SanDisk Extreme PRO with USB4 review
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Having reached a turning point, USB4 suddenly became the connectivity technology for external SSDs, and a large number of new products have been on the shelves of this category.
Sandisk (aka Western Digital) has never been a violet violet, and has improved the Sandisk Extreme Pro series with a new drive, adding “with USB4” to the end of an already-long name.
The USB-connected external storage has the same style as the previous Extreme Pro drive, but has 3800mb/s read and 3700MB/s write when connected to a USB 4 compatible port. It will work with older USB standard, but the drive doesn’t come with a USB-A adapter, and if you use USB 3.2 or USB 2.0, the performance is greatly reduced.
This specification is very close CORSAIR EX400U We recently reviewed this, although it is physically larger and the size provides more protection from being discarded.
What’s less attractive than the price of Pirate Drive is the price, which is a great choice for you to buy this hardware.
The only mitigation to the additional cost is Sandisk’s five-year warranty, while most competitors offer only three years of coverage.
While the Sandisk Extreme Pro with USB4 may not be the fastest or cheapest option in USB4 external storage, it is certainly good enough to include in ours Best Portable SSD collect.
Sandisk Extreme Pro with USB4: Price and Availability
- how much does it cost? from £250.99/$279.99/€349,99
- When to go out? Available now
- Where can you get it? For sale through online retailers and directly from Sanddisk.
Usually, with an external SSD, I recommend you to browse the best deals. However, sandpaper seems to have iron grip for dealers, which directly leads to the same price Manufacturer and Online retailers.
The smaller model is only available in the 2TB and 4TB options, at $279.99 in the US, £250.99 in the UK and €349,99 in Europe.
This is much more expensive than the 2TB Corsair Ex400U, which sells for $189.99, £199.99 and €239.99 depending on your location.
This is 47% more expensive than the EX400U in the United States.
The 4TB model is asking for $429.99 in the US, £384.99 in the UK, €534.99 in Europe, 22% more expensive than the EX400U in the US, 7% more expensive in the UK and 26% more expensive in the Europeans.
These numbers do not reflect the exchange rate between the US dollar, pound and euro, but to give you a tweak to adjust the flavor, the 4TB priced at $496 in the UK and $579 in Europe.
However, when you look at this price overall, Sandisk’s price is closer to the product Nextorage NX-PS1Pro Compared to Corsair Ex400U.
So, this is not a cheap option. The lack of an 8TB model makes the UGREEN 40GBPS M.2 case a real and cost-effective alternative to people who need larger capacity.
Sandisk Extreme Pro and USB4: Specifications
|
model |
SDSSDE82-2T00-G25 |
|---|---|
|
ability |
2TB / 4TB |
|
Capacity test |
2TB |
|
Sequential performance of tests (read/write) |
3809/3662 MB/s |
|
connect |
USB 4.0, Thunderbolt, USB 3.2 Gen 2 or Gen 1 on USB-C |
|
Controller |
unknown |
|
encryption |
hardware |
|
aspect |
140 x 68.7 x 11.9mm (WXHXD) |
|
weight |
172g |
|
power supply |
USB-Bus Power |
|
Warranty form |
5 years |
Sandisk Extreme Pro and USB4: Design
- Large external SSD
- No USB-A adapter
- Damage protection
- Hardware encryption
Physically, this is easily one of the larger external SSDs I’ve ever seen, and it’s obviously modest even when compared to the chunky Sandisk Pro-G40.
It is not easy to fit in a pants pocket with cables when it is 14 cm long and weighs 172 grams. The 28cm long USB-C cable is the only accessory available in Sandisk, and the manufacturer does not include a USB-A adapter, which looks bad considering the cost of the item.
There is also no consideration on how to handle the cable, and it is certain that a third-party gondolas will be needed to fill that niche.
Neither the Corsair EX400U nor the Nextorage NX-PS1Pro provided effectively in this unit provide damage protection. With the aluminum chassis, the entire boundary and bottom of the drive has a thick coating of silicone material, making it look very firm and able to withstand a lot of knocks, drips, and even splashes with water.
According to Sandisk, the drive has been tested with IEC 60529 IP65, which is able to withstand water flow (30 kPa) for 3 minutes. It can also survive a 2-meter drop, but this claim does not elaborate on what it drops. Perhaps this is not a hint of the mat or fresh marshmallow terrain, it is Sandisk’s limited warranty for this hardware.
