MyDigitalSSD Boost 1TB USB 3.1 Gen 2 Portable SSD Review
Affordable and portable, the Boost 1TB USB 3.1 Gen 2 portable SSD from MyDigitalSSD raises the bar on external storage.
MyDigitalSSD has always been on the consumer's side, creating solutions that are budget friendly, without sacrificing much performance. With that said, its appears with their latest solution, dubbed Boost, they sold the farm and went all out to create one of the quickest portable solutions to date.
USB 3.1 has opened the floodgates on high-performance external solutions. You no longer need an often-expensive device and a PC with a Thunderbolt connection to reach upwards of 800 MB/s on an external device.
MyDigitalSSD claims this solution to be the world's fastest USB 3.1 SSD - a claim I'm sure SanDisk will have something to say about with their Extreme 900. The Boost comes in a 1TB capacity sporting either a red or black enclosure. Inside, you will find two mSATA SSDs configured in RAID 0 capable of reaching 830 MB/s read and 730 MB/s write.
MyDigitalSSD is aiming this solution for those wanting to take data with them on the go or for those wanting to improve Xbox One or Steam game load times.
Compatibility of this solution extends to Windows 2000+, OS X 10+, and Linux. The MyDigitalSSD Boost 1TB carries an MSRP of $279.99 with a three-year warranty.
Packaging is a standard brown box with a label. Capacity is listed at the top right while features are listed down below.
The scope of delivery includes two cables; one is USB-C to Micro B and the other Type-C to Micro B.
Taking a closer look at the enclosure, we have a powder coated aluminum shell with branding including capacity at the bottom left.
MyDigitalSSD chose to stay with the traditional Micro B port for the drive side instead of the USB-C most vendors are going with.
Pulling the PCB from the enclosure, we have a pair of Samsung PM851 mSATA SSDs installed.
The ever popular ASMedia 1352R does most of the work with this solution.
I tested the MyDigitalSSD Boost with both ASMedia and Intel USB 3.1 host ports for this article; both resulted in nearly identical performance, so we stuck with the Intel results. Seen above, we reached a peak of 880 MB/s read and 710 MB/s write in Flash Bench.
Anvils touched on 834 MB/s read and 682 MB/s write, with a final score of 3556.
CrystalDiskMark had the Boost at 820 MB/s read and 726 MB/s write.
Putting the MyDigitalSSD Boost into our charts, it's certainly one of the quickest drives on the market, but I did reach higher performance with the SanDisk Extreme 900.
The Boost from MyDigitalSSD is rather well built. The aluminum exterior while adding some pleasing aesthetics gives this unit durability and on top of that having a choice of colors is a bonus. The internal PCB is using all the right components to allow this solution to reach top-notch USB 3.1 performance, and you may have noticed in some of the images above, it does have a configurable RAID via switches, and yes it does work.
The performance of this solution reached 820 MB/s read and 726 MB/s write within CrystalDiskMark while Flash Bench pushed this drive upwards of 880 MB/s read and 710 MB/s write. Laying claim to being the quickest USB 3.1 Gen 2 drive in the world, this solution fell just short of the SanDisk Extreme 900 1.92TB model I tested, but if capacities were even, I'd say it could very well be true.
If none of that wins your heart, then MyDigitalSSD is set to win your vote with cost as this solution is easily the cheapest, quickest 1TB USB 3.1 Gen 2 device on the market, with an MSRP of $279.99 and a three-year warranty.
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
| Performance | 95% |
| Quality including Design and Build | 90% |
| General Features | 90% |
| Bundle and Packaging | 85% |
| Value for Money | 98% |
| Overall | 92% |
The Bottom Line: If you are in the market for a portable solution, the MyDigitalSSD Boost is certainly capable with top tier performance and capacity while keeping the price budget friendly.
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