G-Technology G-Drive SSD Slim USB-C Review

TweakTown's Rating: 91%

The Bottom Line

While being more expensive than traditional portable SSD solutions, G-Technology's G-Drive SSD Slim USB-C ushers in solid capacity options with top tier performance.

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G-Technology is one of only a handful of vendors that is directly linked to facilities that create or have their hands in the manufacture of either HDDs or SSDs. HGST, the parent company of G-Drive, also happens to be part of the Western Digital brand which in turn now owns SanDisk. When you have a network like the G-Drive brand now does, you are opened to offer more versatile solutions, solutions like the SSD Slim USB-C.

The Slim USB-C is one of the latest solutions from G-Technology while also serving as what I believe is their first USB 3.1 Gen 2 solution. This enables 10 Gb/s connectivity to the device for full performance to the end-user. Capacity options include a 500GB solution that was sent to us for testing and a larger 1TB model. Marketing performance comes in at 540 MB/s for this solution while being compatible with both OS X and Windows platforms.

MSRP of the 500GB G-Technology G-Drive Slim SSD USB-C comes in at $229.99 with a three-year warranty.

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Packaging includes an image of the G-Drive on the front with capacity listed at the top and connectivity at the bottom.

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On the spine, you will find a more detailed specification list.

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The scope of delivery includes the warranty and quick start guides along with a straight USB-C cable and Type-C to Type-C cable.

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The drive itself has a sleek aluminum cover color like the space gray that Apple uses. Branding is held to a minimum with a simple logo and SSD on the front.

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The bottom edge houses the reversible USB-C connection.

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The bottom of the drive houses regulatory information and the serial number.

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Internally, the G-Drive is using a SanDisk SSD as seen in the image above.

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Moving over to testing, we start with Flash Bench and find this drive very capable. Read and write stayed very close around 520 MB/s from 16M through 1M falling off after.

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Putting this drive next to all previously tested solutions, we find it to be the quickest next to the SanDisk Extreme 900.

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Throwing price/performance into the mix, the G-Drive does quite well here too. As you can see above second once again to the Extreme 900.

G-Technology is one of the top tier vendors when it comes to external storage solutions. We have seen just a few over the years, but I have always been impressed with the level of fit and finish put on their products. It's like Noctua with CPU coolers and SilverStone with chassis; you just get the feeling there was more attention paid to each device as they were manufactured.

The G-Drive Slim SSD USB-C is a relatively good storage solution. It's one of the highest-performing drives I have had in the last five years and second only to the Extreme 900 that put a couple of Ultra 960GB SSDs in RAID 0 to reach the peak of USB 3.1 Gen 2. With that said, I could reach marketing performance at 520 MB/s, and price to the performance put this solution near the top of the charts.

In closing, the G-Drive is certainly more expensive than competing portable SSDs in the 480GB to 512GB market. With that said, you are getting a three-year warranty and a higher level of quality with the G-Drive solution.

Tyler's Test System Specifications

• Motherboard: ASUS Z170 Premium - Buy from Amazon
• CPU: Intel Core i5 6500 - Buy from Amazon
• Cooler: Noctua NH-U12S - Buy from Amazon / Read our review
• Memory: Klevv CRAS 16GB (4x4) DDR4 3000 - Read our review
• Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 - Buy from Amazon / Read our review
• OS Storage: Intel 730 480GB SSD - Buy from Amazon / Read our review
• Secondary Storage: Intel 750 400GB U.2 SSD - Buy from Amazon / Read our review
• Case: Thermaltake P5 - Buy from Amazon / Read our review
• Power Supply: Thermaltake Toughpower Grand 1200 - Buy from Amazon
• OS: Microsoft Windows 10 - Buy from Amazon