First Impressions
Priced at $149.99, the BUFFALO 1TB USB SSD Stick is Buffalo's entry in the storage category. With 4,003 buyers rating it at 4.4 stars, it currently sits at #21 of 70 in our rankings. It won't beat the top picks on raw rating, but at 30% below the category average price, it has a different value proposition.
Drive Construction
For storage, what you can't see matters more than what you can - the controller, NAND type, and DRAM cache determine real-world speed. The enclosure is just the wrapper. Performance ratings are mostly positive with occasional reports of throttling on long file transfers.
By the Spec Sheet
- Brand: Buffalo
- Price: $149.99 (well below the $215.10 category average)
- Amazon rating: 4.4 of 5.0
- Reviews: 4,003
- Category rank: #21 of 70 in storage
- Cheaper in category: 20 products
- Higher-rated in category: 42 products
- More-reviewed in category: 18 products
What 4,003 Buyers Say
A 4.4-star average from 4,003 buyers means most are happy, but a meaningful slice - roughly 15-20% - has at least some complaint. The pattern in the negative reviews matters more than the average itself.
Cheap vs. Capable
At $149.99, the BUFFALO 1TB USB SSD Stick sits well below the $215.10 category average. 20 options are cheaper and 49 are more expensive.
The category leader is the SanDisk Extreme 1TB Portable SSD ($224.99, 4.6★, 88,158 reviews). The BUFFALO 1TB USB SSD Stick is $75.00 cheaper, which is the main reason to pick it over the leader.
Direct competitors at this price (±25%):
- WD My Passport 6TB Portable HDD - $182.99, 4.5★ (101,270 reviews) · Roughly comparable
- WD Elements SE 1TB Portable SSD - $169.99, 4.5★ (22,983 reviews) · Roughly comparable
- SanDisk 1TB Portable SSD - $159.00, 4.6★ (9,536 reviews) · Higher rated
If rating alone is your filter, the highest-rated option in this category is the Oyen Digital Helix Mag40 2TB SSD at 5.0★. If pure price is the filter, the cheapest is the KingSpec MemoStone 1TB External SSD at $33.99.
Is It For You?
Probably yes , with a caveat. The rating is strong and the price is reasonable. Just confirm the specific features you care about - connectivity, switches, ports, whatever - match what's listed.
Best fit for:
- Budget shoppers who want functional storage without overspending
Wrap-Up
8.2/10
Not a top-tier rank, but the price-to-rating combo is genuinely good. A reasonable choice if the top picks don't fit your budget.