OWC Envoy Pro mini 240GB Portable SSD Review

OWC is one of those brands that nearly everyone has heard of especially if you are a Mac user. In the past, we have tested many solutions from them including the Envoy Pro. Now at the end of 2015, we have the next iteration of the Envoy lineup, the Pro mini.

The Envoy Pro mini is quite similar to the Ventura Ultra and VisionTek Portable SSD we have reviewed in the past. The Envoy Pro mini like the two previously mentioned drives sits in a small market between standard flash drives and full on solid state drives. In fact, drives like these have made their own market supporting 4K workflows with stunning performance. Capacity options include 120GB and 240GB options both utilizing a USB 3.0 connection. Marketing for this drive states 427 MB/s sustained performance while compatibility extends to Windows and OS X.

MSRP of the OWC Envoy Pro mini in the 240GB capacity is set at $179.99 with a one-year warranty.

Packaging for the Envoy Pro mini is a plain brown box with a sticker on the side though internally all the components are packed tightly with foam in between.

The scope of delivery includes a lanyard, USB 3.0 extension cable, and the drive itself.

The Envoy Pro mini is probably one of the most sophisticated looking drives I have reviewed. The exterior is smooth and while being a capped design fits very snug.

On the port end of the flash drive, we have the only branding on the entire drive.

The Envoy Pro mini comes with the OWC drive guide software that enables you to partition the drive as you see fit. For our testing, we created a single large partition covering the drives entire capacity.

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To start off testing, we ran the Envoy Pro mini through our standard sequential testing first. As seen above, I was able to reach 209 MB/s read and 153 MB/s write.

Running the Envoy Pro mini through our Anvils Utilities testing, it was quite surprising seeing the drive do so well. Read and write scores reached 1026 and 933 respectively. The overall score was the highest we have seen for a flash drive at 1960.

Price/performance for the OWC Envoy Pro mini was quite good. In fact, the drive landed at 88.5%, putting it near the top of the chart.

OWC has long garnered much success over the past years with their Mercury and Aura SSDs. In taking that technology and putting it into a flash drive, they now have a solid product in the market for those wanting decent performance and stunning aesthetics. The build quality of this drive is second to none. In my normal fashion upon opening the drive, I found what appeared to be the last SF2281 flash controller in existence. Now that's not to say it's a bad controller because this controller powered the entire second generation of SSDs, but in terms of raw performance, I feel OWC could have done better with the Envoy Pro mini.

The performance of the Envoy Pro mini was decent. I reached 209 MB/s read and 153 MB/s write, but the real place this drive shined was in Anvils Utilities becoming the quickest drive in our charts due to its full SSD controller design. Price/performance was kind to the Envoy Pro mini as well landing this solution at 88.5% due to its solid price point. If only OWC could lower it another 10%, it would surely hit and possibly take on the Rage 2 at the top of our chart.

Overall, I enjoyed the performance of the Envoy Pro mini; it performed quite well with daily activities and the looks of this drive fit what I like in a drive - a clean, heavy in the hand solution that feels like it can handle the abuse of daily life.