LaCie 1big DOCK 16TB Review

TweakTown's Rating: 92%

The Bottom Line

Professionals needing high capacity media storage look no further than the 1Big Dock integrating the two most common card readers into their latest Thunderbolt solution.

The 1big DOCK is LaCie's latest external storage solution aimed at creators with large video workloads needing ample storage to offload raw data.

To handle these large data workloads, LaCie has deployed its "DOCK" form factor taken from the 2big DOCK and slimmed down to offer a single drive of capacity that currently peaks at 16TB. Additional options include 4TB and 8TB solutions, all of which are treated to the IronWolf Pro lineup.

Another design concept taken from the 2big lineup is the black "Professional" colorway, a Neil Poulton design that we first saw with the 2big RAID and has been deployed on several solutions since including the d2 Professional and today's 1big DOCK, not to be confused with the 1big DOCK SSD Pro that takes advantage of NVMe with a similar enclosure design.

Marketing performance has the 16TB model rated at 280 MB/s read and 240 MB/s write thanks to the 7200 RPM CMR IronWolf Pro. Additional features include Dual Thunderbolt 3 connectivity, DisplayPort 1.4, USB 3.0 ports, and SD/CF card slots.

The MSRP of the 16TB LaCie 1big DOCK comes in at $679.99 with a five-year warranty.

10

The 1big DOCK sticks with the standard LaCie packaging, capacity top right with an image centered.

10

The spine offers compatibility, along with features and specs listed. We did notice a sticker put over our specifications, with a change to the power delivery of the 1big DOCK going from 85W initially to 45W after this revision.

10

Unboxing, we have the power adapter and Thunderbolt 3 cable. The power adapter is rated at 20v 5.5A or 110 watts.

10

Getting our first looks at the dock, we have the 3.5" bay at the top with USB 3.0 with CF and SD below.

10

The backside offers a Kensington lock and power input on the left side, followed by dual Thunderbolt 3 and DisplayPort.

10

Above, we have the included 16TB IronWolf Pro.

10

CDM is a staple in performance testing; version 7 has seen some updates in the workloads used for testing. The sequential performance was quite good; 254 MB/s read and 249 MB/s write for the 16TB drive.

10

Running through AJA, we found 106 FPS read and write with our 1080p workflow.

10

Switching to the UHD workload, FPS dropped to 26 read and write.

10

I do keep a UHS-II SanDisk Extreme Pro handy for devices like this, and the 1big DOCK delivers on this front allowing 222 MB/s read and 145 MB/s write with our card.

I've never been disappointed with the quality of a LaCie product, and it feels like that streak will continue as the 1big DOCK is certainly impressive with its fit and finish. I've stated before that all LaCie products should come in this anodized black finish, and I still stand by that with this solution.

Drive performance is on par for mechanical media. The 7200RPM IronWolf Pro does quite well at 250/250, certainly enough for the intended purpose of offloading raw media from the DOCK to the internal drive. For those handling 1080p workflows, the 1big DOCK can handle those in real-time with framerates up to 106FPS in ProRes XQ.

The included card reader is up to the task and offers the latest UHS-II spec giving us 220 MB/s reads in our testing. As for pricing, I'm quite impressed LaCie isn't charging an arm and a leg for this enclosure. The drive alone retails at roughly $550, and this entire setup is going for $679.99 at the time of writing, and being Thunderbolt 3, that solely is amazing.

Tyler's Test System Specifications

• Motherboard: ASUS Crosshair VIII Formula X570 (buy from Amazon)
• CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 (buy from Amazon)
• RAM: Corsair Vengeance 16GB 2x8GB DDR4 3600 (buy from Amazon)
• Cooler: Corsair Hydro H60 (buy from Amazon)
• Case: Corsair Carbide 275R (buy from Amazon)
• OS Storage: Corsair MP600 1TB (buy from Amazon)
• Power Supply: Corsair RM850x (buy from Amazon)
• OS: Microsoft Windows 10 (buy from Amazon)