SanDisk Extreme Pro v2 Portable SSD Review: High-dollar Design and Performance
Tom’s Hardware Verdict
Built for the professional market, SanDisk’s Extreme Pro has a durable, reliable design, and can deliver up to 20Gbps of file transfer performance when paired with the latest systems.
Pros
- +
Hardware-based AES 256-bit encryption and password protection
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Responsive USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 performance
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Weather-resistant rugged design
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5-year warranty
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SanDisk’s new Extreme Pro v2 is a fast, secure, and durable portable SSD that is best of breed. With a USB 3.2 Gen2 x2 interface, the new SanDisk Extreme Pro v2 delivers up to 2 GBps of sequential throughput. If you need the extra speed while still maintaining compatibility with as many devices as possible when you’re on the move, this SSD might just be what you’re looking for.
That speed comes at a hefty cost, though. At almost twice the price of a portable USB 10Gbps SSD and just a few dollars shy of higher-performing Thunderbolt 3 SSDs, the Extreme Pro v2 is only worth the cash for those who can fully leverage its capabilities.
When we reviewed SanDisk’s last Extreme Pro (v1), we were impressed with both its design and performance. With a forged aluminum chassis cast in impact-absorbing silicon, SanDisk’s Extreme Pro made for a very durable portable SSD. As it has been so well received, it comes as no surprise that the Extreme Pro v2 would maintain the same design when the company refreshed its portable lineup.
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Specifications
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| Product | Extreme Pro (1TB) | Extreme Pro (2TB) |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | $299.99 | $499.99 |
| Capacity (User / Raw) | 1000GB / 1024GB | 2000GB / 2048GB |
| Interface / Protocol | USB-C / USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 | USB-C / USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 |
| Included | USB Type-C & USB Type-C to USB Type-A | USB Type-C & USB Type-C to USB Type-A |
| Sequential Read | 2,000 MB/s | 2,000 MB/s |
| Sequential Write | 2,000 MB/s | 2,000 MB/s |
| Interface Controller | ASMedia ASM2364 | ASMedia ASM2364 |
| NAND Controller | WD Architecture | WD Architecture |
| DRAM | DDR4 | DDR4 |
| Storage Media | WD 96L TLC | WD 96L TLC |
| Default File System | exFAT | exFAT |
| Power | Bus-powered | Bus-powered |
| Endurance | IP55 water-dust resistant1, 2-meter drop protection | IP55 water-dust resistant1, 2-meter drop protection |
| Security | AES 256-bit hardware encryption | AES 256-bit hardware encryption |
| Dimensions (L x W x H) | 10. 2 x 57.3 x 110.3 mm |
10.2 x 57.3 x 110.3 mm |
| Weight | 85 g | 85 g |
| Part Number | SDSSDE81-1T00-G25 | SDSSDE81-2T00-G25 |
| Warranty | 5-Years | 5-Years |
SanDisk gave the product line a slight nip and tuck, though, by cutting out the 500GB model. The new Extreme Pro v2 comes in capacities of 1TB and 2TB, but only the 2TB model is available at launch. The 1TB model will soon follow. At $300 for the 1TB model and $500 for the 2TB, the drives launch at premium prices but come backed with lengthy five-year warranties.
SanDisk rates the Extreme Pro to deliver up to 2,000MBps in both read and write workloads when used with a 20 Gbps host device. These performance figures are finite, however. The Extreme Pro features an SLC write cache that absorbs most inbound write data, but the cache will fill, and performance will degrade during long transfers.
This is common for a high-performance SSD, and the Extreme Pro’s performance doesn’t degrade too much.
SanDisk’s Extreme Pro offers better password protection over its predecessor, guaranteeing fast and secure access to your private data on both macOS and Windows. While the SanDisk SSDs have shipped with rather underwhelming software-based AES 128-bit encrypted password protection in the past, that changes with the new Extreme Pro. No longer will you need to fiddle around with inefficient software encryption for your data security — the new model features AES 256-bit hardware encrypted password protection. One password unlocks your data in one go without a performance penalty or hogging up system resources.
