Featuring blazing read speeds, a tough but light aluminum body, and a lifetime warranty, the OCZ Technology Rally2 8GB flash drive has a lot going for it. However, the device’s slow write time was disappointing.

Design

You’ll immediately notice that the Rally2 has a sturdy, lightweight aluminum build and a stylish brushed-metal finish, making it one of the most durable flash drives around; it feels like it can take a beating. Even if you somehow manage to damage this tough little stick, the Rally2 comes with a lifetime warranty. The Rally2 also features an orange status LED when the slide-out USB connector is plugged into a Mac or Windows-based notebook, and it comes with a USB cord.

Performance

OCZ Technology touts that the “Dual Channel” technology running under the hood makes the Rally2 one of the fastest flash drives on the market. Our tests confirm the company’s claim, at least when comparing their USB stick against the others recently reviewed. In our HD Tach test, the Rally2 obliterated the competition with a blazing 33.9 MBps read speed; the only flash drive that comes close to this mark is the SanDisk Cruzer Titanium Plus, which lagged behind the Rally2 by 7.5 MBps. The Rally2’s 4.0 MBps write speed, conversely, was far less impressive; it transferred a 1GB folder in a slow 4 minutes and 11 seconds, placing it dead-last among the drives we’ve recently reviewed.

Verdict

We wish the write speeds were better, and that OCZ included security software, but this 8GB drive offers a tough and sleek design and the fastest read speeds on the block.