Review of the WD My Passport SSD
The US manufacturer Wester Digital has been known for its high-quality and extremely powerful storage media for many years. In the summer of 2020, the company's already wide range was supplemented by an external SSD hard drive, which is supposed to offer its buyer impressive read and write speeds despite its manageable dimensions. Our test report below will tell you whether this is really true.
What's in the box
The scope of delivery of the WD MyPassport SSD actually includes everything you would expect from the scope of delivery of an external disk: a USB-C-to-C cable was included for connection to a wide variety of devices, which keeps you up to date with the times. On the other hand, if you are still using an older device, you can simply use the USB-C to A adapter, which is also included. A so-called "Quick-Start-Guide" has also made it into the packaging, but apart from a few small pictures, it does not provide much information and does not even refer to the option of hard driveEncryption received - a little more information would have been desirable here.
- WD My Passport SSD hard drive
- USB C to C cable
- USB C to A adapter
- Quick Start Guide
processing / design
If you take a first look at the design of the WD My Passport SSD hard drive, it is quite convincing: The curved line pattern on the front, which is apparently intended to remind you of a racetrack, is innovative, modern and elegant at the same time, and it is beyond that available in five different colors according to preference. So far so good. But if you take a closer look at the hard drive, you'll quickly see that the top is made of metal, but only inexpensive plastic was used for the bottom. The latter is surprisingly easy to press in with a finger - which shouldn't actually be the case given the stability advertised by the manufacturer. Western Digital advertises that the WD My Passport SSD can easily fall to the ground from a height of up to two meters without having to worry about damage to the hard drive or the content stored on it. And indeed: If you drop the good piece from the mentioned height, this does not cause the record any problems and scratches are not visible either.
We were also positively surprised by the compact dimensions of the WD My Passport SSD, because it measures only 11.5 x 6.0 x 0.8 cm and thus fits easily into any handbag or backpack. There is another plus point for the pleasantly light weight of the plate, which is just 50 g, but a point deduction for the non-existent anti-slip feet on the underside, which would ensure a better grip.
Hardware
The WD My Passport SSD is equipped with a USB 3.2 Gen-2 connection, which usually guarantees fast data transfers - of course only if the PC or the connected notebook also has such a connection. If not, that's not too much of a problem since the disk is backwards compatible - but only at a lower speed, of course. The manufacturer promises a maximum of 1.050 MB/s for the read speed, and around 1.000 MB/s for the write speed. In fact, however, you only achieve a value of around 700 MBytes/, which is of course still very fast - and above all significantly faster than with a conventional HDD.
The amount of memory that can be written depends on the selected variant of the WD My Passport SSD: This is with a comparatively manageable 500 GB, but also with 1 TB or 2 TB Memory commercially available. To protect the data stored on the disk from prying eyes by third parties, 256-bit AES hardware encryption including password protection can be set up if desired. Even inexperienced users who have never encrypted a hard drive before should have no problems with it due to the uncomplicated installation.
Specifications
- The WD My Passport SSD 500 GB mobile hard drive offers read and ...
- The backup software integrated on the external hard drive ...
- The combination of metal housing and matt design makes your WD...
| Size: | 2,5 inch |
| Color: | Black/metallic, dark grey. Midnight Blue, Red, Gold |
| Memory: | 500GB, 1TB, 2TB |
| Write: | 1.000MB/s |
| Read: | 1.050MB/s |
| Connection: | USB 3.2 Gen 2 |
Other
If you want to use the WD My Passport SSD in your own four walls, for example at work, you will be happy about the pleasantly quiet working noise, which is almost barely audible even under high load. On the other hand, we didn't like the fact that the hard disk got very warm relatively quickly - although this didn't have a negative effect on its work performance. Another point of criticism is the included connection cable: This measures just 18 cm and is therefore extremely short. If you don't place the hard drive next to your laptop, but use it on a PC standing on the floor, for example, you're guaranteed to quickly look around for a cable to replace the original cable.
And finally ...
The WD My Passport SSD is a fast working one external hard drive, which does not come close to the peak values promised by the manufacturer, but still impressed us with regard to its speed.
The design and the processing quality of the plate are also convincing, and it is also well protected against impacts and falls from a height of up to 2 m. Only minor flaws, such as the excessive heat development or the much too short connection cable, ultimately prevent an even better final score.
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