Software and Accessories
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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
SanDisk includes both a USB Type-C cable and USB Type-C to Type-A cable with the drive, both measuring roughly one foot in length.
SanDisk also provides simple to use security management software for both macOS and Windows.
A Closer Look
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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
SanDisk’s Extreme Pro is faster than the previous-gen model but retains the greyish-blue hue and orange carabiner loop integrated into the forged aluminum construction, just like its predecessor. Like the previous-gen model, it still lacks a power light indicator.
The Extreme Pro is IP55 water and dust resistant and rated to withstand a two-meter drop, though we feel that is a very conservative rating. At 85 grams, the Extreme Pro has a solid and weighted feel to it. That, along with the smooth rounded silicone-coated edges, conveys an apple-esque quality.
The new SanDisk Extreme Pro v2 comes with some changes under the hood, too. A new ASMedia ASM2364 bridge controller communicates with the host at faster speeds because it has twice the PCIe lane count as the ASM2362, which means twice the throughput.
Not only does it maintain a speedy 20 Gbps link while connected to a PCIe 3.0 x4 SSD, but it also features link power management to reduce idle power consumption. The controller also supports Trim to keep performance predictable.
The SanDisk Extreme Pro uses the PC SN730E for the internal SSD, not the WD Black SN750E (E for external firmware) that we expected. The SN730E client SSD features a robust, high-end eight-channel multi-core DRAM-based controller architecture.
The PC SN730 comes with an SSD controller that is similar to the WD Black SN750, but uses different flash. The SN730 also comes with TCG Opal AES 256-bit encryption, which is required to enable the password protection feature on the new portable SSD. The SN730 also has robust multi-gear LDPC ECC (error correction) with RAID-like XOR protection, including full multi-page recovery for higher endurance and faster performance.
SanDisk outfitted the internal SSD with a DDR4 DRAM chip to hold the flash translation layer (FTL) mapping tables.
This is an improvement over the SN750, and the SN730 also comes with WD’s 96L TLC NAND flash. Our 2TB sample features two NAND packages packed with sixteen 512Gb dies each, for 32 in total. All interface with the controller at Toggle DDR4 speeds of up to 800MTps, providing very bursty performance even with a dual-plane design. Due to its simplicity, this flash is not quite as complicated to manufacture as competing flash that comes with quad-plane designs and complex PUA, CUA, or COP designs. SanDisk says the simple BiCS4 architecture helps to drive down cost when scaling up the charge trap flash design.
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Features and Specifications
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Sean is a Contributing Editor at Tom’s Hardware US, covering storage hardware.
SanDisk Extreme PRO Portable SSD review: Attractive storage
Our Verdict
Eschewing the usual black-box tradition of portable hard drives, the SanDisk Extreme PRO Portable SSD sports an appealing golden-orange strip around its edge, framing a lightweight drive that’s also easy to carry with its pocket-ready dimensions and grippy texture.
What’s inside should also appeal to photographers and videomakers alike – even out in the wild.
For
- Light and small
- Nice rugged design
- IP55 dust/water resistance
Against
- A little slower than advertised
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SanDisk Extreme PRO Portable SSD specs
Storage capacity: 1TB (931MB after formatting)
Interface: USB 1.1
Port: USB-C
Special features: Portable
Disk type: Solid State Hard Drive
Hard disk form factor: 2.5 inches
Size: 11.03 x 5.73 x 1.02 cm
Weight: 77g
The SanDisk Extreme PRO Portable SSD comes with trusty brand recognition for photographers and storage-demanding smartphone users in particular, who will have used SanDisk SD cards for several years, so it’s little surprise that an external hard drive from the company would underline portability and ease of carrying.
