A Two-In-One Flash Drive – A Kingston DataTraveler MicroDuo Review

Have you ever wanted to make a quick transfer to your Android phone but did not want to use the USB cable? Has there been a time where a movie you want to watch is too large for your phone’s storage? Or are you a business man who needs to transfer files quickly onto your Android Tablet for a meeting?

Well, with the new Kingston DataTraveler MicroDuo, your days of finding a USB transfer cable or not having enough phone storage are over. Designed to work with your Android Smart Phone and either a Windows PC or Mac, moving files to your Android device has never been so easy, and with Google not having any plans to create wireless transfers for Windows PCs, this new type of Flash drive just may be worth the investment. Thanks to Kingston, I will be reviewing the MicroDuo and will cover the following topics: the unboxing, design, features, and my final thoughts.

Figure 1 – The packaging

The Unboxing

Sold in a small and thin plastic packaging the Duo arrives at your location safe and undamaged. When taking a look at the outer packaging, you will find that there are instructions on how to use the device and which USB plugs are for the PC or your smart device.

Be careful opening up the packaging as inside is the Duo itself, but also found inside is the user manual along with a very small keychain loop. This keychain loop is hidden in a plastic bag that I found when it fell out from between the user manual pages. I almost ended up losing the keychain, so I would advise attaching it to the Duo right away.

Figure 2 – Design

Design and Usage

The Duo is incredibly small, so small in fact that I did not know it was possible for flash drives to be this tiny! This may be seen as a good or bad thing to some people. For the users that plan to attach this to their keychain it’s safe to say you will always have it with you. For those that will keep it around the house or for those that may lose things quite often, the Duo may become another one of your lost products. Since this is a flash drive that stores data it may be best to keep a close eye on it.

Personally, I find the size to be just right for my usage. The drive is easy to plug and unplug from a PC and I can use the MicroUSB connector on my Android phone without issues, even with my case!

The housing of the Duo is an all metal housing with a plastic cap that can cover the MicroUSB side or act as a stand while plugged into your smartphone. This is shown in figure 3.

I may not know how Kingston has managed to fit 32GB of flash storage into the Duo, but I do know that the drive is durable and will stand up to any abuse, even when placed on your keychain. To assure you that the drive is durable and will not fail, Kingston has put a five year warranty on the Duo.

Features

Running off the old USB 2.0 specification, the Duo makes up for the lack of USB 3.0 support with a low $22 price point (32GB) and the ability to use USB On-The-Go (OTG) technology for Android 4.0+ devices.

Coming in a range of sizes from 8GB to 32GB, Kingston has made it inexpensive and easy for all users to expand their phone’s storage or just have a small portable drive to carry around with them. 32GB is already more than enough storage for me, therefore I wouldn’t worry about running out of space for things such as music, movies, or documents.

Are you a user that does not require a two-in-one drive but still wish to have a small form factor flash drive? Well, you’re in luck! For those that need a small form factor drive without the MicroUSB connector, there is the Kingston DataTraveler Micro which you can find here. As this is not a product I have currently reviewed, with the success of my DataTraveler reviews of the Locker+ G3, Ultimate 3.0 G3 and the Duo, I am confident that the Micro will fulfill your needs and expectations.

The Duo is compatible with Windows, Mac OS 10, Linux, and Android 4.0+ devices. If you are using a Mac, however, you may run into issues of one device recognizing the drive and the other not. This can be avoided if the drive is formatted in FAT32 format.

Here you can find a full technical PDF for any technical data. You can also find an Android OTG compatibility page here.

Figure 3 – The Duo in mobile action!

My final thoughts

Once again, Kingston has done an excellent job in creating a useful and purposeful USB flash drive. This is the first high quality flash drive that I have ever seen that works on both an Android device and my Windows PC. Watching videos, playback of music, and transferring documents was as easy as one-two-three. Its playback will vary, depending on the type of Android device, but expect it to be similar to my experiences. With new smartphones now coming with USB 3.0, I would have at least expected to see a backwards compatible USB 3.0 connector on the Duo for faster speeds. Overall, I am quite happy with the design, features and $22 price, and I would recommend the Duo to any Android user looking for more storage or a busy businessman that always needs a flash drive with them.

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