We Review the SanDisk 6 TB G-DRIVE ArmorATD: Wallet-Friendly and Rugged

In the sector of content material introduction, information is king, and shedding this can be a nightmare state of affairs, particularly whilst you’re out within the box. While moveable SSDs be offering blistering speeds, their price in line with terabyte can nonetheless sting, in particular when you wish to have to retailer hefty uncooked information and uncompressed movies. The SanDisk G-DRIVE ArmorATD updates the vintage moveable onerous pressure with additional sturdiness and a contemporary USB-C interface. But in an generation ruled by means of solid-state velocity, does this rugged onerous pressure nonetheless have a spot in a writer’s bag?

Durable Build

The very first thing you realize concerning the G-DRIVE ArmorATD is its powerful development. SanDisk claims to have designed this pressure for creators who spend their time within the box. The top class, anodized aluminum enclosure feels stable, and it’s surrounded by means of an easy-to-grip protecting rubber bumper that provides sensible coverage and assists in keeping it from sliding round.

But the safety is going past simply seems to be. Inside, interior surprise mounts brace the pressure, contributing to what SanDisk calls triple-layer surprise resistance. This all interprets to drop coverage of as much as 4 ft or 1.2 meters for the 1 TB and 2 TB fashions, and 3.3 ft or 1 meter for the higher-capacity 4 TB, 5 TB, and 6 TB variations. SanDisk’s trying out used a carpeted concrete flooring. While you should not make a addiction of losing your drives, this design provides peace of thoughts in opposition to the bumps and knocks of box use.

Beyond surprise coverage, the ArmorATD comprises an IP54 ranking for rain and dirt resistance. This approach it will possibly maintain splashes and dusty environments with out factor (simply be certain that it’s blank and dry prior to plugging it in). If you’ve were given it in a carry-on that’s now getting squished within the overhead, the 1,000-pound overwhelm resistance supplies an additional layer of self assurance that your information is secure. While HDDs nonetheless want to be handled with care (like several electronics), this pressure must be offering a better degree of sturdiness than many competing onerous disk–founded merchandise, with a degree of ruggedization that extends past a easy silicone sleeve.

Performance

As discussed, this can be a spinning onerous disk (HDD), now not an SSD. As such, it may not win any velocity data in comparison to its solid-state cousins. SanDisk quotes learn speeds of as much as 130 MB/s. In real-world phrases, this implies the ArmorATD is completely good enough for backing up massive batches of footage, offloading photos on the finish of a shoot day, or shifting challenge information between machines in a set-and-forget operation.

However, it isn’t the pressure you’ll make a choice for high-bitrate video enhancing without delay off the disk or hard duties that require immediate get admission to instances. Compared to moveable SATA SSDs (regularly round 500 MB/s) or fashionable NVMe drives (pushing 1,000 MB/s to over 3,000 MB/s, just like the OWC Express 1M2 we just lately reviewed), the ArmorATD is considerably slower.

If you’ve now not edited off a troublesome pressure in a short while, consider the most important penalty involves random reads and writes: leaping round in a catalog or scrubbing a timeline will see the most important affect, whilst operations like a bulk switch of photos will see rather much less affect (in particular when the cache on lower-end SSDs is exhausted or they’re thermally throttled).

Value

Here’s the place the G-DRIVE ArmorATD makes its most powerful case. While SSDs be offering velocity, they arrive at a worth top class in line with terabyte. The ArmorATD, leveraging conventional HDD generation, provides considerable garage capacities of as much as 6 TB at a fragment of the price of SSD-based choices.

For comparability, a ruggedized SSD just like the Samsung 4 TB T7 Shield used to be about $72/TB on the time of e-newsletter, whilst the G-DRIVE ArmorATD 4 TB used to be about $42/TB. The worth hole could be even greater with out the gross sales pricing at the Samsung, simply pushing the G-DRIVE to part the fee in line with TB.

If you wish to have bulk, ruggedized garage, the $/TB worth of the ArmorATD is the actual promoting level. For the cost of a mid-capacity moveable SSD, you’ll regularly get the highest-capacity ArmorATD or run two an identical mid-cap drives for a box backup. This makes it a sensible choice for photographers spending in depth time clear of house or videographers coping with heavy photos.

SanDisk made a sensible selection equipping the ArmorATD with a flexible USB-C (5 Gbps) port. This guarantees huge compatibility with fashionable Macs and PCs. It’s additionally cross-compatible with Thunderbolt 3 and older USB 3.2 Gen 1 / USB 3.0 ports. SanDisk comprises each a USB-C to USB-C cable and a USB-C to USB-A cable within the field, which is a pleasing contact. Out of the field, you’re in a position to hook up with nearly any pc while not having additional adapters.

Interestingly, the pressure comes formatted for macOS 11+ proper out of the field, making it plug-and-play for Apple customers. Windows customers (Windows 10 and later) will want to carry out a easy reformat.

Who Is It For?

The SanDisk G-DRIVE ArmorATD is not for everybody. If your workflow calls for enhancing 8K video without delay from an exterior pressure or calls for absolutely the quickest switch speeds conceivable, you will want to put money into a high-performance SSD and pay the top class.

The similar is going for extra informal customers, because the “dollars per TB” distinction between HDDs and SSDs on the 1 and 2 TB mark may be very slim. If 1 TB will quilt your weekend pictures commute, there’s no want to pick out up a 6 TB pressure without reference to the price.

However, in the event you’re a writer running in rougher stipulations, the ArmorATD modernizes the exterior HDD with a in point of fact rugged housing, mud and water ingress coverage, and the ease of USB-C.

The SanDisk G-DRIVE ArmorATD sits in a distinct segment an increasing number of all in favour of SSD velocity. By turning in ruggedness and beneficiant capacities as much as 6 TB at a wonderful worth level in line with terabyte, it provides a just right worth whilst tackling one of the larger drawbacks of onerous pressure–founded merchandise. However, the ArmorATD faces demanding situations from each an increasing number of less expensive and inherently extra rugged SSDs, in addition to different ruggedized HDDs. Consumers will need to in moderation believe the cost in line with TB of competition, since whilst the ArmorATD’s options are great, the pricing is actually the most important benefit.

The SanDisk G-DRIVE ArmorATD is to be had now in capacities starting from 1 TB to 6 TB.