Sabrent Rocket XTRM-Q 8TB Portable SSD Review

Sabrent once again leads the market with its massive 8TB Rocket XTRM-Q portable SSD drive. Let's dive in and check it out.

Published
Updated
Manufacturer: Sabrent (SB-XTMQ-8TB)
2 minutes & 59 seconds read time
TweakTown's Rating: 95%
TweakTown award

The Bottom Line

The Rocket XTRM-Q ups the ante with a high capacity bus-powered solution and dual mode compatibility with Thunderbolt 3 and USB 3.2, oh and a huge 8TB of storage capacity.

I think by now, most of you reading this know Sabrent with nearly every review outlet having covered a plethora of solutions from their XTRM Portable SSDS and Rocket lineup of NVMe solutions.

With the release of the massive capacity 8TB Rocket Q earlier this year, I immediately knew this day was coming, and sure enough, here we are. The XTRM-Q, as you have likely guessed, is based on the Rocket Q lineup, but even more surprising is the new enclosure Sabrent has designed for these solutions.

Anodized black, the enclosure is very similar to the Rocket XTRM reviewed earlier this year, except for a new feature, or Thunderbolt chipset that allows this solution to offer Thunderbolt 3 compatibility along with USB 3.2, a first in the portable drive market.

Marketing is pushing a 2700 MB/s transfer speed in Thunderbolt 3 mode and a 900 MB/s transfer speed for USB 3.2, making this a legit Gen 2 compatible platform. Windows, macOS, and Linux are all supported operating systems while MSRP of the 8TB Rocket XTRM-Q hits $1999.99 with a five-year warranty as long as you register the device.

Sabrent Rocket XTRM-Q 8TB Portable SSD Review 02

Sabrent has one of the best packaging systems I've seen, ushering in an Apple level of attention to detail, these drives come shipped in a hard metal case protecting the drive and its cables.

Sabrent Rocket XTRM-Q 8TB Portable SSD Review 03

Unboxing, the drive, and cables are separated by dense foam.

Sabrent Rocket XTRM-Q 8TB Portable SSD Review 04

A Thunderbolt 3 and A to C cable are included.

Sabrent Rocket XTRM-Q 8TB Portable SSD Review 05

The form factor is identical to the original Rocket XTRM, now with an anodized black finish, so we don't get the two lineups confused. We still have Sabrent branding along the bottom edge and the Thunderbolt logo at the top.

Sabrent Rocket XTRM-Q 8TB Portable SSD Review 06

The bottom of the drive offers capacity and model information.

Sabrent Rocket XTRM-Q 8TB Portable SSD Review 09

I tested the XTRM-Q in both USB 3.2 and Thunderbolt 3 scenarios, the image above being the former. In USB 3.2 mode, I was able to grab 1078 MB/s read and 1087 MB/s write from the 8TB XTRM-Q.

Sabrent Rocket XTRM-Q 8TB Portable SSD Review 10

Moving over to Thunderbolt 3, performance does get a boost in our testing up to 2189 MB/s read and 1845 MB/s write.

Sabrent Rocket XTRM-Q 8TB Portable SSD Review 11

New to our testing is a 200GB data transfer that aims to weed out drives that lose performance during backup scenarios. Rather surprisingly, the 8TB XTRM-Q beat out the 2TB variant along with the original 4TB XTRM we reviewed a few months back. Moving 200GB of data in just 3.5 minutes.

Sabrent Rocket XTRM-Q 8TB Portable SSD Review 12

Pushing the XTRM-Q through PCMark10 Data Drive, it's top 3, next to the 2TB variant and OG 4TB XTRM. The 8TB scored 2906 at a rate of 435 MB/s.

Sabrent Rocket XTRM-Q 8TB Portable SSD Review 13

The 8TB solution's cost doesn't help Price/Performance with the XTRM-Q running along the bottom of this chart at 92.9%.

Closing this review, the XTRM-Q has all the build quality we have come to expect from Sabrent. This starts with the packaging, building up the user experience with a hard metal case and dense foam to protect the drive. We then move into the enclosure, a smooth aluminum finish, black anodizing for a professional appeal.

Performance of the XTRM-Q backs up all the hard work Sabrent put into the fit and finish, with solid numbers reaching nearly 2200 MB/s read and 1800 MB/s write in CDM and when looking at our 200GB file transfer testing, the top spot beating out its 4TB XTRM.

PCMark10 was yet another metric that showed the prowess of the XTRM-Q, even being a QLC based solution. The pseudo-SLC is so large at quarter capacity; this drive doesn't slow down in any typical user scenario.

There is only one place where you can knock the 8TB XTRM-Q, and that is the price. At $1999.99, this drive is likely the most expensive portable SSD ever made and a niche item for creative professionals that need both capacity and performance, which can finally get in a single drive bus-powered form factor!

Tyler's Test System Specifications

Photo of product for sale

Performance

95%

Quality

95%

Features

100%

Value

90%

Overall

95%

The Bottom Line

The Rocket XTRM-Q ups the ante with a high capacity bus-powered solution and dual mode compatibility with Thunderbolt 3 and USB 3.2, oh and a huge 8TB of storage capacity.

TweakTown award

Tyler joined the TweakTown team in 2013 and has since reviewed 100s of new techy items. Growing up in a small farm town, tech wasn't around, unless it was in a tractor. At an early age, Tyler's parents brought home their first PC. Tyler was hooked and learned what it meant to format a HDD, spending many nights reinstalling Windows 95. Tyler's love and enthusiast nature always kept his PC nearby. Eager to get deeper into tech, he started reviewing.

Newsletter Subscription
We openly invite the companies who provide us with review samples / who are mentioned or discussed to express their opinion. If any company representative wishes to respond, we will publish the response here. Please contact us if you wish to respond.