GROUP TEST
EXTERNAL SSDs
Running out of bytes? It pays to pick up one of the best external SSDs.
By Jeremy Laird
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f you want speedy storage performance on the go or between devices, your best option is an external SSD with plenty of bandwidth. That’ll net you the enticing possibility of actually running your games from a portable drive, which is not only great for laptop gamers, it’s a must-have with the latest generation of consoles, too.
The best USB Type-C drives deliver performance well beyond internal PC SSDs from just a few generations ago. Some external SSDs now crank out as much as 2Gbps of raw bandwidth.
Admittedly, that’s a long way off the latest PCIe 4.0 M.2 drives for PCs let alone the crazy-quick integrated storage in the new Microsoft Xbox Series X and Sony PlayStation 5. But it’s enough for reasonably nippy game loads.
SE800 1TB
ADATA £150
Fast. Bomb proof. Affordable
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NVMe inside? Yep. TLC NAND memory? Yes. IP rating for increased robustness including water proofing? Check. All for an attractive price? Confirmed. The ADATA SE800 Ultra FAST 1TB does have quite a bit going for it.
It starts with that M.2 NVMe drive, bridged to a USB interface. In this case, it’s a 10Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 2 interface rather than a 20Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 connection. But this drive is still claimed to be good for 1Gbps data transfers in both directions. Lest you have forgotten, that’s around twice as fast as any SATA-based drives.