I’ve manner too many exterior drives, and whereas MagSafe-enabled drives are very attention-grabbing nowadays, however nothing beats the comfort of a daily exterior SSD. There are actually a whole lot of selections on this class, and no matter no matter mannequin you select, you get a couple of issues as normal: quick learn/writes, dependable designs, and straightforward connectivity.
Hardwired
In Hardwired, AC Senior Editor Harish Jonnalagadda delves into all issues {hardware}, together with telephones, audio merchandise, storage servers, and networking gear.
I have been utilizing SK Hynix’s Beetle X31 in current weeks, and it’s an intriguing possibility. The drive has a novel design with flowing sides, and I choose it to the boxy designs that Samsung often goes with. Whereas the drive has been round for simply over a yr, the 2TB mannequin is new, and that is the one I am testing. It prices $169 on Amazon — $10 lower than the equal Samsung possibility — and if you don’t need that a lot storage, SK Hynix additionally sells a 1TB mannequin that is $89, and a 512GB version at simply $49.
The X31 is on the market in gold and gray colour variants, and I am utilizing the latter. If you’re serious about getting the drive, I would counsel getting the gold mannequin — it appears to be like simply that little bit extra elegant.
The glossy design makes it inherently pocketable, and I did not have any points taking it on the street. The chassis itself is made out of aluminum, and it has a silky coat just like that of the Nord 4. You get rubber toes on the backside that guarantee it does not transfer round on a desk, and SK Hynix even bundles a silicone case that gives extra sturdiness.
Even with out the case, the X31 holds up extremely nicely in every day put on and tear. However on condition that the case permits the drive to face up to two-meter tumbles and a further barrier towards mud and water ingress — it does not have ingress safety — I would suggest utilizing it.
There is not a lot else to speak in regards to the design. The USB-C port is positioned on the correct, and there is a tiny standing LED subsequent to it that lights up when the drive is in use. SK Hynix offers USB-C to USB-C and USB-C to USB-A cables with the package deal, so you may simply join the X31 to simply about any machine without having extra cables.
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Nothing I’ve stated to this point is totally different to what you get with most moveable SSDs, but it surely’s value noting that the Beetle X31 does not miss out on the fundamentals. Now, the place the drive really shines is knowledge transfers; it has a customized M.2 2242 SSD — a variant of the BC711 — contained in the enclosure, and it options an AsMedia ASM2362 controller. What’s attention-grabbing is that it has an embedded DRAM, which often is not the case with these drives.
The result’s that the X31 is ready to hit sequential writes of 965MB/s and reads going as much as 1,006MB/s, and it sustains these speeds lots longer than different exterior SSDs I attempted out lately. That alone makes it worthy of advice, and with a 2TB mannequin now obtainable, that is the most effective time to select up the X31.
I did not have any points utilizing the X31 with the Honor Magic 7 Professional, Vivo X200 Professional, iPhone 16 Professional Max, and my customized Home windows machine. The drive does an incredible job with prolonged transfers, and it does not lose connectivity. It tends to get a little bit heat with heavy use, however that is the case with all exterior drives.
Total, I believe SK Hynix is onto a winner with the Beetle X31. The diminutive design mixed with quick inner SSD and built-in DRAM makes it an incredible selection when you want an exterior drive to retailer images, movies, and paperwork, and now you can get it in a 2TB mannequin.
With a glossy design and terrific sustained transfers, the Beetle X31 is among the greatest exterior SSDs obtainable at present.
