The Sandisk Extreme Fit USB-C Flash Drive is an outstanding example of a leave-in SSD. It packs plenty of capacity into a minimal amount of space. Options range from 64GB to 1TB.
And don’t get locked into the “leave in” description. The portable SSD can be easily removed from your MacBook to plug into a desktop Mac, iPad or iPhone for quick file transfers.
The Sandisk Extreme Fit USB-C Flash Drive is the world’s smallest 1TB USB-C flash drive. Designed for professionals, students, and everyday users, this new drive is perfect for high-capacity storage without compromising mobility.
- “Plug-and-stay” storage
- Compatible with Mac desktop, MacBook, iPad and iPhone
Table of contents: Sandisk Extreme Fit USB-C Flash Drive review
- “The world’s smallest 1TB USB-C flash drive”
- Speedy portable SSD performance
- Beyond the MacBook
- Sandisk Extreme Fit USB-C Flash Drive review: Final thoughts
- Pricing
‘The world’s smallest 1TB USB-C flash drive’
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
While I can’t guarantee that this portable SSD lives up to Sandisk’s claim to be the world’s smallest drive with a 1TB capacity, it’s undeniably a wee little thing. It measures a mere 0.73 inches across, 0.54 inches tall and 0.63 inches thick, including the USB-C connector. The part that’s outside of the USB-C port is just 0.32 inches thick.
After using the Sandisk Extreme Fit USB-C Flash Drive, I can confidently say that you can leave it semi-permanently connected to your MacBook to add up to a terabyte of storage. But I also have to say it’s not the best-designed drive I’ve ever seen for this purpose. Ideally, the external portion should fit tightly against the side of the notebook. Sandisk placed the SSD’s USB-C connector in the right place to accomplish this, but there’s a definite gap between much of the drive and the computer. It’s maybe about 0.1 inch, but it’s there.
Whether you can get away with a leave-in drive depends greatly on how you treat your MacBook. If your notebook mostly stays on your desk and rarely travels, then this SSD is ideal for you. If you carry the computer around in a protective case — like this brilliant one from Casemade — then the drive should be fine.
On the other hand, if you stuff the laptop in a bag with a bunch of books and papers and gym clothes, then no. And you absolutely should expect problems with the drive if you regularly carry your MacBook between home/work/school with no case at all.
If you aren’t at least a little bit careful, you’ll lose the Sandisk Extreme Fit USB-C Flash Drive while transporting your computer in the car, bus or wherever. In the worst-case scenario, you can damage the USB-C port in your Mac if you do something that violently twists the accessory while it’s plugged into your computer. So watch out.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
Speedy portable SSD performance
You’ll notice I keep switching between calling this product a flash drive and a portable SSD — that’s because it’s both. There was a time when these were separate categories. Flash drives were very small, while SSDs were bulkier but much faster. What Sandisk has here is small and fast.
It supports USB 3.2 Gen 1, so data can transfer as quickly as 400MBps. My real-world testing found data moving at roughly 170 megabytes per second. That’s fast enough to transfer a 1GB file in about six seconds.
While the performance is certainly good enough that transferring large files is no problem, the Sandisk Extreme Fit USB-C Flash Drive is not fast enough to record high-resolution/high-framerate ProRes video by an iPhone Pro. For that, try a Planck SSD instead.
Beyond the MacBook
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
While a MacBook is probably the best match for this portable SSD, that’s only one option. I tested it with my iPad and iPhone — no problem. I don’t recommend you leave it in while carrying your tablet or phone around, though.
Plus, the flash drive certainly isn’t limited to Apple products. Sandisk formatted the drive in FAT32, so it works with almost any computer, phone, camera, game console, car stereo, etc. As long as the device has a USB port, you can probably use this SSD with it — though you’ll need an adapter for devices with USB-A ports.
The downside of FAT32 is that files cannot be larger than 4GB. You can reformat, but if you’re working with really large files, a Planck SSD might be a better option because it’s much faster. (Plus, Planck sells a 2TB version.)
Sandisk Extreme Fit USB-C Flash Drive review: Final thoughts
Photo: SanDisk
For older MacBooks with limited internal capacity, a leave-in SSD is the cheapest and easiest way to add reliable, high-speed storage. Plus, it can be easily shared between your computers.
This one from Sandisk is small and quite fast — it’s great for average users. Professionals who work with very large files might consider the Planck SSD instead. That goes double for iPhone videographers.
★★★★☆
Pricing
The Sandisk Extreme Fit USB-C Flash Drive comes in capacities that range from 64GB to 1TB, with prices from $19.99 to $119.99.
The Sandisk Extreme Fit USB-C Flash Drive is the world’s smallest 1TB USB-C flash drive. Designed for professionals, students, and everyday users, this new drive is perfect for high-capacity storage without compromising mobility.
- “Plug-and-stay” storage
- Compatible with Mac desktop, MacBook, iPad and iPhone
Sandisk provided Cult of Mac with a review unit for this article. See our reviews policy, and check out more in-depth reviews of Apple-related items.
Ed Hardy has been writing full-time about tech for 25 years, and using it for much longer than that. His intro to Apple was a Macintosh Classic II (which he still has), but now he uses a 13-inch iPad Pro as his primary computer. He’s written for NotebookReview, TabletPCReview, and Brighthand, as well as other sites.
