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Hungary, Budapest
1 Level
697 Review
58 Karma

Review on πŸ”Œ GLOTRENDS 2 in 1 M.2 NVME Adapter Enclosure: USB C and USB A, Key M, Trim UASP S.M.A.R.T (NVME-A&C) Support by David Lambert

Revainrating 4 out of 5

Damn fast for a USB-C external drive

Unlike other USB-C flash devices, an NVME M.2 enclosure like the Glotrends 2 in 1 is much faster when using a user-provided SSD. It's not as fast as an M.2 SSD NVME plugged directly into an M.2 slot on your motherboard, but it's at least twice as fast as the fastest standalone flash drives. In my case I used a Samsung 970 EVO Plus which can do 3k read/write when connected directly. I got close to 1000 read/writes with the Glotrends adapter/housing. Yes, slower, but much faster than the 500 million read/writes that the fastest USB drives can achieve. In fact, installing NVME in Glotrends is pretty easy. 4 screws hold the metal case together. Remove and, if necessary, attach the included thermal pads to your NVME chips (highly recommended) to conduct heat to the metal chassis of the device, then insert the SSD and secure with the included M.2 screw the Glotrends board. Close the device and tighten the 4 outer screws, done. As mentioned above, I usually do close to 1000 read/writes (maximum 900ms) through the USB-C port. USB-A ports speed usually exceed 500 million read/writes, but I rarely use this port, since most of my files there are USB-C. The outer metal case gets very hot when transferring for long periods of time, but since it acts as a heatsink, I think it's better than letting the NVME cook inside without transferring heat through the metal case. My only issue with this unit (hence the 4 and not 5 stars) is the rubberized foam protective case that comes with it. You have to stretch it a lot to reseat the USB connectors on either end, and it really only fits one way. It offers good protection for both the ports and the entire device, but it's very inconvenient to remove and reattach it every time I need to use the drive and it's very bulky when it's on. End caps would be more comfortable but provide less drop protection for the entire device and could also be another part to lose. Overall, I'm glad I bought this device and it's great for transferring large files of several gigabytes, especially if one of the computers only has USB-C ports and the other only USB-A ports.

Pros
  • Having both USB-C and USB-A ports on a portable external drive is very convenient. You don't have to make any physical changes, you can access your data via a USB-C or USB-A device. If you like mobile office, this is perfect for you.
Cons
  • It's not as good as it promises