Lexar Skilled Go Transportable SSD with Hub overview

When Apple launched the iPhone 15 Professional and Professional Max, it turned potential for shoppers and content material creators to reap the benefits of exterior recording of video to USB-C. Below the appropriate settings, you would file ProRes video to an exterior drive.

If you happen to wished 4K ProRes video at 60fpos, you had no selection however to make use of an exterior SSD for recording, as you could not put it aside to the interior storage. For the iPhone 16 Professional, that is additionally true for 4K ProRes at 120fps.

The arrival of USB-C additionally allowed different {hardware} to be attached, equivalent to microphones or batteries, should you used a suitable hub. The issue, although, is that there hasn’t actually been a chic or compact approach of utilizing storage and a hub together with different {hardware}.

The meat of the bundle is the Skilled Go Transportable SSD itself. This extraordinarily compact system is simply 1.71 inches lengthy, 0.98 inches vast, and 0.32 inches thick.

That width measurement is only for the primary physique, as there is a USB-C plug protruding of the facet, making the width simply shy of 1.4 inches.

Lexar Skilled Go Transportable SSD with Hub overview: The SSD and the connector

It is not a plug that strikes both, so it does not have the choice to be hidden from view. However then once more, at this dimension and utilizing any of the equipped casings, it isn’t an issue.

Lexar equipped a 2-terabyte model of the drive for overview but additionally sells a 1TB mannequin.

The casing is made partially from plastic with an aluminum backing. This helps make the already small drive extraordinarily gentle at 0.46 ounces.

As a tool geared toward being moveable, it additionally has some built-in protectiveness, together with IP65 mud and water resistance. The 1-meter (3-foot) drop resistance can also be helpful, as its dimension might make it simply droppable.

Additional helping its protectiveness is a skinny silicone sleeve, which most likely helps a bit with knocks and drops.

The protecting field the drive is equipped in affords much more security for the drive whereas additionally holding slightly U-shaped connector and 20 sticker labels.

The connector is meant so as to plug the drive and the iPhone into it, in order that the drive will be mounted proper behind your iPhone.

Lexar Skilled Go Transportable SSD with Hub overview: The SSD matches by itself on the again of an iPhone.

You possibly can plug the drive instantly into an iPhone’s USB-C port, which can work superb. Nevertheless, it’ll lengthen the general assembled system, which is probably not nice for iPhone videography.

The U-shaped connector, on this case a male-to-female USB-C model, diverts the drive to behind the iPhone. For customers, this is sensible because the drive is visually out of the way in which, and it is a lot simpler to carry on to the iPhone utilizing your proper hand.

Due to its compact dimension, you may very simply curl your fingers round it on this place.

If you happen to had been to make use of the connector with out an iPhone case, the drive can be just a few millimeters away from touching the again of the system. There’s some leeway within the USB-C connector to permit it to be pressed towards the again when holding the iPhone up, so there isn’t any actual hazard of disconnection or injury right here.

That hole does permit you to use a case, although not one which’s too thick for the hole.

The Hub is the second a part of the meeting, which makes an analogous quantity of sense. The purpose is that if you want to use a USB-C hub with an iPhone to plug many issues in, it’s best to make it as small as potential.

Whereas not fairly as tiny because the SSD, Lexar’s hub continues to be very small and spectacular.

Lexar Skilled Go Transportable SSD with Hub overview: The hub and SSD collectively

For a begin, it is an almost-square 1.69 by 1.71 inches, and an analogous 0.32 inches deep. The design is such that, when used with the SSD, it might span a lot of the width of an iPhone 15 Professional Max’s rear panel with out taking on a lot peak or thickness.

Lexar did not make the hub as particularly sturdy because the SSD. It has an analogous plastic-aluminum constriction, giving it a 1.27-ounce weight, nevertheless it does not have the drop, mud, or water resistance.

The hub has 4 USB-C ports, beginning with two within the base. One of many pair is sunk in, supposed for use with one other U-shaped connector, this time male-to-male, to equally wrap across the again of an iPhone.

As a part of the design, Lexar made the U-connectors in order that they match completely snugly a method round. This actually helps make the hub keep put far more than you’d anticipate, given its placement.

To at least one facet, there is a USB-C port in a small divot, which is meant for the SSD to suit. The SSD has a small hump across the USB-C connector, which matches the hub’s divot whereas additionally serving to to make sure it is securely held.

Lexar Skilled Go Transportable SSD with Hub overview: The hub and SSD do overhang the bottom of the iPhone.

The opposite facet has a USB-C port with an influence image subsequent to it. Whereas the opposite ports are designed to hook up with gadgets for knowledge functions, this fourth port is supposed to soak up energy from a supply.

An adapter may also help present as much as 30W of energy supply to a bunch system, equivalent to a related iPhone. When you have an iPhone digital camera rig, this could be the place you’d join up an influence financial institution for longer filming periods.

All the ports, together with the one supposed for energy, use USB 3.2 Gen 2 and its 10Gbps of bandwidth.

With all of this in play, it might sound possible to make use of it as a USB-C hub in its personal proper, you probably have USB-C cables helpful. Despite the fact that one port is sunk from the floor, you may nonetheless hook up USB-C cables to it if they don’t seem to be too chunky.

