LaCie RuggedKey review: LaCie RuggedKey

Though key-fob storage devices have been available ever since the first thumbdrives were made years ago, LaCie is now turning this design into a new novelty with the RuggedKey.

8.1

LaCie RuggedKey

The Good

The water- and drop-resistant <b>LaCie RuggedKey</b> thumbdrive offers fast USB 3.0 speed and a practical keyring design.

The Bad

The LaCie RuggedKey doesn't float, caps at only 32GB, and is relatively expensive.

The Bottom Line

The LaCie RuggedKey is one of the best portable, ultracompact, storage devices on the market.

This new little flash-based storage device is basically a regular USB thumbdrive that is shaped like a key and comes with a keyring. The RuggedKey, however, differentiates itself from the rest of the crowd by being the second I've reviewed that supports USB 3.0 (the first being the Lexar Triton), and coming with an easily removable rubber cover that adds both style and high-level protection.

In my testing, the RuggedKey was fast, too, which is always the most important thing when it comes to a storage device. The RuggedKey also comes with a good bundle of software utilities, making it an excellent compact storage device despite the relatively high cost of $40 for 16GB (or $70 for 32GB). If you want something of similar physical size and performance but with up to 64GB of storage space, I also recommend the Lexar Triton.

Design and features