CONCLUSION

   Just like every time we’ve tested a new and higher capacity model by Seagate the EXOS X16 16TB also outperformed a previous generation 14TB drive. This has of course to do with the number of used platters (9 for the 16TB models and 8 for the 14TB models) since more platters equal to higher read and write performance levels and this is still true for the EXOS X16 16TB (although that may not have been the case against the EXOS X16 14TB model – since we didn’t get a chance to test it we can’t say for certain). That being said it’s quite evident from our charts that mechanical drives (at least with current technologies) are reaching their maximum data throughput and even though it’s impressive seeing performance numbers up to 280MB/s and 220MB/s in sustained reads and writes (based on our very own internal tests while transferring over 10TB of data between identical drives) we do hope something changes (the easy way to improve performance would be larger DRAM cache and more platters if possible - multi actuator technology is harder to develop but offers performance levels of up to 500MB/s so that could be the way forward) since SSDs don’t really have the potential to match the price/capacity ratio of mechanical HDDs, not anytime soon that is.

   Only 23 days have passed since Seagate officially announced availability of the EXOS X16 16TB drive and it’s already available for a price tag of USD673.67 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and 671.46Euros inside the EU (Amazon.de). You see Seagate may not have been the first manufacturer to officially release a 16TB HDD (Toshiba actually beat them to it) but it’s the only manufacturer currently to have worldwide availability and that we think matters more. That being said spending that much money on a single HDD may not seem like a great deal to regular consumers but the EXOS X16 line (and all EXOS for that matter) are not aimed at regular consumers but professionals, enthusiasts and enterprise users to who price is not of the essence. On top of that add the superb read and write performance levels, the 5-year limited warranty and the impressive endurance numbers (2.5 million hours MTBF and 550TB/yr) and it’s no wonder that the EXOS X16 16TB deserves our Platinum Award.

PROS

- Impressive Build Quality / Durability (550TBW / 2.5 Million Hours MTBF)
- Top Of The Charts Performance (SATA)
- Technologies Used (PowerBalance / PowerChoice / FastFormat / Secure / RAID Rebuild)
- 256MB Cache
- Massive 16TB Capacity
- Temperatures / Noise Levels / Power Consumption
- 5 Year Limited Warranty

CONS

- Price (For Some)