The Plugable Thunderbolt3 External SSD overcomes the limitations of the external SSD through the 40 Gbps Thunderbolt3 interface (TB3 – 5000 MBps). Achieve sequential read/write speeds of up to 2400/1800 MBps, nearly three times faster than USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) external SSDs.
Now the key to achieving maximum speed is the PCIe TB3 host implementation. Whether it’s PCIe 3.0 x2 or x4, both will give peak read speeds of over 2400Mbps, but the x2 will give write speeds of around 1000MBps while the x4 will hit 1800MBps.
The drive is compatible with Thunderbolt 3 or 4 and draws power from the port. Not compatible with USB-C 4.0 or earlier.
Australian Review: 2TB Pluggable Thunderbolt3 External SSD
Website Product Page Price 1 TB 535 TB 2 TB $799 From Amazon AU (AU website coming soon) Warranty 3 years or 1900 TBW Lift page Thunderbolt 3 or 4 makes this 1 or 2 TB external SSD the fastest on the planet.Country of originTaiwanCompanyPlugable (website here). Redmond, Washington, USA. It sells a wide range of products worldwide and is consistently in the ‘Top 5’ of the global docking station market. More news and reviews from Cybershack Plugable Fast dataInterface: Thunderbolt 3 or 4 x4 (not USB-C backwards compatible)Format: exFAT but can format to any OSS Size: 108mm x 65mm x 14.5mm x 272gBox: unit, integrated 18cm cable and carrying bag Theoretical R/W sequence: 2400/1800MBps Drop resistant: Not stated, but uses a full metal body. IP Rating: Not stated, but should be splashproof on Windows, macOS, Xbox X and PS5 (or earlier)
We use Fail (below expectations), Pass (meets expectations) and Exceed (exceeds expectations or is class leader) against many of the items below. Occasionally we give a grade of Pass(apt) which is not as good as it should be and a grade of Pass “+” to show that it is good but falls short of Pass.
You can click on most images to enlarge them.
First impression – Solid, dark, black – Pass+
It’s all about business. The milled heatsink-style aluminum housing looks solid, and the fixed 18cm TB3 cable (USB-C connector) means you can’t use the wrong cable.
The interface is TB3 or 4, PCIe NVMe 3.0 x4 or x2 for a lower rate. It uses a flagship Phison E12 NVMe controller made for high-end consumer SSDs and enterprise SSDs. We suspect the M.2 SSD uses Toshiba 3D TCL and there is a DDR4 DRAM cache.
Tests – Pass
Our reference Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2022 Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio (2022): A Thing of Beauty and Envy (Review) has TB4 ports with PCIe 3.0 x4 implementation. But by default Windows uses the Quick Removal option which disables the write cache for safe removal. For maximum speed, you should use the best performance option with the Safely Remove Hardware icon, but power outages or simply unplugging the cable can result in data loss.
Using Crystal Disk Mark tests peak performance. Sequential read/write speeds were excellent. More impressive is the handling of large files, which means you could render images on this.
Speed X4 Speed X2
CPDT sustained reading/writing tests. Sequential read/write speeds were MBps.
Black magic disk speed test analyzes video rendering. It is capable of rendering video up to 12K@24fps.
Speed x4 x2 Speed
CyberShack Review: It’s super fast and perfect for videographers
It’s perfect, a 10/10 with one caveat, it’s just Thunderbolt.
Now you really have an external device that matches your internal consumer SSDs and one that can give you room to render on the go. It would be a shame to waste it on common garden variety storage!
Connectable external Thunderbolt3 SSD
1/2TB A$535/799
Performance mode x4
10.0/10
Easy to use (TRB3/4 only)
9.0/10
Pros
- Incredible speeds of 2400/1800 MBps or more
- Bargain price for TB3 speed
- Solid, robust, reliable
- Quality controller and M.2 2280 SSD
- Good 3 year warranty
Cons
- Just remember its Thunderbolt only
- Don’t waste that speed on vanilla storage