Western Digital's Newest Passport External SSDs Push Performance To Over 1GB Per Second
External storage is convenient, but it does not have to be slow, not with the advent of fast NAND flash memory and solid state drives housed in fancy enclosures. Case in point, Western Digital on Thursday launched a new My Passport SSD solution offered in capacities of up to 2 terabytes, with transfer speeds exceeding 1,000 megabytes per second.
We have not tested these storage solutions yet, but according to Western Digital, its new My Passport SSDs can fling reads and writes at up to 1,050MB/s (1.05GB/s) and 1,000MB/s (1GB/s), respectively. Not too shabby at all. Even better, those speed claims apply to all three capacity options, including 2TB, 1TB, and 500GB.
"The new My Passport SSD delivers the speed, reliability and functionality consumers have come to expect from us," said Susan Park, vice president, Consumer Solutions, Western Digital. "It is a powerful and sophisticated solution for the everyday content creators, curators and hobbyists who need to move files quickly. The rounded corners, waving ridges and soft edges enhance the My Passport SSD's portability and make it easy to carry, yet also distinctly recognizable as a member within WD's award-winning My Passport product line-up."
Indeed, these are relatively attractive external drives, as far those things go. They are also supposed to be durable. The casing is made of metal, with these drives featuring shock and vibration resistance, and drop resistance up to 6.5 feet (1.98 meters). Part of that durability is also owed to using SSD storage, rather than a mechanical hard disk drive with more fragile parts.
To get the full performance benefits of these drives, you will need a USB 3.2 Gen 2 port. The drives come with a USB-C cable and a USB-A adapter, so either type of connector is suitable. These drives also feature 256-bit AES hardware encryption to protect your data from falling into the wrong hands.
Sounds good all around, with the caveat being pricing. These aren't cheap drives—the My Passport SSDs are available now, priced at $119.99 for the 500GB model, $189.99 for the 1TB model, and $359.99 for the 2TB model. Each drive is offered in gray, blue, red, and gold color options.