With a grippy texture, it aims to be comfortable to hold out and about without fear of the drive slipping out of your fingers and into the elements, and its compact size means it fits nicely in your pocket and even has a loop in one of its corners to enable it to be put on a keyring or carabiner. But does it do its core job – storing your valuable data – well enough to earn inclusion among the best external hard drives and SSDs for Mac and PC? Coming in options of 1, 2 or 4TB, I got the 1TB option in for review and put it to the test.
(Image credit: Erlingur Einarsson)
Most external hard drives are a rote variation on a black box, but the SanDisk Extreme PRO Portable SSD eschews that with an eye-catching golden-orange metallic strip around the sides and on the inside of the top-corner notch, making it stand out nicely. Sitting against the textured black of the rest of the drive, I think it looks a lot better than those usual black bricks, at least, and I imagine that if you’re a photographer or videomaker on the go, the reflective orange strip will make it easier to find in your bag pockets.
(Image credit: Erlingur Einarsson)
SanDisk Extreme PRO Portable SSD: Features
The drive comes preloaded with SanDisk Security For Mac and PC, and the pack includes both a USB to USB-C cable and a USB-C to USB-C cable. There’s no SD card reader, so photographers will have to make sure they have the right cable to transfer directly from their camera or smartphone to the drive if there’s no USB-C port on their other device. You can password-protect the drive with 256-bit hardware encryption, and the kit is IP55 rated for dust and water protection, which definitely helps battle the environment.
I set up password protection without a fuss and took it out and about, dropping it in a flower bed in the park and onto a hard pavement surface, and I’m happy to report that the aluminium chassis holds up admirably, and there was no visible damage to the drive, and no loss of functionality either. The textured surface of the drive also helps grip onto it to reduce the chance of accidentally depositing your precious files into the nearest body of water, and gives it a nicely premium feel too.
(Image credit: Erlingur Einarsson)
SanDisk Extreme PRO Portable SSD: Performance
SanDisk Extreme PRO Portable SSD Benchmarks
Atto: Write: 445.43 MB/s, Read: 434.78 MB/s
CrystalDiskMark: Write: 465.51 MB/s, Read: 454.07 MB/s
SanDisk has promoted the drive claiming transfer speeds of up to 2000 MB/s. While I found reports online with screenshots of transfer speed benchmarks topping out at about 900 MB/s, I’ve been unable to replicate those speeds myself. Using benchmark tests with both Atto and CrystalDiskMark via a USB 3.0 connection, write speeds topped out at about 465 MB/s and read speeds at approximately 454 MB/s.
Of course, real-world experience is different to idealised benchmark testing. Transferring a few gigabytes of photos from my computer to the drive, I achieved a maximum speed of around 220 MB/s, and the same when copying a large folder of gaming files to the drive, with speeds understandably slowing when copying thousands of very small files together.
While professional filmmakers or photographers running a tight deadline might get frustrated with the slower-than-advertised speeds, it’s more than fast enough for regular use, even at a professional level, and stacks up nicely alongside many other portable SSDs, with speeds far above any HDD at its price point.
I did run into an issue where I tried transferring files from my phone directly to the drive, as it came included with a USB-C to USB-C cable. However, the admittedly moderately specced phone I used, a budget Nokia running on Android, started behaving erratically and kept forcing a restart after linking to the drive.
After initial confusion, I found out that this was not the SanDisk drive’s fault, but simply that my feeble phone couldn’t handle the power demands of the SSD so went into recovery mode. When hooked up to my desktop computer again, everything ran smoothly so no damage was done.
(Image credit: Erlingur Einarsson)
SanDisk Extreme PRO Portable SSD: Price
At the time of writing, the SanDisk Extreme PRO Portable SSD ranges in price from around £186 for the 1TB option to over £610 for the largest drive, which can store a massive 4TB.
You can certainly find cheaper alternatives, including well-liked WD and Samsung products. They won’t feel as nice to hold, though…
Should you buy the SanDisk Extreme PRO Portable SSD?
