OWC Envoy Pro Elektron

OWC Envoy Pro Elektron 1TB external SSD – fast and tough (review)

9.1

The OWC Envoy Pro Elektron 1TB external SSD is a USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 SSD blazes along at >1000MBps (seq read) and is crushproof, water and dustproof IP67 and works on Windows, Mac, Android, iPad OS, Chromebook and more.

The trick with all external drives is to ensure that the host device has a USB-C 3.1/2 Gen 2 10Gbps port, or you won’t get the rated speeds. Oh, and to use a properly rated cable – a USB-C cable with a USB-A adapter comes with it. Get that right, and it is hard to beat.

About OCW

If you are an Apple user, you will have heard of OWC for its storage, drives, memory, docks and cables. In fact, it was one of the first to support a Thunderbolt 3 dock for Mac that also had legacy Firewire 800 and Thunderbolt 2 support.

Its excellent quality and its warranty are second to none. Macfixit resellers are Epowermac, I Love Computers, RAM City, and Upgradable. If you don’t need USB-C 3.2, Gen 2, have a look at the range of Envoy products

OWC Envoy Pro Elektron 1TB external SSD

WebsiteProduct Page
Price240/480GB and 1/2TB $199.99/269.99/359.99/649.99 plus shipping $9.90
Distributed byMacfixit Australia
Warranty3-year OWC and ACL warranty from Macfixit and authorised resellers
Country of originTaiwan
CompanyOWC (Other World Computing Est 1988) is an American computer hardware company and online store for Mac upgrades and accessories.
MoreGadgetGuy OWC News and Reviews

First impression

Small – 76 x 52 x 13mm x 89g and comes with a handy USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 cable with a USB-A adapter. It also comes with 12 months complimentary Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office  (Windows or Mac) – formerly Acronis True Image for drive cloning, cybersecurity, backup and more.

Setup

Out of the box, it is exFAT, and you can leave it at that. Or run OWC Drive Guide for Windows (NTSC) or format for Mac. Of course, you can do that through the various file explorers too.

Speed

It exceeds published specs for sequential read/write and does a terrific job on larger files courtesy of the SSD cache and Phison E13T controller.

It uses an OWC M.242 Aura M-key PCIe 3.1 x 4 NVMe TLC SSD capable of nearly 3000MBps sequential read/write internal transfers.

GadgetGuy’s take

The speeds are commensurate with entry-level internal SSDs, so you can safely work directly from the device. Prices per GB are reasonable given its speed and USB-C interface.

OWC Envoy Pro Elektron 1TB external SSD
The OWC Envoy Pro Elektron 1TB external SSD is a USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 SSD blazes along at >1000MBps (seq read) and is crushproof, water and dustproof IP67 and works on Windows, Mac, Android, iPad OS, Chromebook and more.
Features
9
Value for money
8.5
Performance
9
Ease of use
10
Design
9
Positives
As fast as you can get over USB-C 3.2 Gen 2
Small
IP67 and rugged for field use
Supports 4K streaming to an external SSD - great for USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 smartphones, camera and drones
Negatives
Zero
9.1