How do I determine whether or not this USB drive brand is trustworthy?

So, in 2025 I bought a USB drive while having 0 clue about USB drive brands. I should’ve thought about it earlier, but now I really can’t decide if the brand I bought is trustworthy, since it’s not something famous like Kingston. I really need this USB drive now, but I feel somewhat anxious deciding to use it. I learned that the brand started in 2024 and seems like it’s mostly focused on selling USB drives particulary in my country, so it’s kinda a local brand, but it’s not manufactured in my country. There is no much info about it on the Internet, except for a few online shops, their website and at least 1 video review on YouTube. I think they started being more active on social media compared to when I first checked in 2025. USB drives are not the only thing they sell. For the context, I live in Europe.

I only heard that people should avoid using USB drives that fake having much space or are specifically made to destroy a PC and that the rest are pretty much fine. My USB drive is not a no name device, the company has been there for at least 2 years and seemingly tries to develop further. Should I be worried? I have another USB drive from Kingston, but it has much less space than I need.

I know people recommend using an SSD, but I can’t buy one now.

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For testing capacity, there’s H2TestW for Windows or F3 - Fight Flash Fraud for Linux.

If it passes those, the drive will probably be pretty shit but working. Don’t expect great speeds or high write endurance.

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You expect anyone to tell you if a drive is trustworthy without knowing the brand of said drive?

Also, what you mean by “trustworthy”?

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You don’t have to trust it if you have full disk encryption on it at all time

Yes, a USB drive of 20TB for 0.20€ is probably a scam, don’t buy deals that are too good to be true.

Common sense would indeed suggest to not use some kind of USB killer.

How senior a company is will only help regarding the durability of the NAND chips. If you buy a no-name brand, it might just die faster or have slower speeds. Emphasis on the might because even the best brands can have faulty hardware, it is just how it is. :woman_shrugging:t2:

No need to be anxious, the hardware will come from China and you’re not a security forensic expert.
TLDR: it does not matter where it comes from, just use it, you’re good to go. :+1:t2:

Yes, an SSD is quite better for long term data and actual production use because it doesn’t break as easily. But might not a big deal either depending on your use case.

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