Transcend ESD220C TS240GESD220C 240 GB

ahead of time

Transcend ESD220C is a new stage in the evolution of external drives. It is a full-fledged solid-state drive with a USB 3.1 connection: compact (smaller than 2.5-inch HDDs), lightweight (only 35 g), not afraid of shock and vibration at all even when it is turned on.

More than promised

Regardless of the size (120, 240 or 480 GB), sequential read and write speeds are stated at about 400 MB / s. In fact, it is even slightly higher — 430 MB / s. This is almost four times faster than classic external hard drives with a modern USB 3.0 interface (100 – 120 MB / s) and more than ten times faster than models with outdated USB 2.0 (ridiculous by today's standards 30 MB / s).

Smart caching

The ESD220C is built on 3D TLC flash memory chips, so it has to resort to virtual SLC caching technology. Fortunately, the cache volume is not fixedly small, like the cheapest SSDs, but equals about a third of the free disk space (for example, in the case of a clean 240-gigabyte version, about 60 GB).

Backups and Encryption

The automatic backup start button on the ESD220C case deserves special attention. This function is implemented through a proprietary application Transcend Elite. With it, you can securely encrypt data on the disk. The only minor drawback of the Transcend ESD220C is that it only comes with a USB Type-A cable for connecting to a laptop or PC. An adapter for a smartphone microUSB or Type-C will have to be purchased separately (fortunately, OTG technology is supported by the disk). By the way, Transcend ESD220C also has a specialized external SSD for Macbook — the StoreJet 600 model.