Skilled’s Ranking
Professionals
- Small and simply transportable
- Each USB-A and USB-C ports supported
- As much as 4TB of capability
Cons
- Awkward port cowl
- Quicker Gen 2×2 drives round
Our Verdict
The development of the EX100U isn’t as strong as we’ve seen from different manufacturers, however the performance inside is great. For the very best efficiency, you want a USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 port, however even with a regular Gen 2 USB port it’s fairly fast.
Worth When Reviewed
From $90.99 | Mannequin reviewed $184.99
Greatest Costs At present: Corsair EX100U
$107.99
Corsair has created some thrilling SSD know-how prior to now few years, particularly concerning NVMe drives. However till just lately, its exterior storage choices principally pivoted round its Flash Voyager vary, a profitable design that dates again some appreciable time.
With Essential, SanDisk, Seagate and others promoting loads of exterior SSDs, it was about time that Corsair entered this slice of the market with one in every of its uniquely styled choices, and the EX100U is that product.
Is that this the correct drive to compete with the Essential X8 and SanDisk Excessive, or has it come too late for the exterior SSD social gathering?
Design & Construct
The EX100U is a particular design that may confuse some purchasers initially.
It’s a silvery gray plastic lozenge measuring 79.37 x 36.65 x 11mm, with a lanyard slot at one finish and a rubberised cap on the different. I estimate that’s sufficiently big to have a 2240 M.2 NVMe inside, however that scale could be a coincidence.
What isn’t obvious whenever you first take away it from the packaging is that the rubber cap is detachable, although there are not any different locations for an exterior connection, so ultimately, I concluded it should be underneath there.
Mark Pickavance
It will possibly stand up to as much as 500Gs of acceleration, even when the individual holding that drive wouldn’t
Because the USB-C port behind the plug is recessed, and Corsair doesn’t declare the EX100U is waterproof, aside from stopping the ingress of mud to the port, why it’s included the plug is unclear past neatness.
What’s claimed by Corsair for the EX100U is that it could stand up to as much as 500Gs of acceleration, even when the individual holding that drive wouldn’t, and it’s also vibration resistant.
Within the field are two cables, one every for USB-C and USB-A ports, however no carry pouch to carry them when not linked to the drive or a lanyard. The cables are a good 30cm lengthy, and because of the drive solely weighing 22g, having the drive dangle on the cable whereas hooked up to a desktop system most likely isn’t a difficulty.
One delicate annoyance is that I didn’t discover any exercise LED on the drive, one thing we’d sometimes count on.
Specs & Options
I’m so glad that Corsair doesn’t provide foolish 250- or 500GB fashions and as a substitute opted for 3 capacities that folks will extra probably need and use, particularly 1-, 2- and 4TB.
Internally these are 3D NAND wafers wired to a Phison PS2251-18 controller and different electronics to facilitate a connection to the USB interface. Corsair quotes the identical efficiency for all of the capacities, and it additionally states that it doesn’t use a DRAM cache, however as a substitute has allotted a number of the NAND as a static pSLC cache.
It’s terrific to see a drive maker being so open concerning the internals of its drives somewhat than hiding the controller or cache mechanism prefer it’s a commerce secret. And I commend Corsair for its candid strategy.
The maker additionally quotes a TBW (whole bytes written) worth for every drive dimension, which is uncommon, and these begin at 250TB for the 1TB mannequin after which enhance to 500TB for the 2TB and 1000TB for the 4TB. These could be acceptable TBW values for M.2 NVMe inside drives with a lot increased speeds, so the chance of those limits being skilled by homeowners of the EX100U is on the low aspect.
Mark Pickavance
Whereas the controller on these drives operates rubbish assortment and SMART assist, these models don’t assist the TRIM perform or have {hardware} encryption.
Most likely the largest promoting level of the EX100U is the USB interface helps older USB requirements but in addition embraces the often-ignored Gen 2×2 customary. Whereas the variety of machines with Gen 2×2 ports is comparatively small, those that have it could expertise a doubling of the potential bandwidth obtainable over USB 3.2 Gen 2 brings the throughput consistent with that of Thunderbolt 3.
For many customers with solely Gen 2, the speeds on provide listed here are roughly 1,000MB/s, each learn and write, with a Gen 2×2 port permitting as much as 1,600MB/s reads and 1,500MB/s writes, no matter capability dimension.
The 2TB evaluation mannequin got here pre-formatted in exFAT, making it immediately useable on any fashionable PC working Home windows. And it could simply be reformatted to make use of with macOS or Linux for these working techniques.
