G-Tech G-DRVE slim SSD USB-C External SSD review
By Jim Bask
By Ganesh T S
G-Tech G-DRVE slim SSD USB-C External SSD review
Flash-based external direct-attached storage (DAS) devices have been rapidly evolving over the last few years. The emergence of USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C has led to external peripherals adopting it for the host interface. DAS units are no exception, and we have seen vendors release a number of Type-C devices over the last year or so. On the storage media side, there has been a move towards cheaper flash, with TLC as the primary driver. High-performance flash-based DAS units carry a premium as they are still reliant on MLC flash for providing consistent performance.
In the last five years, Western Digital (WD) has made a string of acquisitions as part of the overall consolidation trend in the market. The two key ones have been HGST and SanDisk. Along with HGST, WD also acquired the G-Technology brand. This brand has been catering to the storage demands of content creators for multimedia acquisition, editing and distribution. Their products range from bus-powered rugged portable hard drives and SSDs to rackmount enclosures for multiple high-capacity hard drives. In the hard drive segment, G-Technology could make use of HGST products, but, for the external SSDs, they had been relying on flash from external vendors. The acquisition of SanDisk fixes this problem. G-Technology’s G-DRIVE slim SSD USB-C is one of the first products to take advantage of this synergy.
The G-DRVE slim SSD USB-C is a portable USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C external SSD. It comes in two capacities – 500GB and 1TB. G-Technology claims speeds of up to 540 MBps, but, in keeping with the usual G-Technology marketing strategy, doesn’t specify much in terms of the internals. This review analyzes the hardware and performance of the 500GB variant for typical DAS workloads
Packaging and Internals
The industrial design of G-Technology products is sleek and attractive, as the primary target is content creators. A majority of those are Mac users who want their peripherals to match the look and feel of Apple hardware. The G-DRIVE slim SSD USB-C is no exception. G-Technology even advertises it as being a good companion to the MacBook. The internal drive also comes pre-formatted in HFS+ for Mac users.
The product is bus-powered. Hence, the supplied material in the package is minimal – just a couple of cables (Type-C to Type-A and Type-C to Type-C) rated for for USB 3.1 Gen 2 speeds. Other than that, we have the usual warranty papers and quick start guide. [Continue Reading..]