MyDigitalSSD OTG v2 480GB Portable SSD

TweakTown Rating: 83%

Our Verdict

The OTG v2 is the perfect solution for consumers wanting capacity and performance without the increased price.

MyDigitalSSD is known for its reliable and high-performance drives for those of us on a budget. In the past, we have had many of their products come through the lab and today we add to our list with the OTG v2.

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We first looked at the OTG in 2014, with v1 putting together ASMedia and a Phison S8 powered mSATA SSD to give us an extremely portable SSD that would fit in a shirt pocket. The performance was great for the time bringing in 430 MB/s read and 370 MB/s write.

Today, we follow up on this article by bringing you v2 or the second revision of the OTG. This solution has been updated slightly, though we still have the same compact form factor. Internally, the PCB is a custom design with all the components onboard, a Phison S11 controller at its heart and USB 3.1 Gen 1 connectivity. Capacity options include 120, 240 and 480GB with a 1TB solution in the works. Marketing gives us 465 MB/s sustained read and 445 MB/s sustained write.

Compatibility includes Windows, Mac and Linux while MSRP comes in at $147.99 with a three-year warranty.

Packaging is fresh for MyDigitalSSD. We have marketing along the bottom and an image centered.

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The drive and its cables are packaged in a plastic retainer. Included you receive the drive, Micro-B to A cable and Micro B to USB-C cable.

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The drive itself is quite small and features a new white and silver design. The front houses a small activity LED to the right with branding above.

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On the edge, we have the micro-B connection.

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Internally, we see the custom PCB with Phison S11 controller.

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Usable capacity of the OTG v2 is 447GB. It is formatted with the NTFS filesystem from the factory so you will need to reformat for macOS.

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Taking a look through CDI, the drive is using a SATA 3 interface supporting UASP.

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Our first benchmark for the OTG was CDM. I was able to reach 426 MB/s read and 415 MB write QD1. QD32 showed very little gain at 427 MB/s read and 437 MB/s write.

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Running the drive through Anvils, we reach 1307 on the read score and 1454 for write, bringing the total to 2761

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Last, we toss some real data from our DC P3700 1.6TB AIC to the OTG v2

With our 15GB stack of photos, the OTG drive came in at 85 seconds while our 15GB stack of videos from our DJI Phantom transferred in 48 seconds. Moving our 15GB music library, that was completed in 46 seconds.

MyDigitalSSD doesn't disappoint when it comes to offering high capacity portable storage options at a low cost. Some of that cost savings comes by offering less durability in the product physically and that is the case with the OTG v2. By no means does the OTG v2 feel cheap but it does use a full plastic enclosure so don't expect it to resist crushing.

Internally, the v2 is an upgrade from the original and that translates into more performance for the end-user. Running through our testing I was able to reach 427 MB/s read and 437 MB/s write which puts the OTG v2 about 80 MB/s quicker than v1 in write operations. Pushing real data to the OTG v2 we found two of the three 15GB transfers came in under one minute those being music and video while photos weren't far behind at 85 seconds.

The MyDigitalSSD OTG v2 is a compact entry-level solution for consumers that want more than a flash drive in performance and capacity without the price tag.

Tyler's Test System Specifications

• Motherboard: ASUS Prime Z370 (buy from Amazon)
• CPU: Intel Core i3 8350K (buy from Amazon)
• RAM: Corsair Vengeance 32GB 4x8GB DDR4 3200 (buy from Amazon)
• Cooler: Corsair Hydro H115i (buy from Amazon)
• Case: Corsair Air 540 (buy from Amazon)
• OS Storage: Samsung 960 EVO 250GB (buy from Amazon)
• Power Supply: Corsair RM850x (buy from Amazon)
• OS: Microsoft Windows 10 (buy from Amazon)
• Wi-Fi NIC: ASUS PCE-AC88 (buy from Amazon)
• 10Gbe NIC: ASUS XG-C100C (buy from Amazon)
• Thunderbolt 3: ASUS Thunderbolt EX3 (buy from Amazon)