How do I buy a reliable affordable authentic USB flash drive?

Many of the people at this site clearly have much more experience with buying flash drives than I do and as the owner of two flash drives that did NOT stand the test of time, I'm looking for some advice on the best way of buying the right flash drives.

I think I want to steer away from anything coming from China - but not Taiwan - but don't know the nationality of most of the various manufacturers. I understand there are a LOT of fake USB drives that have far less capacity than they claim to have. I want something that will keep working for a long time. A light that tells me it is reading/writing would be nice but is not essential. I'd prefer a flash drive that does not have a cap which I can easily lose. I want USB 3.0 or better since both of my laptops have at least one 3.0 port and I know that a 3.x flash drive will work on a 2.0 port.

I am willing to buy at online stores. I'm in Canada and would strongly prefer to buy from a Canadian-based retailer but have no strong preferences for a specific retailer.

I'd welcome your suggestions.

I'm running Windows 10 Home, Version 21H2.

Personally I don't like larger storage flash drive because sometimes it's fake

RhinoCan said:

I think I want to steer away from anything coming from China - but not Taiwan - but don't know the nationality of most of the various manufacturers.

My Seagate One Touch's label says the following:

Product of China (HDD)
Assembled in Thailand

Do you think the manufacturer is from China?

I have 3 Sandisks that are 1-2 years old, 1 Kingston Data Traveller and 1 no name that was given to me by my employer years ago (has employer's logo on it) that I've had for at least 10 years. Not one of them has failed me yet. I agree with most of what was said above. Go with a well know brand from a reputable dealer and you should be okay.

As for large drives being fake. Well, so can small ones. Again. try to go with a reputable brand from a reputable dealer.

If you want to know which are best for your needs and or the makes just Google it and go with sites that seem to offer reputable advice (10 Forums, How To Geek. Tech Radar just to name a few).

One problem I've had is that I have bought drives that had a USB 3 or later interface, but that still ran at more like USB 2 speeds.

You don't mention a capacity. You can buy 2TB ones, if you like.

Here is one Canadian source: In Stock,USB 3.2 Gen 2,USB 3.2 Gen 1,USB 3.1,USB 3.0,5/5 eggs,Canada,Type A,4/5 eggs USB Flash Drives | Newegg.ca

These drives claim 100MBps read rates: ADATA UV320 96GB (32GB x 3) USB Flash Drive, 3-pack - Newegg.ca

I've been happy with Adata flash drives in the past, but I have never bought this model.

I had a KINGSTON USB stick that failed three years after I bought it.
Now I have two KINGSTON USB sticks, which have been working fine.