Storage, one thing most people can never have too much off. Especially these days, with all the movies, music and games available at our fingertips, users can easily run through masses of storage space. When it comes to storage, there are plenty of options to choose from. A couple of the things you will need to think of is do you need internal or external and do you need the best performance or most space available. Ever since the introduction of SSDs a few years back, manufacturers have been pushing the envelope on how fast these drives can read and write data. Companies are also focusing on being able to make the biggest drives possible, whether a standard mechanical hard drive or a Solid State Drive

• Manufacturer: ADATA
• Product Page: SV620 (240GB)
• Price: £66.43 At the time of review

Today, I will be taking a look at the 240GB variant of the ADATA SV620. The SV620 is an external SSD so it offers the best of both worlds. Not only do you get some pretty impressive speeds thanks to the USB 3.0 interface, you also get the portability of an external drive. The SV620 comes in both 240GB and 480GB models which should be more than sufficient for the type of storage it is. Backed by a 3-year warranty, the SV620 External SSD looks to be a good solid companion for those that need to take some files with them on the go but still need the speeds of a SSD. So, without further ado, let’s take a quick peek at the listed specs and get into the closer look.

Specifications

The SV620 comes in a very minimalistic package. On the front side, we can see this is an external SSD and the storage capacity. ADATA have also included a nice window in the packaging that allows a first-hand look at the SSD itself which is always nice.

Flipping over to the back and we can see the specifications list, system requirements and a bit more info to help us make sure this drive will do what we need it too.

Aside from a small set of instructions, the SV620 only comes with the SSD itself and a USB 3.0 cable in the box. As we know, the SV620 is a SSD which offers a lot of benefits from a normal hard drive. It’s much lighter in weight and has better durability as there are no moving parts inside, which can lead to deterioration over time. It also offers much better transfer speeds of files, uses less power and even runs cooler than a standard external hard drive would. Overall, the benefits of a SSD over a hard drive are quite amazing and with SSD storage sizes increasing, they are becoming a more viable option.

Towards the bottom of the drive is where you will plug in the USB 3.0 cable so you can get to transferring your files at some pretty nice speeds. Under the ADATA logo you will also notice a small LED indicator light that lets you know when the drive is in use.

On the back is a small sticker with a bit of information on it such as the part number and full model number. This information will be what is needed should you ever need to take ADATA up on their 3-year warranty they offer on the SV620 External SSD.

HDDtoGo Software

When you get your SV620 up and running, you can download a bit of software that some back find very useful. The HDDtoGO Software will give users the option to enable no trace browsing in both Internet Explorer and Firefox. Users will also be able to synchronize and back up their documents with ease and even Lock their PC or find their HDD/SSD. While the software may not be for everyone, those interested in any of its features will be happy to know it easily downloaded for free from http://www.adata.com/en/ss/software-3/

Benchmarks

CrystalDiskMark

AS SSD

Anvil

So, I’ve put the SV620 through its paces and it is now time to go ahead and conclude this review. There is no denying the advantages that it has over a standard external hard drive. Speed, lightweight and durability are some of those that just instantly spring to mind when I think of what it has to offer. While I was unable to hit the ‘Up to 420/440MB/s’ speed it mentions for the 480GB model, I am not all surprised. At the end of the day, this is the littler brother and my test system is a bit different from what ADATA would have used for testing.

Performance

Overall, I am quite pleased with the speeds offered from the SV620. I was able to hit speeds of 339MB/s write and 347MB/s read using CrystalDiskMark which is great for an external drive. This going to easily be 4/5 times faster than your standard external drive and will really show when transferring larger files. Standard hard drives have a tendency to slow down severely after they have transferred a certain amount of data. This isn’t to say that can’t happen with a SSD, just generally speaking it’s not as frequent as a standard hard drive. Throughout all my testing, the SV620 had very little fluctuation in speeds when using the same benchmarking tool multiple times. During my testing, the slowest speeds were around 300MB/s for both read and write, which to me, is still pretty decent for an external drive and should be sufficient in most scenarios.

Design

The SV620 is a fairly basic design which works just fine for it. It has a grey plastic exterior and a fairly standard black rubber USB 3.0 cable. There is a small ADATA logo and in a bit bigger writing they have included ‘SSD’ so users can tell this is not their standard external hard drive. Aesthetically speaking, there really is no need for anything else to be done to it as it’s a very neutral colour and shouldn’t clash with any other device if that was something you were worried about. One of the major selling points should be the shock proof design, something which standard external hard drives just don’t feature.

Value

Coming in close to £67 here in the UK at the moment and I feel the SV620 offers good value for the money. Not only are you getting and very portable external drive, it is a SSD and offers some exceptional speeds for its size. For the money, you are getting something you can just put in your pocket or bag and bring with you anywhere you need it. If you are looking for a combination of speed and portability, well then, the SV620 could be just what you are looking for as it offers both.

“When all is said and done, the SV620 offers both exceptional performance in a small and compact size you can take with you literally just about anywhere. It doesn’t get much better than this for an external storage device of this type.” 

Many thanks to ADATA for sending in their SV620 for us to review!