WHILE AN INTERNAL SSD is a necessary upgrade for most PCs, external models have felt extravagant With the SV620, ADATA is challenging that theory with a low-cost portable external SSD sporting a USB3 connection.
You get the 240GB model on test here (the 480GB model), bringing the price per gigabyte down to just 29p.
ADATA has saved a little on build quality, opting for a simple plastic case. It looks neat, although there’s a little flex in the plastic if you squeeze it. The SSD inside feels tough, so should survive being carried around every day. It’s also small, at 115x78x11.5mm – that’s little bigger than an internal SSD by itself.
ADATA has fitted the SV620 with a relatively fast SSD, with a claimed read speed of 420MB/s and a write speed of 440MB/s. In our tests, the drive managed to write large files at 21633MB/s and read them at 297.54MB/s. Our small files test is more of a challenge, as the drive has to look up hundreds of files, rather than streaming data sequentially. The SV620 did well here, too, with write speeds of 147.99MB/s and read speeds of 226.5MB/s.
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Switching to the CrystalDiskMark test, we found 293MB/s read and 285.9MB/s write speeds in the sequential test. In the random read/write test, which reads 4KB chunks of data at random, we saw impressive results of 26.94MB/s read and 76.05MB/s write speeds. Faster SSDs exist, particularly for internal models, but you’ll pay a lot more for them.
You can download the HDDtoGO software for free and run it on the SV620. This can add a useful encrypted folder if you’re carrying sensitive data. It can also synchronize your Internet Explorer and Firefox bookmarks, although this feature is probably less useful.
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One of the stumbling blocks for a lot of people is that a 2TB portable mechanical hard disk costs around the same money, and that’s a lot more storage. If storage is the priority, then there’s no competition.
However, the SV620 has several advantages over mechanical disks: it’s faster, and solid-state technology is more reliable and less prone to shock damage. With a three-year warranty as standard, this SSD is great value.
David Ludlow
Mechanical disks rule for capacity, but this well-priced external SSD is a great performer.
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