ADATA DashDrive Elite SE720 128GB External SSD Review

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As we move closer to the holiday season, I have noticed more and more manufacturers have started the transition into the portable SSD market. This makes me happy because it allows a more diverse selection in the market, along with keeping prices low. Today, we will be looking over the DashDrive Elite SE720 from ADATA, a drive that is rather similar in appearance to the DashDrive Elite HE720 we reviewed a few months back.

The DashDrive SE720 is a portable storage solution catered to those that want a high performance drive, with a touch of executive styling - much like the HE720. Though, the SE720 takes it a bit higher in terms of performance with the inclusion of a solid state drive. Compatibility of the DashDrive extends to modern Windows OSes, along with Mac OS X 10.6+ and Linux kernel 2.6+. The DashDrive SE720 is covered by a three year warranty.

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Within the scope of delivery, you will find the quick start guide, USB 3.0 cable, in addition to the storage pouch and the drive itself.

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The drive carries a brushed aluminium design, which ADATA claims is scratch resistant. On the edge of the device, you will find the USB 3.0 port and backup button.

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The SE720 uses the VLI VL711 USB 3.0 controller.

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Internally the SE720 is powered by a SandForce SSD, to be more precise, it's the ADATA SX900.

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On the backside of the SSD, we have eight packages of Intel MLC NAND.

One of the lesser-known features of running Microsoft's new operating system Windows 8 is the native capability of USB Attached SCSI or UASP. In benchmarking external storage solutions, we utilize IOMeter for Sequential performance followed by DiskBench and our custom set of real-world data, and is by far the most important comparison when looking for a drive for everyday use.

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In our DiskBench testing, the ADATA SE720 was able to complete our backup workload at a rate of 146 MB/s.

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Sequential read has the SE720 in the middle of the pack throughout the queue depth scale. Peak performance was obtained at QD8 coming in just over 375 MB/s.

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Switching over to sequential write, the ADATA was capable of a touch over 150 MB/s. Peak performance was equal across the entire queue depth scale.

The ADATA SE720 is one of just a few on the market to combine excellent storage performance with top notch styling. The SE720 exudes its professional appeal through the use of brushed aluminium and thin design. Durability of the unit extends even further with the use of a solid state drive, in that shock tolerance is at its peak.

Performance of the DashDrive was ample, where we found the drive more than capable of handling daily backups, with the possibility of streaming workloads.

Pricing for the ADATA SE720 sits at $114.99 for the 128GB capacity.

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