It is no mean feat to achieve storage capacities up to 1TB in a drive that’s no wider than a typical human nail and not much thicker than an index finger. That is exactly what SanDisk has managed to achieve with the Extreme Fit USB-C flash drive, in an attempt to cater to a world where peripheral minimalism defines modern age laptops, tablets and smartphones, with which this drive also works. Can we return to the ‘thumb drive’ moniker, as it would be very relevant? In case you’re still wondering, this drive weighs only 3 grams. It is so small and light, one wishes SanDisk provided a carry case of some sort. Or at least a connector protector.
SanDisk is selling this diminutive drive in five storage capacities — 64GB, 128GB, 256GB, 512GB and 1TB. Clearly, size isn’t the Extreme Fit drive’s only strength. The one we are reviewing here is the 512GB capacity specifically, which is on par with the rest, except the 64GB drive, in terms of data transfer speeds. Prices are as follows: 64GB ( ₹2,049), 128GB ( ₹2,799), 256GB ( ₹4,899), 512GB ( ₹4,999), and 1TB ( ₹17,299). There is surprisingly little gap between the 256GB and 512GB prices, and of course our recommendation would be the latter for that little extra money being spent.
The SanDisk Extreme Fit uses a USB 3.2 Gen 1 interface, which has a theoretical top speed of 5Gbps. The drives between 128GB and 1TB can deliver theoretical top read and write speeds of 400MB/second, while the entry-level 64GB drive peaks at 300MB/s. I’d noted the diminutive footprint of this drive, but make no mistake, this stands tall when it comes to performance. In the Blackmagic Disk Speed Test benchmark on an Apple Mac Studio, the 512GB drive returns read speeds of 391MB/s, though write speeds are as expected, significantly slower at 163MB/s.
The latter is to be expected, since this form factor of the SanDisk Extreme Fit and therefore the hardware in play, cannot be expected to match portable SSD drives. Perhaps there is a case for SanDisk to have considered the USB 3.2 Gen 2 standard for USB-C, but that may have been incrementally faster at a cost that perhaps wouldn’t have delivered as much value. I do miss the lack of any activity indicator on the drive. You will notice a fair amount of heating after a period of sustained data transfers to this tiny drive, sometimes uncomfortably warm for a few minutes, but SanDisk insists that’s normal — we’ll have to take them at their word and hope it passes the tests posed by Father Time.
With dimensions measuring 18.5mm in length, 15.7mm in depth and 13.6mm in height when plugged in, the SanDisk Extreme Fit sits flush with the devices it connects to. It can be left plugged in on most laptops and desktops; even when connected to an iPad or an Android tablet, it won’t really garner much attention. On a phone though, one just needs to be a bit more careful because if you’re using an iPhone 17 Pro Max without a case for instance, the phone will rest on this drive at its lower side. The casing is plastic, which has its advantage with weight, but this could have benefited from a metal shell for extra ruggedness and rigidity.
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The SanDisk Extreme Fit USB-C flash drive’s existence serves a specific purpose, and the reality is, it looks great too while delivering on that promise. Its utility extends from casual usage as a storage extension and cloud storage alternative to more regular usage as a gallery extension on a smartphone or flexible document and file storage that moves between different computing devices. Comparing this with a larger portable SSD form factor would be fallacious, though there may well be a case for the USB-C interface upgrade to slightly close that gap.
In theory, the SanDisk Extreme Fit doesn’t come across as inexpensive, but the value you draw from this will depend on the use case. Irrespective of whether you use this as a backup drive or for daily data storage and transfer routines, this delivers. Just don’t expect to be able to run 4K video editing routines off this, because that will be a bridge too far. For everyone else, the wide compatibility across computing platforms and smartphone operating systems, is convenient.
