Kingston CNY Collection Edition 2024 – Mini Dragon
If you’ve been buying flash drives for a while now or have at least been following Kingston for more than 10 years, you would know that they have a series of limited edition flash drives bearing the Chinese Zodiac released on their respective years e..g this year, which is Year of the Dragon.
This will be Kingston’s second loop for their CNY Limited Edition series and we are now on the 5th edition of the current loop with last year’s limited edition release being the special Year of the Rabbit edition encased in a special carrot juice bottle case. The image above was shared last year and as you will see, they’re not following the placeholder images as we now have the Mini Dragon of 2024.
In this review, we’ll take a quick look at the new release and have a quick glance at performance. This is just a casual review, so if you just want to know where to buy the Kingston CNY Mini Dragon USB Flash Drive, then you can grab it at the official Lazada store here for PHP1,190 for this 128GB USB3.2 Gen1 (5Gbps) flash drive.
Read on to find out more!
Specification
| Capacities | 128GB |
| Speeds | USB 3.2 Gen1, 200MB/s-Read, 60MB/s-Write |
| Size | 31.77mm x 33.63mm x 40.24mm |
| Package size | 65.3mm x 65.3mm x 89.2mm |
| Operating temperature | 0°C~60°C |
| Storage temperature | -20°C~85°C |
| Warranty | 5-year warranty, free technical support |
| Compatible with | Windows 11, Windows 10, Mac OS (v. 10.12.6 +), Linux (v. 2.6.x +), ChromeOS™ |
Closer Look
Like all their CNY releases, Kingston’s Mini Dragon USB flash drive ships in themed packaging albeit unlike this cycle’s carrot juice bottle with its intricate print or the Ox edition and its milk bottle theme, we get this clear egg. Not a lot of styling happening and if you’re familiar with this series you would know that this sort of a step-down especially with the Kingston 2012 CNY Fortune Dragon USB flash drive shipping in a box shaped like an emperor’s throne.
Regardless, inside the packaging we have the cute little dragon protected with molded plastic. The shell casing is not locked in place and is only slightly kept in place with friction. The egg shell case ships with clear tape holding down 2 spots on the case.
And here’s the cute little 2024 Mini Dragon side-by-side with its 2012 Fortune Dragon counterpart. As Kingston states, this is a limited edition and in most cases, its going to be hard getting these after the year of its release but expect it to be on-shelves allthroughout that year.
For scale, here’s the Kingston CNY 2024 Mini Dragon USB Flash drive besides an LGA1700 CPU for scale. Its a stubby design like the current wave has tiny wings sticking out the side.
Yes, those are wings because its hands are clearly laid on top of its stomach as seen above. Its got tiny rubber horns as well with the head crest done in gold being the grip for the USB flash drive.
The Mini Dragon acts like a cover or holder to stow the flash drive with the entire flash drive and the USB-A interface painted in gold. The drive is held in place by small notches that slide into place when stowing the drive.
You can use the flash drive by itself but without its crest, the Kingston CNY Mini Dragon just looks sad and broken.
At 128GB, this is a nice capacity upgrade from last year’s 64GB and Kingston has also used newer components to allow a faster 60MB/s average write speed versus 20MB/s from last year. The drive stil retains the respectable 200MB/s read speeds but please be guided accordingly as this is marketed as a 5Gbps speed drive yet its actual performance rating is only 200MB/s read and 60MB/s write on the only capacity offered which is 128GB.
User Impression and Conclusion
This is a novelty product through and through and you’re not buying for sheer performance or value. Its a trinket to celebrate the Lunar New Year with its respective animal and if cute and adorable is your thing, the Kingston CNY Mini Dragon flash drive already checks out for me.
At 200MB/s this is a snappy read drive and if you’re just bringing some homework or other files with you that is mostly read, this drive is quite decent and can even do quick bursts of ~100MB/s writes although Kingston rates it for 60MB/s. Tiny file writes does slow things down so those copying Steam drives or other miscellaneous folders with small files, expect some performance penalty.
For school and general use, this is a great drive and its just a looker. I do feel it is quite simplistic versus the energetic rabbit design or the smart design of the Ox editions, for the most part its cute appeal and stoic look should really draw in some eyeballs, regardless of age.
This year’s CNY installment for Kingston’s collection is cute and faster at the same time. If it looks great for you, its a capable flash drive and a cute trinket as well. Get it if you really like it as a keychain over a flash drive.
The Kingston CNY 2024 Mini Dragon USB Flash Drive is available now in Malaysia and the Philippines. Please check with your local dealers for pricing and availability.
Kingston backs the 2024 Mini Dragon USB Flash Drive with a 5-year warranty.
