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Exterior storage for the Mac and iPad Professional can take a number of types, together with the thumb drive and the full-blown exterior SSD in an enclosure. Whereas the previous is usually smaller, the latter typically affords extra by way of capability and pace.

Launched in Might 2022, the OWC Envoy Professional mini is clearly a double-ended flash drive. However, due to design and engineering selections, it approaches the efficiency of a bigger exterior SSD.

New Enclosure, New Capabilities

OWC is thought for creating exterior storage units, and this isn’t its first rodeo with thumb drives, not to mention the Envoy Professional mini itself. Relatively than being a model new product, it is really a refresh of a product that OWC has already bought for a number of years.

The earlier iteration of the Envoy Professional mini was an easier affair — it was only a quick USB-A flash drive in an aluminum field. For the 2022 replace, OWC determined to make fairly a number of adjustments.

For a begin, this can be a drive made with an aluminum housing, giving it a premium really feel, in addition to serving to with warmth dissipation. It is also compact at 3.1 inches lengthy, 0.7 inches extensive, and 0.4 inches tall, and fairly light-weight at 0.9 ounces.

The design has modified radically over its predecessor by providing two completely different connections in a single machine. One finish has a tethered cap hiding a USB-C connection, whereas one other part can pull out and twist to indicate the native 10 gigabit per second USB 3.2 sort A connector, pivoting on a visual screw inside a slot.

This second part has a textured sample on the perimeters for grip, which is able to assist each with twisting and usually carrying across the drive itself. On one aspect, a lanyard will be related — and one is included.

In depth Compatibility

The usage of two USB connectors means it will probably supply loads of connectivity choices to customers. Whereas the USB 3.2 Gen 2 Kind-C could possibly be used with USB-C and Thunderbolt units, the USB 3.2 Gen 2 Kind-A permits it to work with older {hardware} that hasn’t converted to the newer connections.

On the standard spacing supplied on the MacBook Professional, you may match it, and a standard-width Thunderbolt cable, adjoining. It is a tight match, but it surely works. For probably the most half, we advocate not doing what you see above, in case you can keep away from it, as removing can dislodge that different cable pretty simply.

In line with OWC, the drive protecting every thing from newer and older Macs, PCs, servers, notebooks, and different {hardware} launched over the past 15 years.

That help consists of Macs working Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard and later, in addition to Home windows PCs working Home windows 7, and programs working Linux, Chrome OS, and iPadOS. On the latter, you may join it to a USB-C iPad Professional working iPadOS 13 or later.

It is also attainable to set the drive to be bootable, making it an excellent carry-around possibility for booting into your individual personal and moveable desktop.

Excessive-speed, small dimension

The earlier mannequin prided itself on providing high-speed reads and writes for what regarded like a typical thumb drive. For the 2022 mannequin, OWC’s gone down the identical highway.

Contained in the Envoy Professional mini are the identical flash reminiscence and elements you’d count on in a standard bigger exterior SSD, which ought to make it loads higher for working from as a correct secondary drive as an alternative of a inexpensive thumb drive that makes use of slower media.

OWC affords the Envoy Professional mini in three capacities, beginning at 250GB and rising to 500GB, then 1TB. Our evaluate unit is the 1TB mannequin.

As for speeds of the drive itself, OWC proclaimed that it might handle as much as 946MBs of sequential read-write “real-world pace.” OWC discloses this was achieved with the 250GB drive related utilizing Thunderbolt to a mid-2017 13-inch MacBook Professional.

OWC additionally provides its personal benchmark screenshots utilizing a 16-inch MacBook Professional from 2019, with Blackmagicdesign’s Disk Velocity Check used for USB 3.2 Gen 1 and USB 3.2 Gen 1 connections. OWC’s personal outcomes are loads beneath the claimed most pace, with it managing 421.5MB/s writes and 410.7MB/s reads below Gen 1, 587.5MB/s and 541.8MB/s below Gen 2.

YourNextApp’s personal testing concurs with OWC, seeing 597.0MB/s writes and 542.0MB/s reads with nearly any file dimension, sustained, over a five-minute run. The checks have been about the identical when carried out each plugged in on to a 2020 Intel NUC working Home windows 10, a 2021 16-inch MacBook Professional, a 2016 15-inch MacBook Professional, or to a CalDigit TS4 Thunderbolt dock plugged into both Mac.

This is not near the phenomenally speedy NVMe-based exterior drives, but it surely’s nonetheless greater than adequate as a venture drive for many video modifying and different comparable artistic fields.

Small and Mighty

The OWC Envoy Professional mini was greater than only a thumb drive in its earlier incarnations. In its new type, the drive continues its legacy of offering excessive switch speeds, if not essentially reaching the stratospheric NVMe speeds — and that is high-quality.

It additionally brings in new tips, rising connectivity to cowl USB-C iPad Professional fashions whereas nonetheless sustaining help for older programs that use USB-A. It additionally does so in a premium package deal that provides a putting look that may be a step above your typical tiny moveable drive.

You might use it for file transfers between desktops, actually, however the OWC Envoy Professional mini can play in the identical discipline as correct exterior SSDs, too. We do not suppose that there is a good value to efficiency radio on the smaller dimension, and, arguably, you may construct your individual drive with NVMe storage and an enclosure — but it surely relies on what you place a premium on.

OWC has the Envoy Categorical enclosure for $79. This, plus about $100 for a 1TB NVMe SSD will give Thunderbolt 3 speeds as much as the pace of the drive, or about 2.8 gigabytes per second, whichever is hit first for about the identical value because the OWC Envoy Professional mini.

However, what you get with that may be a non-removable cable, and a notably bigger package deal. This mixture is just not one thing you’d wish to connect with your keychain or toss in your pocket, casually.

Enclosures just like the Anker PowerExpand can be found for round $30, and you will get about the identical speeds because the Envoy Professional mini given the USB 3.1 era 2 enclosure with a removable cable. However once more, that is nonetheless bigger, and never what you’d name a keychain drive.

No product is ideal, there are at all times compromises. For drives, choose two: small dimension, excessive capability, or low value. The 2 that OWC has picked listed here are dimension and capability. Should you want that blend, you may just like the Envoy Professional mini — a minimum of on the 1TB value level.

OWC Envoy Professional mini professionals

• Putting premium look
• Glorious switch speeds for a thumb drive-size
• Excessive degree of connectivity with USB-A and USB-C

OWC Envoy Professional mini cons

• Premium value
• Not fairly premium pace

Score: 4 out of 5

The place to purchase the OWC Envoy Professional mini

The OWC Envoy Professional mini is offered from OWC instantly or Amazon, beginning at $79 for 250GB, rising to $109 for 500GB, and $179 for 1TB.