When hooked as much as an iPhone or iPad, the hub works fully as anticipated. You may join extra USB-C gadgets to it, like a microphone receiver, superb.

Do not anticipate it to work like a correct hub for a Mac, although. It did work when related to an M1 Mac mini, nevertheless it oddly ran slowly for bandwidth assessments and did not permit a show to run by means of it both.

Clearly, it is received an supposed goal, nevertheless it’s not essentially an adjunct that advantages your Mac.

In follow, the hub mounts across the again of the iPhone, much like the SSD. It takes up extra of the again than the SSD alone however will be mounted alongside it.

Lexar Skilled Go Transportable SSD with Hub overview: WIthout a case, there is a little bit of a niche with the iPhone.

The hole is current once more when used case-free, nevertheless it’s nonetheless probably not an issue. Neither is it with a case, although once more, you may’t use an iPhone case that is too thick.

One small distinction in holding the iPhone with each the Hub and SSD connected is that the U-connector’s use of the sunken USB-C port makes the hub overhang the bottom of the iPhone, whereas the SSD alone doesn’t.

This overhang is a few third of an inch and is not actually a nuisance right here. What it does do is guarantee that you may nonetheless match a MagSafe charger on the rear or makes extra room for the backbone of no matter iPhone mount you resolve to make use of.

It is not troublesome to hold the iPhone with the hub and SSD’s mixed dimension, together with the overhang.

Simply make sure you’re holding onto the iPhone as an alternative of gripping the hub and SSD. The latter two solely maintain onto the iPhone from a USB-C port.

As an apart, Lexar additionally features a chilly shoe adapter, successfully a USB-C cable that attaches to a chilly shoe or sizzling shoe mounting level. This does offer you extra choices for mounting the SSD or the hub to a filming rig, making it extra helpful in conditions the place it is probably not sensible to mount the hub behind the iPhone.

Lexar markets the SSD as working at as much as 1,050MB/s for learn speeds and as much as 1,000MB/s for write speeds.

Related to an M1 Mac mini instantly and examined a number of occasions, we encountered far larger write speeds of 1,322.5MB/s. Nevertheless, reads had been decrease at 863.7MB/s.

Lexar Skilled Go Transportable SSD with Hub overview: Disk pace assessments with Blackmagicdesign’s app on a Mac

These speeds are actually usable sufficient for an exterior drive related to a Mac, however they’re additionally an incredible signal to be used on an iPhone.

Apple says that for exterior recording to an iPhone 15 Professional, Professional Max, or newer at 4K ProRes at 60fps, the drive has to help no less than 220MB/s and a most energy draw of 4.5W.

For 120fps on an iPhone 16 Professional, that determine doubles to 440MB/s.

It is secure to say that, as recordable exterior storage, there’s greater than sufficient headroom for the drive to comfortably take the recording.

Whereas testing, we observed that the SSD will get heat. That is to be anticipated for one thing so small beneath load, nevertheless it does not appear too heat as to be harmful.

Whereas the Lexar Skilled Go Transportable SSD with Hub is clearly marketed to those that need to do extra iPhone videography, it is value taking a second to think about different functions for it.

For a begin, it is a huge drive that you may connect with your iPhone. Nothing stops you from storing different knowledge on there, except for having to cope with Apple’s Information app.

Certainly, Lexar consists of software program to make use of encryption, considering of this state of affairs upfront. Connecting the SSD to a Mac offers you an installer that allows 256-bit AES encryption with the drive.

After all, you do not have to make use of it with an iPhone in any respect. You possibly can simply as simply connect it to an iPad Professional, each for storage and for connectivity.

Certainly, the small hole the U-connectors present give sufficient wiggle room to connect the setup to an M2 iPad Professional and Magic Keyboard.

It is actually a videography instrument, however there are many areas the place it might work past the iPhone.

Videography on the iPhone is pretty easy, for probably the most half. The issues are available whenever you go to extremes, equivalent to recording a lot of video or needing high-fps ProRes footage in 4K.

As an exterior recorder for an iPhone, Lexar has provide you with a extremely nice answer. One that would instantly join or neatly disguise on the rear.

Lexar Skilled Go Transportable SSD with Hub overview: The SSD and hub in a vlogging setup.

Including the hub aspect turns it into a really usable system for knowledge storage and exterior recording, with out dropping out on different connections. Charging the iPhone and hooking up a USB-C mic receiver whereas additionally externally recording footage is a good mixture for anybody severe about video.

Apart from Mac-based utilization, which is a stretch for its supposed goal, the Lexar Skilled Go Transportable SSD with Hub must be your first thought for recording footage.

It might be a little bit of an funding, nevertheless it’s actually value it should you’re severe in regards to the craft.

• Compact and data-dense
• Hub’s connectivity choices
• System flexibility

• SSD heat beneath sustained load
• Connectors generally is a bit tight
• Hub is not nice with Macs

The Lexar Skilled Go Transportable SSD with Hub is offered to preorder from Amazon. The 1TB model prices $239. The 2TB model with hub is on B&H Photograph for $349.99.

The SSD can also be accessible by itself. The 1TB is priced at $189.99 on Amazon, with the 2TB at $299.99.