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https://www.theregister.com/2024/02/07/failed_usb_sticks/
The report, from German data recovery company CBL, concluded that NAND chips from reputable manufacturers such as Hynix, Sandisk, or Samsung that had failed quality control were being resold and repurposed. While still working, the chips' storage capacity is reduced.
"When we opened defective USB sticks last year, we found an alarming number of inferior memory chips with reduced capacity and the manufacturer's logo removed from the chip. Clearly discarded and unrecognizable microSD cards are also soldered onto a USB stick and managed with the external one on the USB stick board instead of the microSD's internal controller," explains Conrad Heinicke, Managing Director of CBL Datenrettung GmbH.
[...] Technological advancements have also affected these NAND chips, but not in a good way. The chips originally used single-level cell (SLC) memory cells that only stored one bit each, offering less data density but better performance and reliability. In order to increase the amount of storage the chips offered, manufacturers started moving to four bits per cell (QLC), decreasing the endurance and retention. Combined with the questionable components, it's why CBL warns that "You shouldn't rely too much on the reliability of flash memory."
[...] It's always wise to be careful when choosing your storage device and beware of offers that seem too good to be true. Back in 2022, a generic 30TB M.2 external SSD was available for about $18 on Walmart's website. It actually held two 512MB SD cards stuck to the board with hot glue – their firmware had been modified to report each one as 15 TB. There was also the case of fake Samsung SSDs with unbelievable slow speeds uncovered last year.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Rich on Thursday February 08 2024, @09:15PM
One particular advertisement from decades ago got stuck in my mind. It was from one of the memory peddling shops, probably Kingston (or Corsair, or Crucial, one of those). It displayed two identical RAM modules, their sticker on one of them, and the headline ""How much is this sticker worth to you?"
It boils down to that about the only worth these shops possess is goodwill, about their reliability with supply and product quality. If they'd be caught shipping crap, or worse, not properly dealing with it, their business is dead. It's probably worse for them than for vendors like WD, who permanently think up things (like 7200rpm-"Class", cheating with shingled recording, or SMART fails after 3 power-on-years) to screw over their customers.
With that in mind, I either shop from whoever owns the factories (Kioxia, Samsung,...) or one of the long-time established box-movers. No bad experience so far.
Although... out of curiosity I did order an unknown brand the last time, "TeamGroup". 256GB for 18€, the Made-in-Taiwan stick looks and weighs like milled from stainless billet, sticks magnetically, has an included bottle opener, a little ruler (metric!), and the ribbon attachment can be used for easy box opening jobs. Capacity appeared to be reasonably honest, and I'm curious whether the internals hold what the external quality promises. :)