I love the design and ruggedness of this drive, which, along with its dinky size, makes it an ideal choice for people who need access to an external storage drive when out in the wild. And while I was unable to replicate the advertised transfer speeds myself, it still performs well enough to remain a good option even for demanding professionals, and as an SSD it easily outperforms any HDD in its price bracket. If you’re looking for a tough external storage drive that won’t be an eyesore in your house or office, with a 1TB option available for under £200, it’s hard not to recommend the SanDisk Extreme PRO Portable SSD.
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8
out of 10
SanDisk Extreme PRO Portable SSD
Eschewing the usual black-box tradition of portable hard drives, the SanDisk Extreme PRO Portable SSD sports an appealing golden-orange strip around its edge, framing a lightweight drive that’s also easy to carry with its pocket-ready dimensions and grippy texture.
What’s inside should also appeal to photographers and videomakers alike – even out in the wild.
Erlingur is the Tech Reviews Editor on Creative Bloq. Having worked on magazines devoted to Photoshop, films, history, and science for over 15 years, as well as working on Digital Camera World and Top Ten Reviews in more recent times, Erlingur has developed a passion for finding tech that helps people do their job, whatever it may be. He loves putting things to the test and seeing if they’re all hyped up to be, to make sure people are getting what they’re promised. Still can’t get his wifi-only printer to connect to his computer.
Review of SanDisk Extreme Go and Extreme Pro USB Flash Drives
2016 Test Methodology
We haven’t dealt with «fast» USB flash drives for a very long time, mainly concentrating on external USB solid state drives. They are positioned as devices of a different class (different from flash drives) for a reason: they have a significantly different filling, and often such models are generally obtained by combining a completely ordinary SATA SSD and a USB-SATA bridge.
Once upon a time, external hard drives were made according to this scheme, and the operation for the “production” of the finished device in these cases is taken over by the one who will then use it, since it can turn out cheaper this way. But there are enough ready-made devices on the market — for every taste and budget. Still, some buyers want to buy something faster, but more «traditional» — if only because the flash drive is more compact. The capacity of such drives is on average less, but not everyone needs hundreds of gigabytes, and if they do, it’s usually just for storing and rarely transporting data, that is, using an external hard drive for this purpose is much more logical. It is not economically feasible to produce external SSDs of too small capacity. In addition, buyers of flash drives like the lack of need for cables to connect the drive to a computer, TV, etc. True, at the time of the global change in the type of USB sockets, the presence of a cable is not always a disadvantage, but there were so many devices with regular USB-A that compatibility with him enough for a long time (and in extreme cases, no one canceled the adapters).
As a result, we decided to see how things are now in the segment of fast and expensive flash drives in order to tell everyone about it. nine0005
SanDisk Extreme Go 64 GB
| SanDisk Extreme Go 64 GB | SanDisk Extreme Go 128 GB |
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SanDisk Extreme Pro 256 GB
| SanDisk Extreme Pro 128 GB | SanDisk Extreme Pro 256 GB |
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Both models belong exactly to the category of USB flash drives, and outwardly they are practically indistinguishable from mass flash drives.
Their feature, like all other products of the SanDisk Extreme lines, is high performance, and with a clear declaration of speed performance. Of course, the wording contains the classic “up to”, but the speeds of both reading and writing are declared: for the Go line, up to 200/150 MB / s are indicated, for Pro — all 400/380 MB / s (however, the type of load is not specified ). Mass flash drives are often limited to hundreds of megabytes per second even in the simplest case, such as reading data, but here we have in fact the full implementation of the bandwidth of the USB 3.0 interface (like everyone else, SanDisk calls it «USB 3.1 Gen1»), which is used. In this case, the controller inside flash drives of different series can even be the same, and the difference in speed is determined by the configuration of the flash memory and its amount. The Go line is such an “extreme for the economical”: 64 or 128 GB. The last value is the only point of intersection of the families, since this is the minimum for Pro, and there is also an older Pro version with 256 GB.
