OWC Envoy Pro EX USB 3.1 Gen 2 Bus-Powered Flash Storage

July 18th, 2019, by rob-ART morgan, mad scientist

The OWC Envoy Pro EX is a new fast USB 3.1 Gen 3 bus-powered portable flash storage device. We wanted to see how fast it transfers data compared to similar devices.

GRAPH LEGEND
Envoy Pro EX 1TB - OWC Envoy Pro EX 1TB USB 3.1 Gen 2 PCIe-based flash storage; includes USB-C connector cable
SSD2go PKT XT 1TB - Angelbird SSD2GO PKT XT 1TB USB 3.1 Gen 2 PCIe-based flash sealed enclosure with PCIe-based flash; comes with both USB-C and USB-A connector cables
M2X 1TB - MyDigitalSSD M2X USB 3.1 Gen 2 M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD enclosure with Samsung 970 PRO 1TB installed; comes with USB-C connector cable
Envoy Pro 480GB - OWC Envoy Pro USB 3.0 bus-powered SSD enclosure with 480GB OWC Aura Pro flash storage installed

TEST MULE: iMac Pro (2017) 3.2GHz 8-core Xeon with USB 3.1 Gen 2 USB-C and USB-A ports

LARGE SEQUENTIAL
We used AJA System Test to benchmark file level sequential transfer speed using a 16GB test file. HIGHER number in megabytes per second = FASTEST

WHAT DID WE LEARN?
Portable Bus-Powered USB 3.1 Gen 2 Flash Storage devices like the OWC Envoy Pro EX are faster than ever because they take advantage of the PCIe-based flash modules.

They are useful for quick backups of your Mac laptops as well as using 'sneaker net' to transport data or documents to/from other desktops or laptops.

Though the maximum transfer speeds listed above are attainable only by Macs with USB 3.1 Gen 2 ports, these portable storage units are compatible with any Mac with USB ports (though in some cases you need a USB-C>USB-A adapter).

The Envoy Pro EX is a bargain compared to the two competing fast USB 3.1 Gen 2 portables. The 'do-it-yourself' M2X with 1TB 970 Pro comes in at $369 USD. The AngelBird SSD2go PKT XT 1TB is priced at $470. The Envoy Pro EX 1TB is only $249.

 

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WHERE TO BUY THE OWC ENVOY PRO EX
Order the 1TB version for $249 or the 2TB version for $429.75 direct from Other World Computing.

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copyright 2019 Rob Art Morgan
"BARE facts on Macintosh speed FEATS"
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