Every now and again I get the chance to have a product a little ahead of every other reviewer in the world and in some cases, I’ve been able to claim the worlds first review as well. There is however one drive that I’m sure many reviewers are waiting to get their hands on, and thanks to Kingston I’ve been able to get a hands on world, exclusive look at the HyperX Predator 1TB USB3.0 flash drive.
A few months ago I had a look at the DataTraveler Ultimate 3.0 G3 64GB, which features a build and design that is fairly similar to that of the 1TB drive that I have to play with today, however this is of course a little more special with its HyperX branding and of course the mammoth 1TB capacity.
As opposed to most flash drives that we’ve seen from Kingston, the HyperX Predator 1TB is far more worthy of the typical plastic packaging that is pretty much the standard. Instead, this drive comes in a rather sleek looking metal tin with a fitted foam interior that holds both the drive and the accessories that come with it. Alongside the mammoth 1TB drive, we find a keyring for attaching the drive to a set of keys or hand-cuffs; as after all you really don’t want to be letting this drive out of your sight too soon as I felt whilst I had it in my possession. The other accessory we get is a short USB extension cable which for many users will be a well used accessory due to the fact that the drive is a little wider than a typical USB drive.

Looking closer at the drive, the sheer physical dimensions are staggering. Granted it is a rather chunky looking drive and it is 7.2cm long x 2.6cm x 2.1cm, but we do have to remember that there is a whole heap of flash ICs packed into a comparatively small space. The brushed metal surface is finished off with the Kingston and HyperX Predator branding and on the end is a loop for attaching the drive to the included keyring.

The need for the USB cable in some cases becomes more apparent when we look at the drive from the end with the USB plug extended out of the drive. Just above the drive there is a small hole through which the blue status and activity LED can be seen.

Test system:

  • Asus Maximus VI Formula
  • Intel Core i7 4770k
  • Corsair Dominator Platinum 1866MHz 16GB
  • Asus GTX 780 – DC2OC
  • Corsair H100i
  • Corsair HX1050W
  • Corsair Force LS 120GB SSD
  • Asus MX229Q




We would like to thank Asus for allowing us to use their demonstration system at i49 for the testing of this drive
Its safe to say that the Predator 1TB looks the part, but this is not really going to be worth much if the drive doesn’t deliver the performance as well. Kingston have rated this drive with a read speed of 240MB/s and a write speed of 160MB/s which for any HyperX drive is top level performance. This is part of the reason why this drive has had so much exposure, it has been reported ot have not only the capacity, but also the performance to go with it.
To test this drive, I first of all want to see what the underlying performance is through ATTO just to see how well the drive can deliver behind the scenes.

Looking at the 1024k test, the 1TB drive appears to give virtually the rated performance on the read front that Kingston claim however the write performance does appear to be a little down. What we have to take into account though is that ATTO works with compressible data which does not favour this drive very well.

Next up is CrystalDiskMark, and immediately we can see a huge boost in both the read and write speeds of the HyperX Predator. Topping out during the 4MB sequential read test at 298.4MB/s and 109.5MB/s, we can see that the drive clearly can deliver top level performance when pulling data from the drive. The 512k test is also similarly impressive with speeds topping out at 225.1MB/s read and 112.8MB/s write.

Anvil’s Storage Utilities is the last of the tests that this drive is going through and as a final push, the HyperX Predator pushes the read speed up to 278.15MB/s and write at 169.17MB/s both passing the rated speeds that Kingston give on the tin.

When it comes to top end flash drives, there are many on the market, but there is now one that reigns above them all. Kingston’s HyperX Predator 1TB is not only a feat of technical engineering, but it is also some ot marvel over. With a solid build and construction, the drive feels like its worth a £1000 and that is exactly its price point. There have been many rumours and speculations floating about since the drive was first announced earlier in the year about its price, with some thinking it will sell for as much as £4000, but with a price point of around £1/GB, its prices is to be totally honest, astonishing for what it is.
The performance also is remarkable, grated ATTO doesn’t show great results, but drives of this nature are going to perform better with incompressible data and this is clear with the results from Anvil’s Storage Utilities.
Availability of the drive is something that a lot of people are going to question and at this moment in time, there are only seven working units in the world, of which this one that I’ve looked at is the only one in the UK. Pre-orders are being taken through e-Tailors such as Overclockers UK and Dabs.com, but do expect a lead time when you order as these units have only just had their first batch shipped out and more units are currently in the manufacturing and testing stages.
All in all though I’m more than outstanded by this drive, after all how often are you going to say that you have a mammoth 1TB of storage hanging from your keys? Granted the cost is not going to be affordable for the large majority of people out there, but as a feat of engineering Kingston’s 1TB HyperX Predator USB3.0 flash drive is I feel worthy of our innovation award.
Pros:


  • Well known and established manufacturer
  • Solid build and metal housing construction
  • Whopping 1TB capacity
  • Top level performance
  • Bling factor
  • USB extension cable in the tin for hard to reach ports




Cons:


  • Can get a little warm during continuous use
  • Out of the price range for most users.




eTeknix Says: Kingston have done it again with pushing the next generation storage to the max. The HyperX Predator 1TB USB drive has a crazy level of storage space, but also a top level of performance to go with it. Did you once fancy 1TB of storage for on the go? Now your dreams have come true with this truly outstanding drive.





Kingston HyperX Predator USB3.0 1TB Flash Drive Review