ADATA HD830 4TB Portable HDD Review

Name: ADATA HD830 4TB Portable HDD
Brand: ADATA

You can park your truck on it!

VIEW GALLERY - 9

Tyler Bernath

In Loving Memory

Published Dec 5, 2018 10:00 AM CST
Updated Nov 3, 2020 6:57 PM CST

Manufactured by ADATA

2 minutes & 30 seconds read time

TweakTown's Rating: 84%

The Bottom Line

The Durable HD830 is a formidable drive for those that need the utmost in a portable solution.

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When it comes to variety in storage, ADATA has one of the most complete lineups of portable solutions. These range from the SE730H for those that want performance to the latest and model we have in-house, the HD830.

The Durable lineup from ADATA has been a solid lineup of solutions, and we have reviewed many of them. The HD830 is likely one of the most robust models we have seen as ADATA has traded the typical sealed plastic enclosure for an aluminum enclosure with heat sink design.

This is then covered by either a black or blue silicon case to give the drive resilience during a drop. Capacity options include 2, 4 and 5TB all using the trusted micro-B USB 3.0 connection. ADATA says this drive can withstand 3000kg of pressure along with being IP68 approved and even more it passed the MIL STD 516.6 1.22m drop test.

Compatibility includes Windows, macOS, and Linux. MSRP of the 2TB comes in at $99.99 while the 4 and 5TB models comes in at 149.99 and $179.99 respectively. Each drive includes a 3-year warranty.

Packaging really stresses this drives durability with bold print of its 3000kg resistance. Capacity is listed to the right with model information above.

The back goes into more detail with a full specification list and warranty information.

In the box, we have the USB 3.0 cable and guide.

The drive certainly has a presence with the metal chassis and silicon case. We have branding at the bottom which does carry a small LED underneath.

The USB 3.0 port is sealed behind a small door.

Removing the silicon sleeve, we are able to remove a few screws to remove the internals. Here we have a Barracuda HDD sleeved inside a waterproof membrane.

For testing, I ran the drive through two common benchmarks, first DST where we see 106 MB/s read and 101 MB/s write.

Over to AJA, we use our UHD 10bit workload. The HD830 is able to reach 128 MB/s read, and 102 MB/s write.

I have seen my fair share of portable hard drives and SSDs come through over the last six years, and the HD830 might be the most heavy duty solution yet. The aluminum enclosure adds both durability and style to the unit although the top heat sink fins could use some cleanup on the sharp edges. That said the silicon cover does keep the aluminum surface away from your desk so no issues with scratching there.

Performance is as expected for a 5400 RPM 4TB HDD. We reached 128 MB/s read at its peak, and 102 MB/s write. That said, this is a real hard drive inside the HD830 enclosure, a Seagate Barracuda to be exact, so for those that are all about shucking drives, this is certainly a candidate.

ADATA did really well with pricing on the HD830 as the drive, with all of its durability and features doesn't cost much over a standard portable HDD. For the 2TB model, you are looking at $99, which on average is $20 more than a standard solution. The 4TB model gives a little more room at $149.99 whereas a standard 4TB portable is $99 at the time of writing.