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Flash storage should, by design, , but I would still like to share experiences I and other people I know had with these flash storage brands:

  • Hama: Do not trust. In 2015, a Hama 16 GB USB stick (around half a year old, no heavy usage) had corrupted files after just one month of non-usage. Sometimes, the files were readable again and then corrupt. Probably no automatic retention firmware. 32 GB MicroSD card had many damaged files after just one year of non-usage.
    • Their flash drives will work fine for data transfer, but anything stored there should at least be mirrored somewhere else.
  • integral: Some data loss after unused for 3 years (artefacts visible on video), but still mostly readable.
  • Transcend: Reliable. No data loss experiences so far.
  • SanDisk: Very reliable. A USB stick from SanDisk I tested draws 0.11 Ampère when idle, probably doing data retention in the background. Also, the only SanDisk MicroSD card I know of that has ever lost data was a 128GB card unused for nearly a year. But some 64 GB microSD cards unused for >3 years and normal-sized SD cards unused for 6 years have 0 unreadable sectors. And a 4 GB cruzer micro USB stick (built in 2009, unused from 2012 to 2016) still has never lost data as of 2020. Respect.
    • SanDisk and Transcend flash drives have a benefit over others: They actually report corrupted sectors/logical block addresses to the computer (useful for data recovery forensics software), while e.g. Hama sends corrupt data back without letting the computer know that the sector is corrupt.
  • Intenso: No data loss so far, but apparently no automatic data retention. Draws 0.00A (too low for measurement) when idle.
  • Kingston, Toshiba: Not tested yet, but they seem like a reputable brand.
  • Samsung 64 GB MicroSD: Randomly corrupted file system table when moving data with a USB-to-SD adapter that worked fine on other SD cards.

Feel free to share your experiences as well.

Flash storage should, by design, [rather not be relied upon for long-term data archival anyway](https://poal.co/s/TellPoal/153632), but I would still like to share experiences I and other people I know had with these flash storage brands: * Hama: **Do not trust.** In 2015, a Hama 16 GB USB stick (around half a year old, no heavy usage) had corrupted files after **just one month** of non-usage. Sometimes, the files were readable again and then corrupt. Probably no automatic retention firmware. 32 GB MicroSD card had many damaged files after just one year of non-usage. * Their flash drives will work fine for data transfer, but anything stored there should at least be mirrored somewhere else. * integral: Some data loss after unused for 3 years (artefacts visible on video), but still mostly readable. * Transcend: **Reliable.** No data loss experiences so far. * SanDisk: **Very reliable.** A USB stick from SanDisk I tested draws 0.11 Ampère when idle, probably doing data retention in the background. Also, the only SanDisk MicroSD card I know of that has ever lost data was a 128GB card unused for nearly a year. But some 64 GB **micro**SD cards unused for >3 years and normal-sized SD cards unused for 6 years have 0 unreadable sectors. And a 4 GB *cruzer micro* USB stick (built in 2009, unused from 2012 to 2016) still has never lost data as of 2020. **Respect.** * SanDisk and Transcend flash drives have a benefit over others: They **actually report** corrupted sectors/logical block addresses to the computer (useful for data recovery forensics software), while e.g. Hama sends corrupt data back without letting the computer know that the sector is corrupt. * Intenso: No data loss so far, but apparently no automatic data retention. Draws 0.00A (too low for measurement) when idle. * Kingston, Toshiba: Not tested yet, but they seem like a reputable brand. * Samsung 64 GB MicroSD: Randomly corrupted file system table when moving data with a USB-to-SD adapter that worked fine on other SD cards. ----- Feel free to share your experiences as well.

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