If you've got a USB 3.0 port in your PC and you're still using a USB 2.0 portable hard disk drive, here's why you should change. USB 3.0 hard disk drives are less limited by the interface than USB 2.0 drives, and almost entirely limited by the hard disk drive inside them now. In this case, the Silicon Power Stream S20 is capable of transferring files on and off the drive at around 85MB/s; a limit of the hard disk drive inside it.
More the pity, as the interface can ostensibly run at many hundreds of MB/s, and portable solid state hard disk drives like the Transcend TS64GSSD18C3 can get closer to that mark. The good news is that that the S20 can still walk all over a USB 2.0 hard disk drive, with our tests copying the same set of files at a 28MB/s rate compared to the 85MB/s rate of USB 3.0.
It's a 2.5in drive solution, so it's relatively small; measuring in at 142 x 80 x 21mm, it's roughly the size of a chunky smartphone, or two muesli bars placed side by side. It comes with a carry sleeve, so you can throw it in your bag with impunity without fear of scratching up the finish.
It's a nice finish as well, with the top a metallic purple and sides and bottom matte black. It's pleasant without being showy and is suitably inoffensive enough to appeal to most people. Notably, the USB 3.0 B connector is in the long side of the unit, so placing it somewhere where the activity light is facing forward means finding space beside the drive rather than behind it. That USB 3.0 B connector is our primary concern with this drive. We'd had the connectors fail on other devices, and frankly we're not sure this will last as long as it should.
On our test model, the connector flexes when inserting the cable, and considering it needs a little pressure to get in (and can be mistakenly put in upside down) the longevity of this drive is purely limited by the strength of the solder job to place the connector on the small PCB inside the drive. So be careful, and don't transport the drive in a bag with the cable plugged in.
Available from Silicon Power, retailing for US$110.
APC rating: 8/10 (Highly Recommended)