Although USB 3.0 thumb drives have been around for some time now, we tested our first back in 2010, many users are still wielding a USB 2.0-based drive. However it has only been in the last year that we have really started to see USB 3.0 devices, such as thumb drives, more mainstream and that has largely been due to the fact that new platforms are now providing native USB 3.0 support.

Furthermore, in the past USB 3.0 support has been largely limited to high-end thumb drives such as the Patriot Supersonic Magnum that we reviewed late last year. At the time of release this drive was hideously expensive and even today it still retails for at least $200. Prior to reviewing the Supersonic Magnum we tested the standard Supersonic thumb drive which still cost a cool $100 for the 64GB version.

However during March of this year Patriot announced a more wallet friendly Supersonic USB 3.0 thumb drive, known as the Boost XT. Available in capacities up to 32GB, the Supersonic Boost XT can move files at up to 90MB/s when using the USB 3.0 interface and when unplugged and on the go it can take a bit of a beating thanks to the rugged design.

Patriot says that merging the ruggedness of their Xporter line with the speed of the Supersonic range, then shrinking the form factor, positions the Supersonic Boost XT to be the best choice for ultra-demanding users looking for excellent portability. With that in mind, let’s take a closer look...

Again at $1.25 per gigabyte for the Supersonic Boost XT 32GB thumb drive it is roughly twice the price of some 32GB USB 2.0 devices, though we expect it will be quite a few times faster.

The 32GB memory capacity of this thumb drive provides ample space for users to store multiple media files without having to delete older files. As Patriot has pointed out on their website, the 32GB capacity allows for roughly 12,320 ten megapixel (3648x2736) images to be stored, or 545 hours of MP3s.

Patriot has wrapped the Supersonic Boost XT flash drive in a durable rubberized enclosure which provides shock resistance for up to 15Gs to ensure greater protection of your data. Not only is the housing highly resistant to bumps and knocks, it is also water resistant offering protection from various elements.

The design is very basic and mimics that of early flash drives. That said, the basic design can be viewed as a positive aspect of this product, as we see little that can go wrong with it. The removable rubber cap can be attached to the back of the drive when in use, helping to avoid losing it.

At just 12.9 grams (0.3 lbs) the 32GB Supersonic Boost XT is extremely light. The drive measures 1.30cm thick x 9.96cm wide x 13.5cm long, making it very compact, especially when compared to other high-speed USB 3.0 devices such as the Kingston DataTraveler Ultimate 3.0.

The Supersonic Boost XT delivers claimed sequential read performance at speeds up to 90MB/s and up to 30MB/s sequential write speeds. Finally, the Patriot Supersonic Boost XT USB 3.0 is available in 8GB, 16GB and 32GB capacities and carries a 5-year warranty.

When downloading a single large file from the Patriot Supersonic Boost XT 32GB we sustained a transfer rate of 87.1MB/s which is close to the 90MB/s claimed by Patriot. This meant that the Supersonic Boost XT 32GB was 9% slower than the Silicon Power Stream S10 which is built around a conventional 2.5” laptop hard drive.

The Supersonic Boost XT 32GB was 17% slower than the Kingston DataTraveler Ultimate 3.0 which was one of the first USB 3.0 thumb drives we tested. When compared to the original Supersonic thumb drive the Boost XT version was 26% slower.

The game download test saw the Patriot Supersonic Boost XT 32GB overtake the Silicon Power Stream S10 by a small margin, while it was now 15% slower than the Kingston DataTraveler Ultimate 3.0.

The program download test saw the Patriot Supersonic Boost XT 32GB put a little more distance between it and the Silicon Power Stream S10, extending the lead to a 19% margin. However when compared to the Kingston DataTraveler Ultimate 3.0 the Supersonic Boost XT 32GB was found to be 31% slower here.

Here we see in our large single file upload test that the Patriot Supersonic Boost XT 32GB sustained a transfer rate of 30.9MB/s, which is again bang on with the claimed 30MB/s write performance. This meant that the Supersonic Boost XT 32GB is only a whisker faster than 2.5” hard drives using the USB 3.0 interface.

This time we found that the Silicon Power Stream S10 was slightly faster than the Patriot Supersonic Boost XT 32GB, which provided similar performance to the original Supersonic thumb drive using the USB 2.0 interface.

The program upload results are similar to the game results though this time the Patriot Supersonic Boost XT 32GB was quite a bit slower than the Silicon Power Stream S10, while it mimicked the performance of the original Supersonic thumb drive using USB 2.0 interface.

When copying a single large file on the Patriot Supersonic Boost XT 32GB we averaged a throughput of 19.6MB/s, which was only slightly faster than the original Supersonic thumb drive using USB 2.0, while it was 52% slower once the Supersonic was using the USB 3.0 interface.

Again we find when copying data on-disk, in this case when using our game data, the Patriot Supersonic Boost XT 32GB is very slow providing USB 2.0 speeds.

The program copy results are very similar to those seen when testing with the game data. However this time the throughput has been reduced to just 10.8MB/s, which is the kind of performance we would expect to see from a USB 2.0 device.

The CrystalDiskMark sequential read/write benchmarks sum up exactly what we saw in our large single file tests. When downloading (reading) data the Patriot Supersonic Boost XT 32GB can achieve a throughput of 90MB/s, while uploading (writing) is much slower at 30MB/s or less.

The random 512K benchmark really shows the weakness of the Patriot Supersonic Boost XT 32GB. Here we again see quite strong read performance while the write performance is extremely weak.

Again we see that when measuring read performance the Patriot Supersonic Boost XT 32GB isn’t bad. The write performance on the other hand leaves a lot to be desired.

Truth be told the Supersonic Boost XT really only has one weakness and that is its write performance, which is barely able to max out the older USB 2.0 interface. The read performance on the other hand, which can reach 90MB/s, is satisfactory given the price.

Speaking of the price, we have to consider the alternatives and there are quite a few. For the same price it is possible to pick up the Team X101 32GB which boasts read and write speeds of 120–70MB/s, making it much faster on paper.

The Corsair Survivor 32GB is also an option at $37, with claimed read and write performance of 80–40MB/s, which should give it similar performance to the Supersonic Boost XT. The ADATA S102 Pro 32GB is very tempting at $35, with its read and write performance of 100–50MB/s. That said, I have tested its bigger brother the ADATA N005 Pro 32GB which costs $45 and boasts read/write performance of 180–50MB/s and found that it didn’t come close to reaching those advertised speeds.

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With the exception of the Corsair Survivor, the Patriot Supersonic Boost XT is the only other thumb drive to incorporate a rugged design that is water resistant, making it the ideal thumb drive to safeguard your data from the elements.

Overall, for those seeking a thumb drive that can really take advantage of the extra bandwidth offered by the USB 3.0 interface then the Patriot Supersonic Boost XT isn’t for you. Rather this is the ideal product for those after something they can quickly download their data from, around 3x faster than USB 2.0, while also having the ability to absorb knocks and bumps without a problem.