Review on 💻 SSK Aluminum USB 3.0 to SATA 2.5 Inch External Hard Drive Enclosure Adapter – Ultra Slim HDD Case for 9.5mm 7mm SATA HDDs and SSDs, UASP SATA III Supported by Bernardino Suazo

External drive SSK 2.5 HHD. Received on 10/01/19 Package Contents: The box contained an aluminum case, a USB cable, screws, instructions and a square one-sided transparent film. The tape in my box didn't match the picture in the manual and wasn't labeled, so I assumed it was the tape used to protect the bottom of the hard drive from contact with the metal case. The case features a plastic rail that houses the electronics and mounting holes for attaching a 2.5-inch hard drive. ), then insert the hard drive into the plastic case by connecting the drive to the tray's SATA connector. It wasn't difficult, but it was a little frustrating as you have to make sure you're supporting the drive by inserting it into the plastic frame. Then, once secured, tighten the two provided screws to secure the hard drive to the plastic insert. Then insert the case into the aluminum case and secure the drive with the remaining two mounting screws. I plugged the drive enclosure into a USB 3.1 port and powered it on. There is a small blue LED in the bottom corner that will blink while the disc is loading. This blue LED flashes whenever there is any drive activity. The drive will appear as SSK storage in the Windows Unplug/Eject Hardware utility. I was curious how well it would work, so I created a small test environment. TESTING: I tested the case's performance with two 500GB 2.5 hard drives and a hot-plug SATA II port on my desktop. The external SATA connector has a capacity of 3 GB. Speed Test Environment: My operating system is Windows 10 Professional with the latest updates as of 10/01/2019. The computer has 32 GB of DDR4 RAM and an Intel I7-4790 processor with a frequency of 3.6 GHz. HDD speed was tested using Parkdale V2.99 HDD SpeedTest software with 4000MB file size and 1MB block size. All drives tested were quiet and warmed up within 15 minutes. Drive 1) Description: Toshiba 500 GB drive from a 2013 Windows 7 laptop at 5400 rpm. Drive 2) Description: Seagate 500 GB @ 7200 rpm. Hard disk 1) With SSK housing: Test A >> SSK - 0209 464.4 GB local hard disk (F:): 108.0 MB/s read, 106.4 MB/s USB write. Test B >> SSK - 0209 464.4 GB Local Drive (F:): 108.4 MB/s read, 105.7 MB/s write USBDrive 2) With SSK housing: Test A >> SSK - 0209 Local 373 .2GB drive (F:): 70.8MB/s read, 57.9MB/s USB write. Test B >> SSK - 0209 373.2GB Local Disk (F:): 70.8MB/s Read, 69.3MB/s Write USB Flash Drive 1) Connected to a hot-swappable SATA Connection (SATA II). Test A >> TOSHIBA MQ01ABF050 - AM001J 464.4 GB Local disk (F:): 78.9 MB/s read, 74.5 MB/s write. Test B >> TOSHIBA MQ01ABF050 - AM001J 464.4GB Local Disk (F:): 77.9MB/s Read, 75.3MB/s Write Hot Swap Computer SATA Port.>> ST9500420AS - 00 02SDM1 373 .2 GB Local Disk (F:): 58.7 MB/s read, 56.0 MB/s write. TEST RESULTS. Toshiba and Seagate have 500Gbps capacity, but Toshiba spindle speed is 5400 rpm and Seagate spindle speed is 7200 rpm. The internal configurations of Toshiba and Seagate drives are also different (heads, platters, etc.), but these are the only drives I've been able to test with this unit. As expected, the transfer speeds of Toshiba drives with the SSK enclosure compared to the external hot-swappable SATA connector were faster due to spindle speed, but with the external SATA II connector both performed about the same. CONCLUSION: If you want a case that is easily customizable and stylish, then I recommend this case. I suppose the case offers some protection in case the drive is dropped, but it's primarily a case with a USB interface for connecting to a computing device for decent performance. I would like to have another device like this to compare as I would like to see how it compares to other similar devices. However, if you have a 2.5" hard drive from an old laptop/laptop and want to reuse it, perhaps as a backup drive or as a drive to move files from one computer to another, then an SSK Hard drive case ideal. suitable for this job. While this hasn't been tested, I suspect you can use the drive for an SSD as long as it has SATA connectors. This SSK hard drive enclosure is not designed for easy drive swapping. However, this can be done by removing and reinstalling the screws. You'll also need to find some other means of isolating the bottom of the drive from the case. Rather than placing the film on the disc as directed, I attached it to the bottom of the case by placing it on top of the case with tweezers. I'll probably use a piece of clear tape at some point in the future so I don't have to worry about the drive making contact with the case when I need to replace the drive. The plastic rail that the drive is attached to protects the drive from contact, but if for some reason the case is damaged or there are dents on the bottom of the case I want to make sure there is something between the drive and the case. If you're looking for a device that lets you swap drives easily, then get a device that's designed to do just that. They are, but overpriced. SSK also has an external aluminum SSK USB 3.0 to SATA dual bay HD dock that works as long as you don't want to move it. The price and the easy installation of the hard drive are very good. It's light and stylish. The performance of the Toshiba powered SSK case was very good. Enclosure performance definitely depends on what drive you're using. I transferred several large files, my photo folder and music files to it and it wasn't much different than copying files from one internal drive to another. The sleep function works as advertised. The hard drive wakes up quickly when it is selected for work. The only thing I would suggest is the transparent film that goes on the hard drive's circuit board to isolate it from the bottom of the case in case someone wants to install another hard drive. , the insulation remains on the housing and not on the drive. I have some old IDE hard drive cases for some old 2.5" IDE drives and there is insulating felt or insulating plastic material on the aluminum case, not on the drive. This way you can replace the drive without finding what to put on the new drive. The drive is easy to connect and disconnect, but the hard drive's plastic frame with electronics is very thin and easily broken. This drive has been up and running for a week now and I've used it as a backup for one of my projects and it's working really well!