A few weeks ago I talked about the fact that I was upgrading many of my storage solutions in conjunction with my purchase of M4 MacBook Pro. Up until this point, my long-term, back-up storage strategy has typically centered about a NAS. I’ve had two different NAS devices in the past – currently I’m using a QNAP TS-x53E two-drive NAS. Having grown tired of SATA HD based solutions, I decided I wanted to move to SSD back-up solutions. I first picked up the SanDisk 4TB Pro SSD (the predecessor to the Extreme Pro). This device supports USB 3.2 Gen 2 and subsequently has data read speeds at 1050 MBs per second and write speeds of 1000MBs per second. These data transfer speeds were orders of magnitude faster than what I was used to previously – it took about 3 hours to back up the approximately 2TB of data I had on my NAS to the SSD. Nice. I decided it made sense to get a second portable SSD – one to keep in my safe at home, and one to keep in my office at work. Insurance against losing my data if my house burns down. It was then that I discovered SanDisk had a “pro” version of their portable SSD – the 4TB Extreme Pro SSD. The Pro version supports USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 has double the read/write speed of the “non-pro” version – 2000MBs per second read and write. Being curious, I hooked up both SanDisk drives to the Thunderbolt 5 ports on my new M4 MacBook Pro to ensure both drives could read/write at their fastest possible speeds. This time it took just 40 minutes to copy the 2TB of data the Extreme SSD to the Extreme Pro. Not the fastest possible transfer speeds out there but still super impressive.

Sorry for the fuzzy pic- I just grabbed my phone and snapped it.

Even with my main data back up stored on this drive, I still have a couple of TBs of free space, so I can grab this drive and take it with me if I want to store image files while “on the road” or need access to my existing images. That’s handy.  And with the drive’s rugged construction, it’s well suited for travel.

The Pro version (left) is a bit larger and has a differently shaped carabiner hole, and the iridescent orange running along the perimeter of the drive.

The cherry on top was the purchase of this zipper case specifically designed for the SanDisk portable SSDs.

I actually purchased two of these hard zipper cases – one for each drive.  They’re nice because it has a spot in the interior lid that can hold the USB C/USB A cable accessories that come with each of these drives. When I grab one and run out the door, I’ll know that I have the correct, compatible cable inside the case.  Perfect for keeping everything together, so nothing gets lost as well as a nice compact, complete package for when I do travel.

The SanDisk Extreme and Extreme Pro portable SSDs may not be the fastest SSDs out there, but neither is the unit exactly “slow” – particularly if you’re like me and coming from SATA based hard drives.   You’d have to step up to a Thunderbolt 4/5 SSD for appreciably better transfer speeds.   They’re also quite ruggedly built and perfect for travel.  For their respective prices (both coming in under $300) they’re tough to beat.

About John B. Holbrook, II
John B. Holbrook, II is a freelance writer, photographer, and author of ThruMyLens.org, as well as LuxuryTyme.com and TheSeamasterReferencePage.com. *All text and images contained in this web site are the original work of the author, John B. Holbrook, II and are copyright protected. Use of any of the information or images without the permission of the author is prohibited.

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