OWC ENVOY PRO ELEKTRON SSD
1,011 MB/s USB 3.2 Solid-State Drive
Introduction Good Bad Missing Specifications Measurements More
Canon: EOS R3 R5 R6 R RP 1DX III 5D Mk IV 6D II 90D T8i SL3 Flash Lenses
Nikon: Z9 Z7 II Z6 II Z7 Z6 Z5 Z fc Z50 D6 D5 D850 D780 D500 D7500 Lenses
Sony: A1 A9 II A7R IV A7R III A7 IV A7S III A6600 A6400 A6100 Lenses
OWC ENVOY PRO ELEKTRON SSD (3.235 oz./91.7 g). bigger.
At Amazon: $99 in 240 GB, $149 in 480 GB, $219 in 1 TB and $349 in 2 TB.
At B&H: $99 in 240 GB, $149 in 480 GB, $219 in 1 TB and $349 in 2 TB.
You can get used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.
For storage up to 8 TB in a slightly larger package, see the OWC ENVOY PRO EX series.
This all-content, junk-free website's biggest source of support is when you use those or any of these links to approved sources when you get anything, regardless of the country in which you live. Thanks for helping me help you! Ken.
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OWC ENVOY PRO ELEKTRON SSD. bigger.
OWC ENVOY PRO ELEKTRON SSD. bigger.
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Introduction top
Introduction Good Bad Missing Specifications Measurements More
This OWC ENVOY PRO ELEKTRON SSD is a tough ultra-speed external solid-state drive. Plug it into any USB-C, USB-A, Thunderbolt 3 or Thunderbolt 4 port with the included cable and BAM!, it's as fast or faster than your computer's internal drive. It's as fast as an internal SSD, and much faster than any internal or external hard drive.
Storing data, pictures, music projects, video projects, backups, music, movies and video files is easy.
More importantly, it's as fast or faster than your computer's own internal drive so you can run directly or edit complex projects directly from this external drive. That's right; store a bootable copy or copies of other operating systems or computer backups on it, and you can boot and run directly from this external drive, at full speed or faster. I use Super Duper software on my Mac to create exact bootable copies of other computers on this drive; I'm unsure what the best software for doing this on Windows.
I use this in the field with my 13" MacBook Pro (2017). It also works with iPads, phones, Windows computers and I suspect just about anything to which you can connect it. (more at Specifications.) It certainly works great with my 12.9" iPad Pro; just plug it in and all my files pop up in the FILES app.
OWC are an Illinois-based American data & memory technology company that I've used for Mac memory, internal SSDs and other computer goodies for decades. It's quality made with a solid ingot aluminum alloy case, complete with individual serial numbers, in TAIWAN, where manufacturing costs I'm told are triple compared to dumping it to China. It has a three-year warranty; this isn't a throw-away.
At Amazon: $99 in 240 GB, $149 in 480 GB, $219 in 1 TB and $349 in 2 TB.
At B&H: $99 in 240 GB, $149 in 480 GB, $219 in 1 TB and $349 in 2 TB.
You can get used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.
For storage up to 8 TB in a slightly larger package, see the OWC ENVOY PRO EX series.
Good intro top
It just works. Plug it in, format it, and you're good to go. It comes preloaded with a formatting program; I simply used my Mac's Disk Utility, selected my preference of APFS, and Boom!, it's ready to rock.
Self-powered; just plug-in one cord and you're good.
Almost indestructible solid-ingot construction.
Great heat dissipation: the solid metal case gets uniformly warm, meaning all of it is used for efficient cooling. The solid metal case is functional as well as handsome.
Blue status LED on the front. I love this; my SanDisk Extreme PRO SSD freaks me out since it has no LED so it's not telling me what it's doing — or not.
IP67-rated coffee-spill protection.
Three-year warranty.
Smaller footprint than SanDisk Extreme PRO SSDs, but a little thicker.
100% U.S.A.-based high-quality technical support via chat, email or (866) 692-7100 (U.S.A.) or (815) 338-4751 (rest of world).
Comes with this tough 10 Gb/s cord, with a cleverly tethered 10 Gb/s USB-C to USB-A adapter so it can be used anywhere:
Included 10 Gb/s USB-C cable and captive USB-A Adapter. bigger.
Bad intro top
Nothing; this is a bulletproof little SSD.
Missing intro top
These come in special 240, 480, 960 and 1,920 GB sizes, not the more common 256, 512, 1,024 and 2,048 GB sizes. Therefore the "1 TB" size reads "960 GB" on my Mac as it should. Don't expect to see the more common slightly larger values.