Total, the EX100U has the crucial options to provide Essential, SanDisk and Kingston some competitors on this slice of the SSD market. However does it have the efficiency?
Efficiency
Whereas my check tools has a USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 port, it needs to be realised that almost all techniques don’t have this model of USB, and it’s a vital requirement to get essentially the most out of the EX100U.
This isn’t the quickest Gen 2×2 drive obtainable, however it’s at the least 50% higher than drives that solely assist Gen 2 mode
Subsequently, the speeds quoted listed here are considerably higher than customers would expertise on USB 3.2 Gen 2, which might hit a restrict of round 1,000MB/s for each studying and writing.
Utilizing CrystalDiskMark 8.0.4 in default mode, the EX100U managed 1,701MB/s reads and 1,564MB/s writes, higher than the quoted efficiency. These outcomes have been supported by ATTO, reaching a peak of 1.69GB/s reads and 1.61GB/s writes.
Mark Pickavance
However most likely essentially the most practical check was AS SSD, which rated this drive at 1,476MB/s and 1,413MB/s for studying and writing, barely shy of the quoted speeds.
On this similar benchmark, the Kingston XS2000 managed 1881MB/s reads and 1720MB/s writes, near the utmost that Gen 2X2 bandwidth can obtain.
Subsequently, this isn’t the quickest Gen 2×2 drive obtainable, however it’s at the least 50% higher than drives that solely assist Gen 2 mode.
Worth
As we’ve come to count on from Corsair, the EX100U isn’t the most affordable exterior SSD round, however it’s fairly priced for its capability and efficiency.
Within the USA, the MSRPs for the 1-, 2- and 4TB are $90.99, $184.99 and $464.99, respectively. These prices translate into £99.99, £199.99 and £489.99 within the UK and €109.99, €219.99 and €549.99 in Europe.
As a rule, no matter area or forex, the 2TB mannequin presents the very best cost-per-GB deal, and the 4TB is the costliest choice per GB. You should buy it from Corsair and retailers together with Scan within the UK and Amazon nearly in all places.
The competitor product that the EX100U competes with most carefully is the Kingston XS2000, providing a really comparable dimension and enhanced efficiency over USB 3.2 Gen 2×2.
On Amazon.com, the Kingston XS2000 sells for $109.99, $199.99 and $555.06 for the three similar capacities as Corsair presents on the EX100U. That makes it a bit costlier than the EX100U, however it’s marginally sooner.
Mark Pickavance
Total, the present pricing of the EX100U is undoubtedly increased than the place it’s prone to relaxation as soon as preliminary calls for are met, and the channel restocks. For these solely fascinated by Gen 2 appropriate drives with bigger capacities, the Essential X6 is barely $329.99 for the 4TB mannequin. When you don’t have Gen 2×2 ports obtainable, these drives can carry out at a lot the identical pace because the EX100U, representing higher worth.
Take a look at our chart of the very best transportable laborious drives and SSDs for extra choices.
Verdict
We discover ourselves in a wierd know-how doldrum, to make use of a crusing reference, a lifeless area the place the prevailing winds of change refuse to blow.
Because of this, USB 3.2 Gen 2×2, a know-how that almost all know-how pundits had handed over as area of interest and a stop-gap measure, seems to be getting sudden assist from the Corsair EX100U and the Kingston XS2000, amongst others.
To be clear, this can be a false daybreak for Gen 2×2 know-how within the medium time period.
As soon as USB 4.0 seems in power with its superior bandwidth and potential Thunderbolt compatibility, the resurgence of this USB flavour is prone to sink with no hint. USB 4.0 doesn’t embody assist for two×2 mode, changing it with an equal bandwidth protocol that’s not backwards appropriate.
In the meantime, the Corsair EX100U is an effective choice for these fortunate sufficient to have Gen 2×2 ports on their techniques, even when it isn’t the quickest drive of this flavour we’ve examined.
Mark Pickavance
Specs
- Interface: USB 3.2 Gen 2×2
- Velocity: 1600MB/s learn and 1500MB/s write
- Capacities: 1TB, 2TB and 4TB
- Dimensions: 79.37 x 36.65 x 11 mm
- Weight: 22 g
- Casing materials: plastic
- Working temperature: 0° C~70° C
- Guarantee: Restricted 3-year guarantee
- Suitable with: macOS 10.13+ (Time Machine appropriate), Home windows 10+
