The tiny Corsair EX100U (starts at $102.99 for 1TB; $184.99 for 2TB as tested) isn't the fastestexternal solid-state drivewe've come across, and its benchmark scores in workaday storage tasks were underwhelming. Its strength is capacity for money; the EX100U is competitively priced and available in versions up to 4TB. If your computer supports USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 and your workloads aren't too demanding, this Corsair SSD is an affordable option that will do the job.
A Tiny, Take-Anywhere SSD
Measuring just 0.4 by 1.5 by 3.1 inches, the EX100U is one of the smallest external SSDs we've reviewed, just slightly longer than the Editors' Choice award-winningKingston XS2000 Portable SSDand theADATA Elite SE880 External SSD. It's silver-gray on top and bottom with black sides. On one end is a USB Type-C port that supports the 20Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 standard. At the other end is a loop through which you can string a thin cord to fasten the drive to, say, a carabiner clip. On the bottom are product details and certifications in tiny type.
While Corsair doesn't list aningress protection (IP) ratingfor the EX100U, the drive does incorporate a small plastic cover that fits snugly over the USB-C port when it's not in use. That should go a long way toward sealing the port from water, sand, or dust.
The drive carries a three-year warranty, which is a common length for external storage devices although many (including the abovementioned ADATA and Kingston SSDs) boast five-year warranties.
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You can get the drive in a 1TB, 2TB, or 4TB flavor, as outlined below...
As you can see, at list price the best cost-per-gigabyte deal is the 2TB model. The 4TB doesn't really benefit you as much from buying your gigabytes in bulk, but a 4TB capacity is relatively uncommon among external SSDs to start with, thus the slight premium versus the 1TB and 2TB. Even so, these costs per gigabyte are aggressive at all three capacities.
Testing the Corsair EX100U: Matching Its (Modest) Rated Speeds
We test external SSDs using PC Labs' Windows 10 storage testbed, a desktop built on an Asus Prime X299 Deluxe motherboard with anIntel Core i9-10980XE Extreme EditionCPU. The system has 16GB of DDR4 Corsair Dominator RAM clocked to 3,600MHz and an Nvidia GeForce graphics card. We use its native 10GBps USB 3.2 Gen 2 port for testing compatible drives; for Gen 2x2 drives like the Corsair we use a Gen 2x2 port added via anOrico PCIe expansion card(Opens in a new window). USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports are plentiful enough, but Gen 2x2 ports (which double the theoretical top bandwidth) are much less common.
We subjected the EX100U to our usual suite of SSD benchmarks including Crystal DiskMark 6.0, PCMark 10 Storage, BlackMagic's Disk Speed Test, and our own file folder transfer test. The first two are run on a PC with the drive formatted in NTFS, and the latter two on a 2016 MacBook Pro using exFAT. Crystal DiskMark's sequential speed tests provide a traditional measure of drive throughput, simulating best-case, straight-line transfers of large files. The PCMark 10 Storage test measures an SSD's readiness for a wide variety of everyday tasks.
In the Crystal DiskMark measurement, the EX100U slightly exceeded its sequential read and write speed ratings. That said, its rated speeds are unusually low for a USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 drive, most of which are rated at 2,000MBps for both read and write. The Corsair's sequential read speed was 195MBps below the next-lowest score turned in by a Gen 2x2 drive in our tests (the Kingston XS2000), and its write speed was 170MBps lower than its closest rival (the ADATA SE880).
但是当EX100U中相对迟钝的人USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 solid-state drives, it's far faster than even the quickest USB 3.2 Gen 2 drives, many of which bear similar prices. The only catch is that to get the Corsair drive's extra throughput you'll need a PC with a USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 interface. As few computers natively support this standard, you'll likely need a Gen 2x2 desktop expansion card like the Orico card we use.
In PCMark 10's storage benchmark, which aggregates a drive's ability to perform a variety of everyday tasks, the EX100U was the slowest in our comparison group, which consists mostly of Gen 2x2 SSDs along with three USB 3.2 Gen 2 drives. Its speed in the Mac-based BlackMagic video read/write tests was typical of external SSDs using a USB 3.2 Gen 2 connection (which is all our Mac testbed supports for non-Thunderbolt drives), and its folder copy speed was within the standard range as well.
A Rare USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 Value Proposition
The Corsair EX100U's main selling points are its ultra-compact and portable design and one of the lower prices you'll find for a USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 external SSD. Although the drive doesn't wear an IP rating, the attached USB-C port cover should be a big help in protecting the drive from damage from water or dust. It is also available in capacities up to 4TB, which is unusual for a portable external drive.
The drive's downsides include ho-hum performance for a Gen 2x2 SSD (and the need for a computer that supports that USB spec for best results), and a low score in the PCMark test that measures a drive's speed in day-to-day storage tasks.
Although they cost more, both the ADATA SE880 and the Kingston XS2000 are petite Gen 2x2 drives that boast faster sequential read and write speeds than the Corsair. They also did much better in our PCMark 10 testing, with the SE880 the faster of the two. They are better buys. If you opt for the EX100U, however, you'll likely save money and still get throughput far in excess of a Gen 2 SSD, provided that your PC supports the USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 standard.
As USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 external SSDs go, Corsair's EX100U doesn't wow us with speed, but this pocket-size drive offers capacities up to 4TB for an aggressive price.
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