The Seagate Ultra Compact SSD lives up to its name, offering impressive speed and a compact design perfect for portability. This review dives into its performance, features, and overall value, comparing it to other leading thumb drives on the market.
The Seagate Ultra Compact SSD is, in essence, a high-speed USB thumb drive. Its sleek design and compact form factor make it ideal for on-the-go storage. But don’t let its small size fool you; this drive boasts impressive 10Gbps speeds, putting it in a league above traditional thumb drives.
alt text: The Seagate Ultra Compact SSD with only the end cap in place
Key Features and Design
The Ultra Compact SSD is roughly 2.75 inches long, 0.75 inches wide, and 0.4 inches thick, weighing in at a mere 0.8 ounces. It features a Type-C connector with a silicone end cap for protection and includes a matching silicone jacket. While the jacket adds extra protection, the end cap alone offers sufficient shielding for the connector.
Seagate backs the Ultra Compact SSD with a three-year warranty, although a TBW (Terabytes Written) rating isn’t specified. Under normal usage conditions, warranty concerns related to write endurance are unlikely. A notable perk is the inclusion of a six-month Dropbox Backup Plan and a six-month Mylio Photos subscription upon registration. In most regions, the drive also qualifies for free data recovery services, providing added peace of mind.
Performance Analysis
The Ultra Compact SSD delivers excellent 10Gbps performance for its size, though it falls slightly short of the top-performing SK Hynix Tube T31 in our tests. However, its speed significantly surpasses older 10Gbps drives like the Corsair Flash Survivor Stealth.
alt text: Performance comparison chart of the Seagate Ultra Compact SSD against other thumb drives in various read/write tests. Longer bars indicate better performance.
alt text: Chart displaying 4K random read/write speeds of the Seagate Ultra Compact SSD compared to competitors.
alt text: Benchmark results of the Seagate Ultra Compact SSD in a 450GB write test.
Pricing and Availability
The Ultra Compact SSD is available in 1TB and 2TB capacities, with retail prices of $100 and $180, respectively. Promotional pricing at launch offered the drives for $80 and $145, respectively, which might still be available.
Verdict
While the SK Hynix Tube T31 edges out the Seagate Ultra Compact SSD in raw performance, the added value of free data recovery, Dropbox backup, and Mylio Photos subscription makes the Seagate drive a compelling choice. This portable SSD provides excellent performance and valuable features, far exceeding the capabilities of older-generation thumb drives.
alt text: The Seagate Ultra Compact SSD without cap or jacket, showcasing its small and portable design.
Testing Methodology
Our drive tests are conducted on a Windows 11 64-bit system with an X790 motherboard, i5-12400 CPU, 64GB of Kingston Fury DDR5 RAM, and integrated 20Gbps USB and Thunderbolt 4. Tests include 48GB transfers using a RAM disk and 450GB file transfers from a 2TB Samsung 990 Pro. Each drive is freshly formatted with NTFS and TRIM enabled before testing. Performance may vary in real-world usage as the drive fills up and due to other factors.
Note: Results reflect the specific drive and capacity tested. SSD performance can vary based on capacity and component changes. Please inform us if you encounter significant performance discrepancies from our reported results.
