I’ve used USB flash drives for years to transfer files between devices, and they’ve worked fine in most situations. But as file sizes grew, especially with 4K videos and large project folders, I found myself waiting longer than I wanted for transfers to complete. That’s when I switched to using NVMe SSDs with external enclosures.
These aren’t complicated to set up, and I saw a significant performance boost. If you regularly transfer large files and want to save time, this upgrade is worth considering.
USB flash drives were convenient, but they just don’t always cut it
It’s the slow speeds and poor reliability
USB flash drives work fine for smaller files, but their limitations become apparent once you start moving larger amounts of data. Most consumer USB flash drives theoretically top out around 10 Gbps for reads, with writes often much slower, depending on the model. Real-world speeds rarely hit those numbers due to controller limitations and heat buildup in such a small form factor.
When you’re transferring 50GB+ files—like video projects, game backups, or photo libraries—you end up waiting. Sequential write speeds tank as the drive fills up, and random read/write performance is terrible compared to SSDs. A USB flash drive might still beat the cloud in some ways, but I’ve yet to see a USB 3.2 Gen 2 drive reach its advertised speed limits in practice.
Reliability is another issue I’ve run into. SMART monitoring warns you before drives fail, but not all flash drives have it, and cheaper models are prone to data corruption. USB flash drives also have lower write endurance than SSDs, and many budget options skip built-in error correction entirely.
NVMe SSDs fix all of these problems
Using them externally isn’t complicated
Setting up an NVMe SSD as an external drive for faster speeds requires two things: an NVMe M.2 SSD (preferably PCIe 4.0 x4) and an enclosure that supports USB 4.0 or Thunderbolt 4 or 5 for the best speeds.
The total cost depends on capacity and performance. A 1TB PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe drive costs $70 to $110, whereas M.2 NVMe external portable enclosures range from $30 to $70, depending on features such as thermal management.
I’d recommend looking for enclosures with a heatsink or thermal pad. NVMe drives generate heat under sustained loads, and proper cooling prevents throttling and helps you get more performance from your NVMe SSD. Most enclosures support tool-free installation, so you just slide the SSD in and lock it down with a latch or screw. Most enclosures include USB-C to USB-C or USB-C to USB-A cables, so these setups work across Windows, macOS, and Linux without needing additional drivers.
PCIe 4.0 drives with Thunderbolt are absurdly fast
Once you’ve used an NVMe SSD in an enclosure, going back to a flash drive feels disappointing, as the performance gap is massive, even with a basic PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe SSD setup.
PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe drives hit sequential read speeds around 3,500 MB/s and write speeds around 3,000 MB/s—roughly 15-30 times faster than typical USB flash drives. That’s already a huge improvement, but PCIe 4.0 x4 drives push this much further.
With a PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe drive, you can reach read speeds up to 7,000 MB/s and write speeds around 5,000-6,000 MB/s. If your device supports Thunderbolt 4, you can achieve speeds close to that. However, Thunderbolt 5, which comes on newer devices, doubles the Thunderbolt 4 speeds to 80 Gbps. While current PCIe 4.0 NVMe drives can’t fully utilize that bandwidth, it leaves plenty of headroom for future PCIe 5.0 NVMe drives, which can hit read speeds up to 14,000 MB/s.
You can repurpose an old boot drive
Just make this minor tweak and you’re good to go
If you’re upgrading your laptop or PC’s primary NVMe drive, you can repurpose the old one for file transfers instead of letting it sit in a drawer. I’ve done this with both of my setups, as the drives already have plenty of life left in them.
The catch is that if Windows was installed on that drive, you’ll need to format it before using it as a standard storage device. The old boot partition structure will cause issues otherwise, and you won’t be able to use the full capacity.
Back up any files you want to keep first, then follow these steps:
- Connect the NVMe drive in its enclosure to your computer.
- Press the Windows Key + X, then select Disk Management.
- Locate your NVMe drive in the list (it’ll show multiple partitions if Windows was installed).
- Right-click each partition, then select Delete Volume.
- Once all partitions are deleted, right-click the unallocated space and select New Simple Volume.
- Follow the wizard, choosing NTFS as the file system.
- Assign a drive letter and you’re done.
The drive will now function as a clean, empty storage device with its full capacity available. If you’d rather keep it as a bootable backup, you can skip formatting—but you’ll lose storage space to the Windows installation and recovery partitions.
There are a few minor downsides to carrying an SSD enclosure
But the drawbacks are manageable
NVMe SSDs in enclosures aren’t perfect, but the drawbacks are manageable if you know what to expect. The biggest annoyance is that you’re now carrying an enclosure instead of a tiny USB flash drive. Most NVMe enclosures are about the size of a pocket lighter, so they’re not huge but definitely bulkier than a flash drive that fits on a keychain.
They also generate heat during sustained transfers, and the enclosure will feel warm to the touch. This is normal and actually a good thing, since it means heat is leaving the drive. The enclosure acts as a heatsink, which is why models with aluminum bodies and thermal pads perform better than plastic ones. If the enclosure feels hot, it’s doing its job. The drive will throttle if it overheats, but I haven’t had that happen with any decent enclosure.
USB flash drives aren’t going away, and they’re still fine for a personal security toolkit, quick document transfers, or when you need something small. But if you’re regularly moving large files, the cost difference between a flash drive and an NVMe setup disappears after the first few frustrating transfers.