REVIEW – There are numerous uses for external portable drives. I have several portable drives, but when the opportunity to review the 1TB Rocket Nano External Aluminum SSD came along, I jumped at the chance to check out one of the smallest drives I’ve seen yet.
What is it?
The Rocket Nano External Aluminum SSD is an extremely small, portable solid-state drive.
What’s in the box?
- 1TB external Aluminum SSD
- 8″ Type-C to Type-C Cable
- 12″ Type-A to Type-C Cable
- User manual.
Design and features
The Rocket Nano External Aluminum SSD is Sabrent’s smallest portable SSD. Featuring a 1TB NVMe SSD, the Rocket Nano is a high-performance drive housed in a CNC machined aluminum alloy enclosure. The enclosure not only protects the drive but also absorbs heat to protect it from over-heating. It is much faster than other SATA based SSD drives.
Measuring in at just 2.75″ x 1.1″ x 0.5″, the Rocket Nano is one of the smallest portable SSD drives out there. The M.2 drive form factor is not much smaller than this enclosure, meaning that it can’t get much smaller than this! At just 2 ounces, the Rocket Nano can fit in your smallest pocket.
The Rocket Nano’s built-in USB 3.2 interface provides speeds of up to 1000MB/s, 9x faster than traditional external HDDs. The drive comes with both a USB-C to USB-C cable and a USB-A to USB-C cable to allow connecting to a standard USB port (USB-A) and USB-C ports, which are included in most modern PC’s. The Rocket Nano can be used with both USB Type C and Thunderbolt 3 computers.
Designed to work with both Windows and Mac OS, the Nano can transfer data between almost any computer in the world. The drive also complies with trim, UASP, and the firmware is upgradable. Fully plug-and-play capability means there are no drivers to install. The Nano is also powered through the data cable, so there are no extra power cables to connect.
The Nano also has a bright blue LED that indicates power, and flashes when data is transferring.
I was impressed that the Rocket Nano came in a metal carrying box that also has enough room for both USB cables.
Performance
Like all drives, the Rocket Nano’s speed may vary from system to system depending on the underlying speed of the ports you plug it into.
What I like
- Small Size
- Aluminum Enclosure
- USB-C Connection
What I’d change
- Nothing I can think of
Final thoughts
The Sabrent Rocket Nano is a great drive. It performs as it should, and doesn’t include anything extra on the drive like some others I have reviewed. The sleek aluminum feels good and solid in the hand. The drive does get a little warm when it is being used, but not warm enough to cause worry. This will be a nice addition to my laptop and travel setup.
Price: $159.99
Where to buy: Sabrent
Source: The sample of this product was provided by Sabrent.
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You state that the drive gets warm during file transfers, but not so much as to be an issue. Question is, how does it do (heat and performance wise) when being used continuously? Say, as a media source drive for watching 3 hour long movies? If I loaded a season of a show on it, could I binge watch it all day without overheating or damaging the drive? Data transfer is one thing… how’s it do under real life use?