Corsair EX400U 2TB Portable SSD Review - World's Fastest Native USB Storage

TweakTown Rating: 98%

Our Verdict

Corsair's EX400U 2TB portable drive is the most powerful native USB SSD we've encountered.

Pros

• Compact
• Powerful
• Native USB

Cons

• None

Should you buy it?

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Buy at Amazon for $864.99 USD

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Introduction & Drive Details

Corsair's newest portable SSD can deliver up to 4,000 MB/s throughput over USB 4 or Thunderbolt 4 interfaces. This is not the first time we've encountered this type of performance from a portable SSD; however, it is the first time we've encountered a native USB device that can deliver this type of performance.

The key point here is that this device is a native USB device, meaning that there is no bridge chip between the controller and the flash array. This means that, like all native USB storage devices and only native USB storage devices, the EX400U is supremely compatible across all USB Type-C interfaced devices. Additionally, there are none of the heat issues commonly encountered when bridge chips are in the mix.

This ultra-portable SSD is compatible with platforms like Windows and Mac, and devices including Android, iPhone, tablets, and gaming consoles, or pretty much your entire digital life. Sweetening the pot even further is its built-in MagSafe magnetic ring which can attach the portable storage device magnetically with compatible iPhones for quick and easy mass storage expansion.

If there was ever one portable storage device to rule them all, this just might be the one. Now let's see how it performs in the real world.

Drive Details

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Synthetic Benchmarks: CDM, ATTO & Blackmagic

CrystalDiskMark

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These are great numbers. Our 2TB portable contender can indeed deliver as advertised, which is less common than you may realize, especially when such lofty performance figures are given. The device also provides exceptional low queue depth random performance, which is an excellent synthetic indicator of exceptional results when employed for portable gaming storage.

ATTO

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ATTO verifies our test subject as capable of delivering full sequential throughput at 128K transfers at the standard test queue depth of 4. This is exactly what we are looking for from any SSD, internal or portable. Impressive.

Blackmagic

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As these results indicate, Corsair's EX400U is ideal for employment as a portable scratch disk for video editing duties. Very few devices can handle this demanding use case scenario at this high level, and our test subject is the first native USB device we've encountered that can.

Real-World Testing: PCMark 10, 3DMark SSD Gaming & Transfer Rates

PCMark 10 Data Drive Benchmark

The Data Drive Benchmark is designed to test drives that are used for storing files rather than applications. You can also use this test with NAS drives, USB sticks, memory cards, and other external storage devices.

The Data Drive Benchmark uses 3 traces, running 3 passes with each trace as follows:

• Copying 339 JPEG files, 2.37 GB in total,?into?the target drive (write test).
• Making a copy of the JPEG files (read-write test).
• Copying the JPEG files to another drive (read test).

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Again, results here indicate that on device editing can be done at higher levels than ever before possible with a native USB storage device. Outstanding.

3DMark SSD Gaming Test

UL's newest 3DMark SSD Gaming Test is the most comprehensive SSD gaming test ever devised. We consider it superior to testing against games themselves because, as a trace, it is much more consistent than variations that will occur between runs on the actual game itself. This test is, in fact, the same as running the actual game, just without the inconsistencies inherent to application testing. In short, we believe that this is the world's best way to test an SSDs gaming prowess and accurately compare it against competing SSDs. The 3DMark SSD Gaming Test measures and scores the following:

• Loading Battlefield V from launch to the main menu.
• Loading Call of Duty Black Ops 4 from launch to the main menu.
• Loading Overwatch from launch to the main menu.
• Recording a 1080p gameplay video at 60 FPS with OBS (Open Broadcaster Software) while playing Overwatch.
• Installing The Outer Worlds from the Epic Games Launcher.
• Saving game progress in The Outer Worlds.
• Copying the Steam folder for Counter-Strike Global Offensive from an external SSD to the system drive.

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Gaming is a performance metric that matters to most DIY consumers, especially to the enthusiast crowd that TweakTown caters to. We are now including gaming performance as a part of our external SSD reviews, as using portable storage for gaming duties is very popular among avid gamers. Ultra-portable, fully compatible storage is a nice complement to any console or PC gaming device.

In addition to being by far the highest performing of its kind we've ever tested, the EX400U 2TB can deliver gaming performance rivaling that of many internal SSDs. Impressive.

DiskBench - Transfer Rates

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We brutalize our test subjects with our extremely hard-to-swallow 100GB data block. This data block is the same one we use for our internal SSD testing and comprises more than 62K files. 100GB is probably right at the upper limit for a single transfer, so as we see it, this is a much more realistic test scenario than a sustained filling of the entire drive.

As a final parting shot, our test subject again shows itself to be the highest-performing device of its kind. This is real performance, performance that matters most, and exactly where the EX400U separates itself from all the rest. Outstanding.

Final Thoughts

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It's the new pinnacle of native USB goodness and as such has earned our highest award. Editor's Choice.