REVIEW : Kingston DataTraveler Locker+ G3 32GB

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Flash Drives are now our daily necessities. Unfortunately, one thing we seem to overlook is data security. While flash drives have become quite convenient for taking lots of sensitive data on the go, it’s also extremely easy to lose, which means loss of any security on the data.

This is why today we’ll be reviewing the Kingston DataTraveler Locker+ G3 32GB. It uses hardware encryption for data protection which is quite secure.

This of course means better performance and better ease of use as well.

The Kingston DataTraveler Locker+ G3 is the third generation of the DataTraveler Locker+ series. The G2 edition used the older USB 2.0 interface, which means less transfer rate on the G2 versions.G3 supports USB 3.0 , so it has faster data transfer rate.

Not only is the drive secure, so is the packaging. Kingston decided to use the dreaded clamshell packaging for the DataTraveler Locker+ G3. 5 year warranty though. What else do you need from a flash drive, its complete.

The drive looks fantastic out of the box. An aluminum casing wraps around the entire drive and the entire unit feels very solid. There’s a little hole at the rear of the casing so you can attach a strap or key ring to it although Kingston doesn’t include a strap with the package.

The Kingston DataTraveler Locker+ G3 uses a USB 3.0 interface, but is backwards compatible with USB 2.0 hosts as well at a reduced level of performance. There is a little square indicator on the top of the flash drive.

Once the Kingston DataTraveler Locker+ G3 is connected, the only thing that’ll show up is a launcher for the DTLocker+ G3 software.
Once the software is launched, the initial setup walks you through the sequence.
After the password is set, the user must enter it every time to access the drive. 10 failed attempts to enter the password will result in deletion of data and drive will be formatted. Your contact information may be viewed without entering the password, so if the drive is lost then it can still be returned to you. Unfortunately because Kingston does use verification software here, it’s only compatible with Windows and OSX. Linux and Android users are out of luck.

Once the password is entered and the drive is unlocked, the actual storage portion of the DataTraveler Locker+ G3 shows up as a separate drive. This is where you store your data for safety.

The drive looks fantastic out of the box. An aluminum casing wraps around the entire drive and the entire unit feels very solid. There’s a little hole at the rear of the casing so you can attach a strap or key ring to it although Kingston doesn’t include a strap with the package.

The Kingston DataTraveler Locker+ G3 uses a USB 3.0 interface, but is backwards compatible with USB 2.0 hosts as well at a reduced level of performance. There is a little square indicator on the top of the flash drive.

Once the Kingston DataTraveler Locker+ G3 is connected, the only thing that’ll show up is a launcher for the DTLocker+ G3 software.
Once the software is launched, the initial setup walks you through the sequence.
After the password is set, the user must enter it every time to access the drive. 10 failed attempts to enter the password will result in deletion of data and drive will be formatted. Your contact information may be viewed without entering the password, so if the drive is lost then it can still be returned to you. Unfortunately because Kingston does use verification software here, it’s only compatible with Windows and OSX. Linux and Android users are out of luck.

Once the password is entered and the drive is unlocked, the actual storage portion of the DataTraveler Locker+ G3 shows up as a separate drive. This is where you store your data for safety.

The software included on the drive is pretty straightforward and easy to use. All there had to be done was insert the drive, run the included software, and set a password. The entire process took me less than a minute to complete. Since the drive uses hardware encryption, there’s nothing to install, which is great if you want to use your drive on computers other than your own.

You can encrypt only a portion of the drive if you want, especially useful when using the drive on OS which are not supported

There’s no password recovery option available in the software, only a hint, so if you forget your password you must either contact Kingston support (and hope they have a solution) or deal with the data loss.

 

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