"Sweet Spot" size for USB memory stick
 

I am testing out the USB connection for music/podcasts loaded on a memory stick with my Fit (2019, former 2010 owner-RIP). I used a 128GB size and found that it took 30-60 seconds for the USB to load each time the car was started. In contrast, a 1GB stick loaded instantly. So I wonder, what size USB memory stick would hold the most files, but load quickly (5 seconds or less)?

Also, if the device has 3+ levels of folders loaded, are all the files accessible? How difficult is navigation through these files, especially using the steering wheel buttons?

It's not necessarily the USB capacity. Besides the folder levels, it also has to do with file sizes, metadata and file length size. My former stock '16 headunit would take some time to read the contents, may not play some of the contents unless they are in the root directory or of a specific file length. For multiple reasons, I decided to upgrade and couldn't be happier. Not sure if the latest models have improved on that. I was using 256+gb b/c I was ripping my music to 320 mp3's.

How many GB is the contents of what you are listening too? The size has to be at least that big so try not to get one too much over that. If you have 12GB worth if audio then go with a 16GB. If you have a lot though you can’t really reduce it much unless you beak things up onto small sticks. Have one for music and one for podcasts. Or break it down even further and go by genre or type of podcast.