SK Hynix Tube T31 review: Looks like a USB drive, performs like a SSD

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As you can see from the images, the Tube T31 is black, with the only styling flourishes being the silver of the logo and, when the cap is removed, the Type-A connector.

SK Hynix warranties the T31 for three years. The warranty is limited, as all warranties are, so overuse (writing too much data) and physical abuse will give the company the option to ignore a claim.

No mention is made of the T31’s TBW rating (terabytes that may be written), but it’s likely around the industry average of 600TBW per 1TB of NAND. That’s a lot of data and more than you’re likely to write in a decade, let alone three years.

How much is the SK Hynix Tube T31?

The 1TB Tube T31 is currently available on Amazon for $100, while the 512MB capacity is $80. That’s pricey if you think of it as a thumb drive, but quite reasonable if you compare it with other high-powered external SSDs, such as SK Hynix’ aforementioned Beetle.

How fast is the Tube T31?

As discussed, the Tube T31 is very fast for a thumb drive. Easily the fastest we’ve tested — neither the Teamgroup C212 nor the PNY Pro Elite V2 thumb drives could keep up. Note that the Kingston XS1000, which did keep up in some tests, is a Type-C cable attached SSD, not a thumb drive, but is actually a tad smaller overall than the Tube T31. It’s priced similarly so we threw it in the ring.

            <div class="lightbox-image-container foundry-lightbox"><div class="extendedBlock-wrapper block-coreImage undefined"><figure class="wp-block-image size-large enlarged-image"><img decoding="async" data-wp-bind--src="selectors.core.image.enlargedImgSrc" data-wp-style--object-fit="selectors.core.image.lightboxObjectFit" src="" alt="" class="wp-image-2302056" width="1200" height="606" loading="lazy" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Neither of the other two thumb drive hold a candle to the Tube T31 in sequential transfer. Longer bars are better.</figcaption></figure></div>

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As you can see above, CrystalDiskMark 8 rated the Tube T31 as very fast at transferring large files. It also ruled the roost among the three drives in random 4K performance, as shown below.

            <div class="lightbox-image-container foundry-lightbox"><div class="extendedBlock-wrapper block-coreImage undefined"><figure class="wp-block-image size-large enlarged-image"><img decoding="async" data-wp-bind--src="selectors.core.image.enlargedImgSrc" data-wp-style--object-fit="selectors.core.image.lightboxObjectFit" src="" alt="" class="wp-image-2302057" width="1200" height="582" loading="lazy" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The Tube T31 offers very good random 4K performance. Longer bars are better.</figcaption></figure></div>

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You wouldn’t think the T31 was a thumb drive looking at the 48GB transfer results below. It is, though obviously not garden variety.