Hexino, a French company selling “fashion technology” under the brand RYVAL, may be offering the smallest USB flash drives available today with RYVAL Elf. This tiny mass storage device measure 1.8 cm x 1.8 cm x 0.68 cm, weights only 2 grams, and is available with capacities of 8GB, 16GB, or 32GB.
The specifications listed on the company’s website are as follows:
- USB 2.0 compatible with Windows Vista, 7 and 8
- Write speed – Up to 4 MB/s
- Read speed – Up to 12 MB/s
- Weight – 2 grams
- Dimensions – 18 mm x 18 mm x 6.8 mm
- Capacity – 8 GB to 32 GB
- Colors – Blue, Pink, and Green
- Material – Aluminium
They only mention compatibility with Windows, but I don’t see why it could not work with Mac, Android, and Linux based devices and computers. It’s small enough to replace microSD cards for permanent storage expansion, so if you’ve got an Android tablet or mini PC with a full USB port it could be a neat way to add storage.
I’ve also been looking for a version with a micro USB port instead, but it does not appear to be available in that form factor, and all I could find from this company is Ryval Link 2-en-1 that features both a full sized USB port and a micro USB port, and measures 29.6 x 12 x 4.5 mm or
I’ve found the device via DealExtreme which sells the 8GB, 16GB and 32 GB for pricing ranging from $12.41 to $28.98, and it does not appear to be sold in many other places, except if you happen to live in France, where many online retailers such as CDiscount or Amazon FR sell Ryval products.
You can also visit RYVAL Elf page for a few more pictures.
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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Pretty, but not significantly smaller than something like this:
http://www.tinydeal.com/pny-phone-baby-micro-sdhctf-memory-card-reader-p-64518.html
The micro SD card can be used in other devices if needed, and I think some offer faster read/write speeds.
(Slightly cheaper at buyincoins, where I got a near-identical one that works very well, but out of stock for months… I also bought a few of a different model – the card inserts from outside the USB port, unlike these which force you to remove the adapter to change the card – but found them unreliable.)
@onebir
Nice. Will the microSD be hidden in the card reader, or stick out a bit?
@cnxsoft
uSD card is directly under the USB connector pads, and probably almost completely there (would be nice trivia exercise to measure length of uSD card and USB connector protruding part). The part sticking out is ~ the minimal length enough to extract the whole device with fingers without extraordinary effort . Whoever will make USB device less, will need to add a special tool extract for it (though using a string/thread for that might an idea, whoever uses that idea, please give me 10% of profit! 😀 ).
@Paul @cnxsoft I measured mine; it’s 16mm including the connector, of which 5mm protrudes. Micro SD cards are 15mm long, so that must be about the mininum. It’s a bit tricky to pull out sometimes; even though it takes a lanyard it’s thin & positioned asymmetrically & doesn’t help, though perhaps it could with some design changes.
@onebir
Here is another one: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/andyfei/mini-microsd-reader-for-android-smartphones-and-ta?ref=search
@cnxsoft The reader onbir linked to totally encloses the uSD card, in fact, it is inserted into the end of the USB connector before you insert the USB connector in your computer.
The Sandisk Cruzer Fit is about the same size, but probably a bit bigger because this one doesn’t have the shielding.
@Luke McCarthy Also comes in 64GB:
http://dx.com/p/852294714
Similar thing with a micro USB connector on the back:
http://www.buyincoins.com/item/57986.html