Adata SE920 External SSD review: Turbo storage for mobile content creators

Macworld

At a glanceExpert's Rating

Pros

High data transfer rates

Good fan

Cons

No transport bag

No rubber feet

Our Verdict
The SE920 External SSD is a high-performance USB4 SSD drive at a good price. The data rates are fast and stable over a long period and the thermal design works perfectly.

Price When Reviewed
This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined

Best Pricing Today







Retailer


Price





Adata




$179.99



View Deal








$179.99



View Deal








$179.99



View Deal



Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide






Product


Price




Price comparison from Backmarket




Price When Reviewed1TB: $140 I 2TB: $200 I 4TB: $380

Best Prices Today: SE920 External SSD






Retailer


Price





Adata




$179.99



View Deal








$179.99



View Deal








$179.99



View Deal



Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide






Product


Price




Price comparison from Backmarket





As a storage specialist, Adata has paid attention to the issue of SSD overheating. Its SE920 External SSD combines passive and active cooling; its compact metal housing is used for passive cooling, and a so-called micro-fan with openings is used for active cooling. The user can activate the fan simply by pressing on the housing. This expands the housing and the fan starts up.

When should you use the fan? If you use the drive to store documents and for filing, you can do without the fan. If you are working on a project such as a video or image edit, or another task that could require a lot of drive access over a period of time, then switch on the fan.

The fact that the SE920 is primarily designed for Windows users is evident from the formatting in the NTFS file system and the backup software for Windows. Both should not be a problem for experienced Mac users. The SE920 is quickly reformatted in APFS using the macOS Disk Utility.

Freshly formatted, I measured the data transfer rates directly with Aja System Test Lite. The SE920 immediately achieved 2992MBps for writes and 3161 MBps for reads The test results in the Blackmagicdesign Disk Speed Test were similar.

To see how hot the SE920 gets and how the results are affected, I used the Blackmagicdesign test to write and read for 30 minutes. With the fan activated, the results were pleasing, with the data transfer rates stable. And more importantly, the temperature did not rise above lukewarm to the touch.

Should you buy the Adata SE920 External SSD?

Adata has brought a high-performance USB4 SSD drive onto the market at a good price. The data rates are also stable over a longer period and the thermal design works perfectly. Even if the construction seems a little rickety. To protect the SSD and because the fan is very quiet, I usually have the fan on in practice. I can therefore recommend the SE920 to any content creator.