The mess with this drive is so big because it has to have the heart of the M.2 2280, while other products use 2242 or even 2230 size devices to make the product smaller and lighter.
I mistakenly think this is because Western Digital doesn’t make SSDs in these forms, but I quickly found out that it was indeed the case. The result is that the drive ends up being more than twice as big as its closest competitor, the Corsair Ex400U, which may be easier to carry.
Last note: This drive supports hardware encryption, which is not a feature provided by Corsair and EX400U.
Sandisk Extreme Pro vs. USB4: Performance
- Requires USB 4.0
- Excellent performance
- Thunder port problem
|
bench |
test |
Sandisk Extreme Pro with USB4 2TB |
CORSAIR EX400U 2TB |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Crystaldikmark 8.05 |
Read MB/s by default |
3810 |
4056 |
| Line 1 – Cell 0 |
Write to MB/s by default |
3662 |
3630 |
| Line 2 – Cell 0 |
Real world reading MB/S |
2955 |
2303 |
| Line 3 – Cell 0 |
Write MB/S in the real world |
2149 |
3269 |
|
AJA system test 64GB |
Read MB/s |
3363 |
2827 |
| Line 5 – Cell 0 |
Write MB/s |
3189 |
2638 |
|
As an SSD |
Read MB/s |
3360 |
3506 |
| Line 7 – Cell 0 |
Write MB/s |
2739 |
3197 |
|
Behavior |
Read MB/s |
3530 |
3780 |
| Line 9 – Cell 0 |
Write MB/s |
3380 |
3470 |
|
PCMARK data driver station |
Fraction |
2992 |
2028 |
My tests of this kind of drive metaphorically go deep into the weeds, as there seems to be problems with the latest Thunderbolt 4 chipset and USB4-compliant drives.
But before we fell down that rabbit hole, overall, even in some tests, the Pirate Drive performed well, even though it outperformed it.
In the test, the situation was a bit off because these results came from a GMKTEC K7 Pro Mini PC using an AMD Ryzen 9 Pro 6950h processor and with a USB4 port.
However, when I tested the drive with multiple Intel Core Ultra 2 laptops, the write performance gap between the Sandisk Extreme Pro and USB4 is about 500mb/s, and the full number of these numbers is about 500mb/s. In the first Crystalmark test, the writing speed ranged from 3,100 to 3,200.
Given that these machines have Thunderbolt 4 ports, which would have been a super setup for USB4, it seems odd, so I asked Sandisk if that could be explained.
The response I got was:
“To get the maximum advertising speeds for Sandisk Extreme Pro with USB4, use a host with a USB4 port for optimal conditions. Although this drive is compatible with USB 3.2 and USB 2.0 devices and supports Thunderbolt™ 4, performance may vary depending on host device, usage conditions, and other factors.”
Not the real answer, is it?
I didn’t feel more testing and found that on Thunderbolt 4, the Corsair Ex400U had the exact same problem, pointing out questions about how Intel Thunderbolt chipset handles USB4 devices.
In short, if you want all the performance that this device has to offer, use a USB4 port instead of Thunderbolt.
Sandisk Extreme Pro and USB4: The Final Judgment
Sandisk is responsible for only two issues with this product, the first one is size. Why designers insist on using such a large fence, probably the M.2 2280 scale driver, is a mystery. However, Sandisk may intend to launch an 8TB model sometime in the future, and it is easier to get so many flashes on the drive.
This guess is totally plausible, as they have made an 8TB version of the alternative to Sandisk Desk Drive and its creator brand.
Another problem is the price, which seems to be much less than people hope. While there are currently limited options for only USB4-compliant SSDs, every brand in the field will have some by the end of this year and the price will need to be lower.
In the coming months, we can also hope that even if Intel’s recent Thunderbolt chipset and writing performance have had any difficulties, even if Sandisk is not a problem with Sandisk having exclusive issues.
Overall, it’s a decent performance and a powerful package, but needs to be more sensitive from the start.
Should I buy Sandisk Extreme Pro with USB4?
|
value |
Pricing for certain margins on key EX400U |
3.5/5 |
|
design |
Large and well protected, but lacks USB-A adapter |
4/5 |
|
Performance |
A decent speed, but not the fastest, some lightning problems |
4/5 |
|
Comprehensive |
Need cheap durable designs in this highly competitive market |
4/5 |
If…buy it
if…
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