In general, everything is balanced: releasing a small fast flash drive is not only technically difficult, but also unnecessary. However, in modern life, small flash drives are rarely in demand at all: for small amounts of information, there is a network and cloud storage that are ready to provide the user with a dozen or two gigabytes for free. You have to resort to physical media when you need large capacities. And in this case, a higher speed is often required. nine0005
Test methodology and competitors
The methodology is detailed in separate article . There you can get acquainted with the hardware and software used.
With whom to compare the results is also clear: first of all, we need external SSDs SanDisk Extreme 500 (of the same manufacturer, and the declared characteristics are somewhat similar) and Transcend ESD220C (the last model we tested). The capacity of both reference models is 240 GB, which echoes the Extreme Pro. Note that in the new line of external solid-state drives SanDisk Extreme 900 capacity only starts at 480 GB, so the company strictly separates devices with different positioning and by this parameter.
Application performance
In principle, the Extreme Go drive is better suited for installing portable versions of software than «abstract» flash drives, but even a relatively old external SSD is not a competitor at all. The Pro version is capable of this, but over the years, USB-based SSDs, as we see, have also taken a step forward. Moreover, the difference cannot be called subtle, so the current situation is less favorable just for the Extreme Pro model: the 64 GB Extreme Go model has no direct competitors in its class (if there is enough capacity, then there is no point in paying for a higher one), and the older Extreme Pro is no longer cheap. In general, the desire to save money (at the cost of speed characteristics, but still maintaining them at a good level) is quite realizable, and if you pay more anyway, then you can get more. In any case, if you are interested not only in simple data transfer, but also in the direct operation of programs directly from the device.
For some tablet (or a cheap netbook on a similar platform) with a small capacity of built-in flash, this may be relevant, and a compact flash drive is more convenient than an SSD with a separate cable. nine0005
Sequential operations
Extreme Go is promised to read up to 200 MB / s, and most likely the performance of the older version (128 GB) was implied, but the younger one “pumps” almost the same. Extreme Pro in single-threaded mode gives out its 400 MB / s, and in multi-threaded mode it “sags” less than the Extreme 500 once did. There are already faster solutions, but you will not see a radical increase in speed. So we state: there are no problems with reading in this form factor.
And when recording, Extreme Pro generally defeated a larger “relative”, and it looks decent against the background of more modern SSDs. Extreme Go is slower than declared, but if we assume that the numbers are promised for the older modification (as is usually the case), then everything is in order.
True, the maximum speeds were measured in a small working area, so we will refrain from final conclusions for now. nine0005
«Near» copying
Tests for copying data within a partition are interesting in that they simultaneously write and read data, and this is not a «convenient» scenario for the USB interface. In addition, the results may depend on the size of the files in the template. Let’s see how our subjects cope with this task.
As you can see, if the scenario becomes a little more complicated than that of a simple test utility (the results of which users love to share so much, and many colleagues do this), then there is no need to talk about direct competition with external SSDs. However, the Extreme Pro is comparable to some of its models, and the Extreme Go could be faster if it had more capacity. nine0005
Working with large files
As for reading data, the results correlate with those of low-level utilities. Reading for any flash drives has not been a problem for a long time.
Recording 32 GB right away is a difficult task even now. And this is where both flash drives begin to behave “like flash drives”: if everything is decent when writing one large file (and Extreme Pro easily bypasses external SSDs at times), then when switching to 32 streams, the results instantly drop by an order of magnitude, after which these drives immediately become outsiders. At the same time, Extreme Pro at least has room to fall, but Extreme Go makes you remember the times of interfaces much slower than USB 3.0. In general, it is still possible to “fill up” even a very fast flash drive with work. External SSDs with the same interface are more stable. nine0005
Extreme Go did not have enough capacity to run this template, but its results are clear from earlier tests, and the “behavior” will be similar to Extreme Pro. Flash controllers do well with sequential low-threaded workloads and limited data, but quickly deflate as complexity grows. Note: three years ago it was exactly the same, it’s just that speeds have grown since then in all segments.
