Aegis Secure Key 3z

The Aegis Secure Key 3z looks like the evil twin of the Datashur Pro we reviewed couple of months ago. I guess outer design wise there’s not much variation one can make with these flash thumb drives. The Aegis Secure Key 3z is offered in 8, 16, 32, 64 and 128GB capacities and higher the capacity, lower the cost/GB becomes. Prices start from $79 for the 8GB version and goes upto $199 for the 128GB version.

(Apricorn Aegis Secure Key 3z on the left)

Here are the specifications for the Aegis Secure Key 3z – USB 3.1 provided by Apricorn.

DATA TRANSFER RATE	Up to 190MB/s Read / 80MB/s Write
POWER SUPPLY	USB Port / Internal Battery
INTERFACE	Super Speed USB 3.1 (Backwards compatible with USB 3.0, 2.0 and 1.1)
DIMENSIONS	81mm x 18.4mm x 9.5mm \| 22 g
WARRANTY	3-year Limited Warranty
APPROVALS	FIPS 140-2 Level 3 (NIST certification #2824), IP-57, FCC, CE, VCCI, WEE, C-TICK
CERTIFICATION POLICIES	click here for certification policy
ECCN / HTS / CAGE CODE	5A992.c / 8473.50.3000 / 3VYK8
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS	Windows®, Mac®, Linux, Android and Symbian systems, or any powered USB OS with a storage file system

While the transfer speeds given aren’t anywhere near the USB 3.1 specifications, one must take into account that data is written onto the drive with 256-bit AES XTS encryption in real-time which undoubtedly impacts on performance. Performance isn’t the primary focus for the users’ of these drives and nor has it been Apricorn’s primary intention either. The Aegis Secure Key 3z is FIPS-140 Level 3 certified for security, which pretty much guarantee’s the security of your data.

It’s important to know the distinction between FIPS-140-2 certified and FIPS-140-2 validated. You’re bound to come across much cheaper products in the market, however most of them will say FIPS-140-2 validated, meaning some of the components used in the device are FIPS-140-2 certified but the device as a whole hasn’t gone through FIPS-140-2 certification. This should be an immediate deal breaker if data security is important to you. After all you wouldn’t be spending this amount of money on a flash drive if security wasn’t of paramount importance. While FIPS-140-2 level 4 is the ultimate level of security one could get, the costs involved to reach this level makes it completely overkill.

The Aegis Secure Key 3z is shipped in a tamper protected box and you should not accept any new device if the seal is already broken.

Opening the box reveals a quick start guide and the flash drive. There’s no elaborate over the top designs or inclusions with the Aegis Secure Key 3z but a very simple designed box and equally well designed flash drive. You do earn some bragging rights by simply owning one of these flash drives.

Look and Feel

The Aegis Secure Key 3z feels quite rugged and sleek at the same time. Its housing is completely aluminum which allows for faster heat dissipation during drive usage. It has 3 LED lights, Red, Blue and Green which light up based on the type of interaction with the device.

The Polymer-Coated Wear-Resistant Onboard Keypad will ensure that any wordings do not wear off over time and is also designed so that it won’t reveal mostly used buttons. To circumvent any keylogging software/hardware from being able to capture the PIN code, the Aegis Secure Key 3z becomes visible to the host system only after initially unlocking the device through its keypad.

The flash drive is platform agnostic and can be used on any host system that accepts USB. We tested on Windows and Linux systems, however it can virtually work on any operating system such as IOS or Android as well.

The keypad while small we found provided a better grip and feel in comparison to the iStorage Datashur Pro. The buttons were slightly larger and were more embossed which made it easier to press. With the iStorage Datashur Pro I would use my nails to ensure a key is pressed while I didn’t have to do that with the Aegis Secure Key 3z.

The flash drive is IP57 certified making is dust and water resistant. Make note that this does not mean the drive is water proof and you could use it under water.

The Aegis Secure Key 3z is powered through a Li-polymer battery which Apricorn says can last upto 6 years. There’s of course no way to verify this claim, however it’s comforting to know that Apricorn provides a 3 year which also covers the battery.