PNY Pro Elite V2 Flash Drive: Speed and Performance

Earlier this year, we reviewed a very unique sort of a flash drive from PNY (seen here) that had two different USB interfaces on it, allowing it to connect to different devices. On the other hand, if you’re just looking to use a USB-A connection, well, PNY has you covered there as well. This time around, we’re looking at the PNY Pro Elite V2 Flash Drive.

PNY Pro Elite V2 Flash Drive: What is it?

Well, it’s a flash drive, thumb drive, memory stick, or whatever it is you call these things. It feels like they’ve been around for forever, and while they’ve taken different shapes, the PNY Pro Elite V2 takes the form we’re very familiar with. You’ve got an external casing that can slide back to expose the USB connection, or slide forward to protect it when the thumb drive is banging around in your backpack.

What separates it from what came before?

If you’ve got a prior PNY (or any other brand) thumb drive, that’s the question – what makes this different than what I’ve already got? The big thing here is that it’s built for USB 3.2. In practical terms, this means you’re getting some of the fastest speeds possible from the connection, with read speeds of up to 600 MB/s, and write speeds of up to 250 MB/s. Not as fast as your internal SSD, to be sure, but it’s still pretty snappy in terms of both the read and the write. Add in that you’ve got capacities of 256 GB, 512GB, or 1 TB, and these make a great portable backup solution to be sure.

PNY Pro Elite V2 Flash Drive: How does it perform?

The PNY Pro Elite V2 performs just like a flash drive, of course. I didn’t do any in-depth timings of it, but checking it out moving some larger files back and forth, it was a snappy process without any unnecessary delays. What I also really liked was the fact that there were no LEDS – blinking or otherwise – on the drive. Those just tend to be distracting, and without the lighting, this means it’s a drive that you can leave plugged in for your work day and not constantly see some random light going off in your peripheral vision.

Where do I get one?

If you want to add the PNY Pro Elite V2 to your kit, pricing starts at $44.99 for the 256 GB version we reviewed here, goes to $64.83 for the 512GB, and tops out at $109.99 for the 1 TB version. You can undoubtedly find these at your local shop, or of course directly from Amazon. pny.com