It's personal preference, but for throwing it in my bag I'd prefer it have a rubber outer covering like my SanDisk Extreme PRO SSD. This is a beautiful drive that looks best sitting next to your MacBook Pro.
No case or sack included; I'd almost expect a little drawstring pouch to be included as this has hard, sharp edges so you do need to be careful if just throwing it in a bag with other items.
Specifications top
Introduction Good Bad Missing Specifications Measurements More
At Amazon: $99 in 240 GB, $149 in 480 GB, $219 in 1 TB and $349 in 2 TB.
At B&H: $99 in 240 GB, $149 in 480 GB, $219 in 1 TB and $349 in 2 TB.
You can get used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.
Box, ENVOY PRO ELEKTRON SSD. bigger.
Back of Box. bigger.
Operating temperature: +5 ~ +35°C (41 ~ 95° F).
Storage Temperature: -20 ~ +60°C (-4 ~ +140° F).
Actual measured weight: 3.235 oz. (91.7 g).
Measurements top
Introduction Good Bad Missing Specifications Measurements More
At Amazon: $99 in 240 GB, $149 in 480 GB, $219 in 1 TB and $349 in 2 TB.
At B&H: $99 in 240 GB, $149 in 480 GB, $219 in 1 TB and $349 in 2 TB.
You can get used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.
For storage up to 8 TB in a slightly larger package, see the OWC ENVOY PRO EX series.
Speed
I measure 889 MB/s (7.112 Gb/s) read and 889 MB/s (7.112 Gb/s) write speeds through the 40 GB/s Thunderbolt 3 port of my 13" MacBook Pro (2017) using this drive's included cable and the BlackMagic Speed Test program.
This is superb; few products get this close to their rated speeds. For comparison, my 2,000 MB/s-rated SanDisk Extreme PRO SSD only measures 940 MB/s (7.52 Gb/s) in this same test with the same 13" MacBook Pro (2017). In other words, while the SanDisk Extreme PRO SSD is rated twice as fast, it's less than 6% faster!
Write speeds slow to 460 MB/s after a minute of continuous stress testing as temperature rises. Read speeds only slow to 873 MB/s (6.984 Gb/s) under this long-term testing. Read speeds don't vary with temperature, but write speeds do.
If I cool it a bit to 65º F I see up to 908 MB/s write speeds, but freezing it drops it back to 883 MB/s, dropping fast to 488 MB/s as it warms up internally. You won't be writing this much data continuously in actual use, so it stays fast. It starts getting hot running this test continuously, otherwise it's pleasantly warm. No worries; remember I'm running a stress test of writing and reading continuously at maximum rates.
By comparison, my desktop LaCie Thunderbolt 2 hard drive only measures 107 MB/s (856 Mb/s) read and write with this test, and the portable USB-powered hard drives I use only measure about 40 MB/s (320 Mb/s) read & write with this same test. This OWC SSD is a very fast drive.
HINT: Your choice of cable has a huge effect on the data speeds. Use the included cable or a high-speed 10 Gb/s USB-C to USB-C cable, a Thunderbolt 3 cable or Thunderbolt 4 cable for best results. Maddeningly, fast Thunderbolt 3 and slow regular USB-C cables look the same but run at very different speeds, and are only rarely marked. Even my factory-standard Apple USB-C to USB-C cable that came with my new iPad work very slowly in this test, and it's expensive to buy high-speed 10 Gb/s USB-C cables, Thunderbolt 3 cables or Thunderbolt 4 cables unless they come included. If a cable has a little lighting bolt on an Apple cord you may be OK, but in the field with other cable makers I see little way to know what works fast or not except by trying it. If buying, look for Thunderbolt 3 (TB3), Thunderbolt 4 (TB4) or Gb/s markings.
Also know that your computer or device also can only go so fast. If your device or its interface isn't up to the task, it will limit the speed.
Power
It selects 5V, not any higher USB-C voltage.
I measure 1.54 W power dissipation, mounted but not transferring data, and 3.4W power draw during continuous write, 2.9W during continuous read.
Weight
3.235 oz. (91.7 g), actual measured weight, no cable.
More Information top
Introduction Good Bad Missing Specifications Measurements More
At Amazon: $99 in 240 GB, $149 in 480 GB, $219 in 1 TB and $349 in 2 TB.
At B&H: $99 in 240 GB, $149 in 480 GB, $219 in 1 TB and $349 in 2 TB.
You can get used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.
For storage up to 8 TB in a slightly larger package, see the OWC ENVOY PRO EX series.
OWC's ENVOY ELEKTRON PRO Manual.
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