iStorage datAshur Pro 8GB Encrypted Flash Drive Review

TweakTown's Rating: 89%

The Bottom Line

For those in the market for a secured flash drive solution, the iStorage datAshur Pro offers capacities up to 64GB with great military-grade encryption.

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Earlier this year, I was contacted by iStorage UK and was pitched their new highly encrypted flash drive solution. After a week or so, I had this unit in my hands fully customized.

The dataShur is a flash drive solution with several capacity options, starting with the 8GB model we have and there are 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB solutions too. All solutions are based on the USB 3.0 specification and have marketing showing 134 MB/s read and 43 Mb/s write.

On the security, this solution features XTS-AES 256-bit hardware encryption maintaining an FIPS140-2 Level 3 certification. It has in place tamper evident systems and brute force defense and operates on an alphanumeric 7-15-digit PIN. This solution can operate with admins and users without the need for any software or drivers and auto-locks on removal.

Compatibility includes Windows, MacOS, Linux, Chrome, and Android operating systems, and the MSRP of the dataShur Pro in the 8GB capacity comes in at $86.99 with a three-year warranty.

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Packaging has a good amount of information on it. Features are listed to the left while compatible systems are grouped into the bottom left corner. Capacity is listed at the top right and as you can see a window to the drive in the center.

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The back has a full features list along with a QR code for a guide.

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Included in the package is a quick start guide and the drive itself.

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The front of the drive features an alphanumeric pad similar to cell phones of the past. To unlock the device, you press the lock button followed by your password and the lock button once again.

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Here we have the USB 3.0 port and its case to the left.

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Into testing, we started with sequential performance. I was able to get 140 MB/s read out of this drive along with 46 MB/s write, a touch over marketing.

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Price / Performance doesn't often help specialty drives as it doesn't take into account features. As far as that goes, the iStorage scored a 30.9%.

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The last test shows performance with file sizes. The dataShur starts out and holds a solid 135 MB/s from 16M through 32k and the write performance holds steady at 27 MB/s from 4M to 1k.

The iStorage dataShur Pro is one of the most unique solutions I have had in the lab. The build quality is excellent with its aluminum shell and the personalization feature was a nice touch. The hardware encryption paired with the soft touch buttons make for an overall good feel to the drive and the onboard battery appears to last a day or so.

Performance isn't top notch for a flash drive but this solution focuses more on security. It does reach 140 MB/s read and 46 MB/s write and it's quite consistent at those speeds.

Overall, my experience with the dataShur Pro was quite good. I don't like that you get locked out of the drive when the battery goes dead so this is certainly something to keep in mind; you'll need to use the drive if you intend to have it in your arsenal. Otherwise, solid performance with great features.

Tyler's Test System Specifications

• Motherboard: ASUS Maximus IX Hero (buy from Amazon)
• CPU: Intel Core i7 7700K (buy from Amazon) / (Read our Review)
• Memory: G.SKILL TridentZ DDR4 3200 (buy from Amazon)
• Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Hybrid (buy from Amazon)
• OS Storage: Intel 730 480GB SSD (buy from Amazon) / (Read our Review)
• Secondary Storage: MyDigitalSSD BP5 512GB SSD (buy from Amazon)
• Case: EVGA DG-86 (buy from Amazon)
• Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 750 P2 (buy from Amazon)
• Networking: ASUS PCE-AC88 AC3100 (buy from Amazon)
• Networking: ASUS ROG 10G Express
• Networking: ASUS Thunderbolt EX3 (buy from Amazon)
• OS: Microsoft Windows 10 (buy from Amazon)