As Flash memory prices go down, the capacity of these helpful little gadgets keeps growing like the losses on Wall Street. One year ago, a 32GB stick was almost considered a luxury, whereas today they're quite cheap. At press time, Corsair's Flash Voyager 32GB costs about €80, which is not a lot considering the amount of data it can store. Most users are happy with 4GB, but there are those that need more, often seen carrying portable disk drives. We had a chance to test the biggest USB stick around, and many GB-hungry users will surely like it.



We must admit we’re a bit disappointed with the Flash Voyager 64GB stick, but its capacity simply makes all the flaws go away. Talking about size, we couldn’t help but notice that it looks like artificial fish bait, and if you’re a fisherman you’ll surely know what we mean. “Fish” Voyager is much longer than Flash Voyager 32GB stick.

Packaging is still standard – robust and see-trough. The package is simple, boasting 64GB capacity and USB 2.0 support on the front, while the back features a couple of additional characteristics that this USB stick has.

Just like all Voyager models before, this stick is shock/temperature resistant and water-proof, thanks to the rubber casing that keeps this memory safe. There’s a 10-year warranty on its operation, but not for lost data. The warranty will definitely come in handy, as 64GB will be a decent amount of memory for a long time.




The picture on the back doesn’t show the stick you’ve bought but rather the 32/16/8 GB model that’s shorter.



Corsair Flash Voyager 64GB kept the previous version's charm, with the same writings and color tones. Its indicator lamp is the one that shows whether it’s being used,ed, doesn’t have the stick’s capacity written on it, which is not the case on 8GB models. That’s probably due to the fact that it’s easily distinguishable from 8/16/32GB models by its size.

The packaging also features a small Corsair bag that can be very practical at times, allowing you to put more than just the USB stick in it in case you need them for travel.



A nice addition is a small keychain that we didn’t get with the 8GB version when we bought it almost two years ago. It looks nice and you can attach it to your USB stick in order not to lose the cap during usage.



The unlucky ones who lose the cap anyway will definitely love Corsair as they will send you a replacement cap free of charge. All you need to do is go to Corsair’s forum, register and leave your personal information together with the name of the model.

Apart from the 64GB USB stick, Corsair recently launched another mini-giant: the Mini-Voyager 8GB. We wrote about it here, and reviewed its 4GB sibling here.

Mini Voyager 4GB is priced at €14 and although the 64GB version can be used for much more data, its price is nowhere as inviting. It’s priced at about €145/$200, but bear in mind that the same cash will buy you a 64GB SSD disk. If we’re talking about speed, it’s clear that SSD has the upper hand, but we can’t say the same for portability as Voyager can be taken anywhere and used anytime.

Read/write performance-wise, it’s much alike Mini Voyager, but it lags behind Flash Voyager 8GB.



The USB connector shows us what device it is as we found the capacity engraved on it. The small Mini Voyager is particularly interesting as it uses Chip-On-Board that enables retractable connectors and tiny size.



We used some standard tests such as HD Tune and Sandra 2009, but we also tested the speed by copying files onto the sticks. 



Corsair Flash Voyager 64GB and Mini Voyager 4GB suffer from slow write speeds. Flash Voyager 8GB emerges a winner in this, as well as other speed tests.



The result in file copying is the same as in our previous testing. The high and low capacity sticks are slower than our Flash Voyager 8GB that’s been our faithful companion for almost two years.



Many small files significantly slow the copy speeds, whereas copying movies is much faster.






Conclusion

USB stick capacity has never been higher, and Corsair is one of few vendors to offer a 64GB unit. Flash Voyager 64GB, as the name suggests, has some serious capacity and it’s quite unlikely that you’ll fill it to the top. Just like all the Voyager models so far, it’s element resistant – water and heat resistant, shock-proof and many other things that can happen with these small devices.

Many were simply stunned when we showed it to them, as it’s a bit unbelievable that such a tiny thing can hold 64GB, but many also didn’t like its length, which is true in our case, also. It’s longer than any Flash Voyager so far, and carrying it in your front pocket might cause some embarrassing situations. The new Voyager packs an insane amount of space for such a small thingy but it’s slower than some lower-capacity Voyager models and it’s a bit too long and bulky. With this device you’ll get a 10-year warranty.

Corsair Flash Voyager 64GB is great for safe transfer of massive amounts of data. You can use it to store an entire DVD movie collection together with thousands of files and MP3 files. If you’re sick of carrying around numerous USB sticks or removable hard-disks, then this is the gadget for you.