At the same time, we decided to compare the results of our today’s heroes on similar templates (but with less data) with previously tested relatively productive «two-standard» flash drives: Transcend JetDrive Go 300S 32 GB (except for the usual USB Type-A, which also has a «plug» for iPhone /iPad) and SanDisk Dual USB Drive Type-C of the same capacity (in this case, versatility is increased by the presence of USB-A and USB-C connectors). nine0005
Note a threefold increase in write speed for Extreme Go with a decrease in file size — this is a typical behavior for SLC caching and TLC memory. In Extreme Pro, judging by the greater «stability» of the results, MLC memory can be used, which at the same time explains the noticeable difference in the price of devices with the same capacity.
Total
So, what have we come to? Besides, with what they once started 🙂 For complex loads, solid-state drives with a USB interface are still needed — it is not without reason that manufacturers distinguish them into a separate category, distinguishing them from USB flash drives.
Once upon a time, devices similar in organization were also found in “traditional” cases (the first USB 3.0 flash drives were generally just such, specialized controllers did not appear immediately), but that time has passed, now these are products of different classes. A fast flash drive can handle complex tasks noticeably better than a «regular» one — but still worse than a specialized device. Its main purpose is to store and carry relatively small amounts of information, and only if necessary, launch simple applications in a portable version. And how high-speed characteristics are relevant in this case, than the average for the segment, is up to the buyer to decide. nine0005
SanDisk Extreme Pro 128 Gb card overview
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The Extreme PRO series has a 170 Mb/s and 300 Mb/s line. We will talk about the model with a speed of 170 Mb / s, as it is more affordable and practical.
Specifications
- UHS-I U3
- Video speed class V30
- Speed class 10
- Maximum read speed: 170 MB/s
- Maximum write speed: 90 Mbps
- Capacity: 32, 64, 128, 256 and 512 GB
Video speed class V30 supports shooting in 4k format, but surely the card can work with bit rates up to 200 mbps.
For bitrates above 400 mbps, you should use a card with a speed class of V60.
Extreme PRO cards are designed for extreme conditions. They are protected from mechanical influences, x-rays, dust and moisture. Operating temperature range from -25 to +85° C. Protection against water.
The manufacturer gives a lifetime warranty on its memory card.
Speed
We used a Macbook Pro 15 and a UHS-II compatible card reader to test the card.
Several speed measurements have been taken. For example, we took 174 Fujifilm X-T3 RAW files with a volume of 10.01 GB.
Copying data to the computer took 1 minute 41 seconds. Let’s be honest, for a card with a declared speed of 170 Mb / s, the result turned out to be lower than expected. nine0005
We decided to compare the results with available Extreme PRO 280Mb/s and 95Mb/s cards.
And here are the results:
Extreme PRO 280 Mb/s: 40 seconds, ie 2.6 times faster.
Extreme PRO 170 Mbps: 101 seconds.
Extreme PRO 95 Mbps: 102 seconds (difference within measurement error).
It turns out that the card with the declared 170 Mb/s works the same as its predecessor with the speed of 95 Mb/s.
After a little investigation and reading the details on the back of the package, it turns out that SanDisk has decided to jump beyond the limits of the UHS-I bus, which supports a maximum speed of 104 Mbps. To do this, according to the engineers, you need to use proprietary devices, that is, a native card reader. nine0005
But the fact is that we just used the SanDisk Extreme Pro UHS-II USB 3.0 Reader card reader model SDDR-389-G46, which apparently appeared before the decision to overclock USH-I speeds. And we were not able to test this functionality.
According to the results of the test, we can say that we received a Sandisk Extreme PRO 95 Mb / s card, which, using the current card reader, is capable of delivering turbo speeds up to 170 Mb / s.
Is this a scam? No, just a serious oversight by SanDisk marketers, which leaves an unpleasant aftertaste for those who see the declared «170» in the store and make a purchase.