Knowledgeable’s Score
Execs
- Very excessive information switch charges
- Excessive-quality housing
- Good cooling with no fan
Our Verdict
Information switch charges of round 3,000 MBps, high-quality housing with good thermal conduct, and a horny worth. Merely put, the OWC Categorical 1M2 is a superb all-around exterior SSD.
Greatest Costs As we speak: OWC Categorical 1M2 USB4 SSD
The OWC Categorical 1M2 makes a hanging first impression with its cooling-fin design. The cooling fins alone account for round half of the general top of this exterior SSD. Good cooling is extraordinarily essential, particularly for quick NVMe SSD drives.
We discovered how properly the cooling works by operating Blackmagicdesign Disk Pace Take a look at over an extended time period. After half-hour, the cooling fins and the underside of the housing turned noticeably heat. After an hour, the temperature elevated considerably to round 40 levels Celcius however was not scorching sufficient to burn your fingers.
The aluminum housing is kind of giant at 5.2 by 2.8 by 0.9 inches (13.2 by 7.1 by 2.3 centimeters) however the Categorical 1M2 can be utilized each as a stay-on-your-desk drive and a cellular storage system. The very high-quality steel housing additionally has sufficiently giant rubber surfaces on the underside. These not solely forestall scratches on the desk but in addition present good anti-slip safety.
The provided connection cable is kind of quick at about 9 inches (22 centimeters). The Categorical 1M2 is on the market each as an empty housing and absolutely configured from 1TB to 8TB. We examined the 8TB model which sells for a whopping $1,400. The 1TB mannequin is way extra cheap at $250.
To check for pace, we used two benchmarks, Aja System Take a look at Lite and Blackmagicdesign Disk Pace Take a look at. The outcomes are spectacular: 2736MBps (write) and 2980MBps (learn) in Aja System Take a look at Lite. The values with Blackmagicdesign Disk Pace Take a look at had been round 100MBps larger–it cracked the 3000 MBps mark within the learn check.
One other optimistic side of the endurance check was that the information switch price didn’t drop even after an hour. OWC states a pace of 3150MBps when studying with a 14-inch MacBook Professional. To confirm this worth, we simulated the OWC check in Aja System Take a look at Lite on an M3 MacBook Air and a Mac Studio and achieved virtually the identical outcomes, with learn charges over 3100MBps.
Must you purchase the OWC Categorical 1M2?
With the Categorical 1M2, OWC has created an SSD drive with an excellent price-performance ratio. The info switch charges are among the many best possible on the Mac and the housing can be thermally exemplary. The Categorical 1M2 can be future-proof; OWC specifies compatibility with 16 B NVMe SSD storage. So if you wish to improve later, there are not any issues to fret about. In the event you purchase the Categorical 1M2 absolutely configured with storage, OWC provides a three-year guarantee. It’s two years with the empty case.
This text initially appeared on Macwelt and was translated by Roman Loyola.
This text initially appeared on our sister publication Macwelt and was translated and localized from German.