2 hours ago
5
Lexar TouchLock Portable SSD
ZDNET's cardinal takeaways
- A super-thin and super-light portable SSD
- Innovative NFC unlocking eliminates passcodes and biometrics
- Not the fastest SSD, but accelerated capable to grip 4K ProRes 60 fps video
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I deliberation the days of carrying information astir successful an unencrypted state have beauteous overmuch travel to an end. It's conscionable excessively risky, particularly if that information is successful immoderate mode important oregon taxable to regulatory oversight.
But encrypting and decrypting drives tin besides beryllium a pain, and indispensable beryllium arsenic speedy and elemental arsenic possible. I don't deliberation that process tin get immoderate easier than tapping an SSD with your smartphone -- and this is precisely however the Lexar TouchLock Portable SSD works.
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Out of the box, the TouchLock Portable SSD feels tiny and light. Made of lightweight aluminum, measuring a petite 3.37 x 2.09 x 0.28 inches, and weighing successful astatine lone 1.4 ounces, this thrust feels space-age. There's an NFC touchpad connected the back, a MagSafe magnet ring connected the beforehand for attaching to a smartphone, and a azygous USB-C larboard connected the bottom.
That MagSafe ringing gives you a large hint arsenic to the emblematic usage lawsuit for this retention thrust -- a thrust that attaches to your iPhone.
The outer ammunition has been designed to past a 6.5-foot drop, which is large for the rough-and-tumble of day-to-day life.
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On the wrong is simply a 128-bit AES hardware-encrypted SSD that protects everything written to it, truthful your information is ne'er near successful an unencrypted state. The thrust has been built with reliability successful caput alternatively than speed, and to execute this, Lexar developed a customized low-power controller that generated little vigor but improved reliability.
Unlocking the thrust utilizing NFC is speedy and easy.
Despite not being built for speed, this thrust tin inactive scope constitute speeds of up to 450Mbps and work speeds of 420Mbps. This velocity is accelerated capable for the instrumentality to grip 4K ProRes 60 frames-per-second video recorded straight by an iPhone (if you privation a faster thrust for the iPhone, but without the encryption, you're looking astatine thing similar the Lexar ES3, but that doesn't person built-in encryption).
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This is the archetypal thrust successful a agelong clip that I had to work the manual to fig retired however to usage it. I archetypal plugged the thrust into my iPhone. Nothing happened. Then my Mac -- and, erstwhile again, thing happened. Then I work the manual and recovered retired that I needed to download the due Lexar app (iOS and Android), and usage the NFC diagnostic connected my smartphone to unlock and acceptable up the smartphone arsenic the handset that unlocks the drive.
The thrust is ace bladed and light, and is dwarfed by the iPhone.
Once that was done, the thrust was casual to use. You link it to a instrumentality -- smartphone, tablet, laptop, oregon machine -- pat the smartphone onto the NFC pad, and it's unlocked successful a fewer seconds. From that constituent onwards, the thrust acts similar immoderate other.
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Along with the drive, you get a abbreviated USB-C-to-USB-C cable, a USB-C-to-USB-A adapter, and a self-adhesive magnetic ringing to connect the thrust to things different than iPhones.
ZDNET's buying advice
The Lexar TouchLock Portable SSD comes successful a 500GB and 1TB model, for $94 and $143, respectively. I similar the unlock mechanics due to the fact that it's speedy and easy, but determination is an archetypal passcode that you person to retrieve conscionable successful lawsuit you suffer your telephone oregon hitch the app oregon thing similar that. I besides similar however tiny and airy the thrust is -- it's hardly noticeable erstwhile attached to an iPhone.
Performance was besides much than acceptable, and Lexar has done a fantastic occupation of keeping vigor to a minimum. I've tested a batch of SSDs that connect to your iPhone and get ace hot, adding to the already ample magnitude of vigor generated by the handset itself.
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