Transcend StoreJet 500 256GB Portable SSD Review

TweakTown's Rating: 89%

The Bottom Line

Transcend's StoreJet 500 is a great external SSD for creative professionals and media lovers alike. This drive carries both performance and reliability in a solid dual-connectivity package.

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Portable SSDs have become as conventional as internal solutions over the past year, with many leading vendors having at least one solution on the market utilizing either USB 3.0 or Thunderbolt technology. With that, we now have enough solutions for consumers to have a choice when looking for their next external solution.

The StoreJet 500 is the latest portable SSD from Transcend. Capacity options range from 256GB to 1TB featuring a bus-powered design. Thunderbolt and USB 3.0 are included for connectivity and insures compatibility between legacy and modern Mac machines. Marketing numbers for the StoreJet 500 include a 440 MB/s read speed, and while being built for OS X, the StoreJet 500 uses the HFS+ file system and is compatible with OS X 10.7+. For users that want to utilize this solution with a Windows machine, you can do so by formatting to exFAT or NTFS.

MSRP of the Transcend StoreJet 500 in the 256GB capacity is listed at $299.99 with a three-year warranty.

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Packaging for the StoreJet houses an image of the drive on the front. Next to this, we find both performance numbers and capacity listed at the top right.

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The rear side of the box carries further product information, along with mention of Transcends RecoveRX and Elite management software, which is compatible with this portable solution.

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Opening up the packaging, I was surprised to find the drive housed in its own container. Front and center, we have a large transcend logo with a small LED to the top.

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Scope of delivery includes both USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt cables. We also have a pouch for the drive, reading materials, and the drive itself.

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The bottom edge of the drive houses both the USB 3.0 port and Thunderbolt connection.

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Testing the StoreJet 500, first in Windows 8.1 with a USB 3.0 connection. The drive was able to reach 442 MB/s read, followed up by 303 MB/s write.

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Switching over to OS X, we also swapped interfaces to Thunderbolt. With that said, we actually lost performance with our OS X system coming in at 379 MB/s read and 291 MB/s write.

The Transcend StoreJet 500 is one of the more unique solutions we have seen built for OS X. With that said, this dual port connectivity with USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt has become part of a trend with external storage solutions as of late. This gives vendors the best in terms of performance with Thunderbolt, while maintaining a broad market appeal with USB 3.0. The StoreJet 500 having both is a solid device, with excellent build quality and aesthetic appeal thanks to its aluminium simplistic design.

Performance of the StoreJet was rather good; surprisingly better in Windows than it was with OS X. Within Windows, we nearly topped the charts, but ended up falling short; results came in at 442 MB/s read and 303 MB/s write. Over to OS X, performance even with Thunderbolt wasn't quite what I expected. Here we were able to reach 379 MB/s read, followed by 291 MB/s write.

Overall, the StoreJet 500 is a solid performer for those wanting both a great looking and performing solution. Adding to this is the MSRP and warranty which you will find at $299.99 for the 256GB capacity backed by a three-year warranty.

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