SABRENT Rocket XTRM-Q 500GB USB 3.2 / Thunderbolt 3 External SSD

The 16TB version contains two 8TB drives inside. The drive works well for what it does. It's very fast and (as far as I can tell in limited usage) reliable. It requires an external power brick (included) which is a bit less convenient than bus power. The drive runs very hot, especially if you use both internal 8TB drives at the same time (in RAID for example) -- almost hot enough to burn you. Note that it does NOT WORK with USB (maybe some of the lower capacity variants work with USB, but this one does not). You MUST have Thunderbolt, and most likely you must have Thunderbolt 3 (I can't test earlier versions).I believe this product is discontinued; the replacement product is a portable Thunderbolt dock which includes a hard drive but also the rest of the ports that make up the dock, for a cheaper price.

I was looking for a portable backup drive. I had been using the WD My Passport Ultra which came with the USB-c cable but was NOT Thunderbolt! That was a fake out. USB 3.2 is so slow compared to Thunderbolt.When using a USB-C connector with Thunderbolt protocol make sure you buy the CORRECT CABLE. The current version is Thunderbolt 3.0 on my computer but I bought the Belkin's TB 4.0 certified cable to ensure the highest transfer rates.It MAKES a difference to take advantage of the "SS" Super Speed ports. Make sure you use the SS or Thunderbolt Logo'd ports for the correct speeds.With this drive I am seeing 2,200 Read speeds and 186.7 write. I TURN OFF the W10 caching in the Device Manager. I want my drives to push the data through right away, even if it appears slow, not have MS play games using my system memory and cache to make the drives SEEM faster. Small files, sure use cache, but with backups no help from caching. (edit: added the ratings with cache on).I do all my Acronis TI and W10 (using w7 Backup tool) to this drive and it is fast.Yes it gets hot enough to burn your fingers, but it comes with the rubber cover which helps protect you from it.I am happy with the purchase. I may buy a second or go up to the 8Tb once they become available again and I am a solid Samsung SSD Pro guy, but found this was perfect for the cost and purpose.

If you read the description of the drive then you have a pretty good idea why this drive is becoming popular. It is not cheap but it is also not expensive for what you get. Excellent warrantee, speeds come close to the suggested numbers in their adds and as expected, it does get a bit warm. The silicon (?) case they offer is definitely worth using. As many know, the higher speed ssd type of offerings do tend to get warm and in some instances, people have said their computers too suffer heat increase. This drive, attached to a Mac Mini M1 did get a bit warm but not overly hot. If you need a good backup drive or drive needed for speed (such as for art, movie making etc.) this is one drive you may want to investigate and ultimately, buy.In terms of thickness, the drive is much thicker than some external SSDs. With the silicon case on, it is at least 3x that of a T5 Samsung. For me, that is a trivial matter but some have their tastes of "sleek." I expect I will be buying more from Sabrent given the warrantees on some of their products and the speed.

ProsThis drive connects quick and easilyRead and write speeds fastIt durable metal with a nice rubber case for extra protectionHas both usb c and usb c to type A cords so you can use it with older computers too.ConIf you transfer alot of files in a row it can slow down fairly significantly. From my understanding it’s when it reaches the cache limit.

So I received this product and have been using it in conjunction with my 2019 Macbook Pro, my Western Digital 5TB HD, my G-Drive 1TB SSD, and my Sandisk Extreme 1TB SSD. The Sabrent XTRM is exactly that (Extremely Fast). I have the 1TB option because I don't use it for storage (BUT THE SPACE IS THERE JUST IN CASE), I use it to speed up my editing and file transferring work flow. Now this product is blazing quick but you have to keep your expectations in check because its speed will vary depending on the other product its either reading or writing information from.For example, when transferring files from my Macbook, real world numbers are 4-8 mins per 20GB. Compare that to file transfers between the SABRENT and my other SSD's 1-2mins per 20GB. So don't just assume that because you have the SABRENT it's going to make everything lightning fast because it will/won't depending on the device its communicating with.Now with that said I knew this thing was definitely a game changer when I attempted to move 650GB of information from my G-Drive to my WD HD. What I did was I transferred it first to the SABRENT (SSD TO SSD) this took 18 MINUTES. READ THAT AGAIN (18 MINUTES TO MOVE 650GB, WOW). From the SABRENT to the WD HD was 45 MINS. Now compare that to my G-Drive straight to my WD HD the same 650GB was estimated to take 2 and a half hours.THE SABRENT XTRM IS WORTH EVERY PENNY IT RETAILS FOR, JUST MAKE SURE YOUR OTHER DEVICES ARE UP TO SNUFF TO GET THE BEST/MOST OUT OF IT.