INTRODUCTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   I'm a firm believer that no matter how much storage space one has it's never enough at least not the way things are currently so i always like to keep quite a few TB's of empty space around just in case. Unfortunately although 5TB 3.5" desktop hard drives are just right around the corner the small size of 2.5" HDDs has kept things slightly less impressive and so it may be quite a few years before we finally see even 4TB portable drives. However in a way the very definition of portable means that you can't expect to have the same things on the go like you do at the comfort of your home or work so for most people even 500GB are obviously more than enough to handle their mobile storage needs. Today on our test bench we have one such portable hard drive and more specifically the latest Diamond D20 500GB USB 3.0 model by our friends over at Silicon Power.

 

   Silicon Power Computer & Communications Inc., founded in 2003 by a group of enthusiastic specialists in International Business, Global Marketing, and Technical Engineering of flash data storage industry. Well dedicated in brand image and product quality, Silicon Power has been recognized and well accepted by millions of end-users in more than 100 countries, becomes the world's leading manufacturer of flash memory cards, USB flash drives, card readers, DRAM modules, solid state disks, and portable hard drives in less than a decade. Headquartered in Taipei, we continuously established various branches throughout the world including Netherlands, Japan, Russia, Mainland China and other emerging market to reach the worldwide market. Silicon Power's overall performance has gradually drawn great attention worldwide. In 2006, we received Taiwan Rising Star Award for our foreign business achievement. In 2008, we won 17th National Outstanding Small & Medium Enterprise Award for our outstanding progress. Moreover, with superior quality and innovative design, our products stood out in several competitions and awarded Taiwan Excellence and COMPUTEX Design & Innovation Award in 2009, 2010 and 2011. Winning trust of global consumers, Silicon Power holds a record of successive double-digit revenue growth for last seven years. According to the Common Wealth Magazine's 2010 Survey of Taiwan Top 1000 Manufacturers, our 2009 revenue growth rate was ranked No.11 among Taiwan's top 1000 manufacturers, and even ranked No.1 in semiconductor industry. Positioned as Passionate, Creative and Hungry for Success, Silicon Power introduces products for users who are seeking individualized, unique and personal digital storage devices. With the mission of creating unprecedented experience for users, Silicon Power will endeavor to deliver a full range of high quality products that have innovative designs, distinctly unique features and comprehensive after sales services to create and fulfill your personal memory.

 

   At first glance the specifications of the Diamond D20 pale in comparison to the previously reviewed Armor A80/A15 portable hard drives again by Silicon Power mainly because it lacks a rugged anti-dust, pressure, shock and water resistant housing. However it's Silicon Power we are talking about so not all is lost and this time over the Diamond D20 is a lot smaller and features an aluminum anti-scratch housing. Under the hood Silicon Power has placed an Scorpio Blue 2.5" HDD by Western Digital featuring a rotational speed of 5400RPM along with 8MB of buffer. As always the drive is accompanied by the SP Widget software suite by Silicon Power which allows you to check the health of the drive, backup your important files onto the drive, lock your computer and much more. However as usual we are mostly interested in the drive itself so let's see how well (or not) it does against the competition.

 

 

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Silicon Power always uses the same package for their PHDs and so once again you can see the front/top of the drive from the front.

 

 

You can get an idea of how much 500GB is by taking a look at the left side.

 

 

The specifications table is placed at the rear of the box right next to a product description printed in 10 languages.

 

 

Inside the box you will find the Diamond D20 PHD, user’s manual and a USB 3.0 cable.

 

 

THE DIAMOND D20 500GB

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As you can see the Diamond D20 comes in white color and as usual that's the hardest color to take shots on our photo bench.

 

 

Size-wise the Diamond D20 is 10.5mm thick, 116.5mm long and 78mm wide. It weighs a total of 135g and to have a better understanding of exactly how large it is we placed it right next to the ARMOR A80 PHD.

 

 

The company logo is glued ontop of the enclosure.

 

 

Once again the USB 3.0 port is placed at the rear.

 

 

The drive capacity along with several certification logos and the country of manufacture are placed at the bottom.

 

 

Under the hood of the Diamond D20 Silicon Power has placed the Western Digital Scorpio Blue WD5000LPVT/X SATA III HDD (5400RPM/8MB Buffer).

 

 

THE SP WIDGET

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can download the latest version of the SP Widget from the official Silicon Power support page.

 

 

The SP Widget allows the end user to perform many functions such as to check the health of the drive, backup files from the computer, encrypt the data stored on the drive, lock your PC and more.

 

 

TEST BED

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TESTING METHODOLOGY

 

   Keeping things simple so even people new in the field of computers can understand will always be our way so once again our testing procedure is almost exactly the same as the one we use with 2.5/3.5" external docking stations. This time however we will be comparing the product at hand with a wide range of 2.5" portable drives and standalone 2.5" enclosures all of which were benched using a HGST 7K750 SATA II hard disk drive. Our standard selection of benchmark suites is used here as well including the famous HD Tach RW (Long Bench 32mb Zones), HD Tune Pro (read/write -when possible- speeds), Sisoftware Sandra Pro (Read/Write - also when possible- speeds), AIDA64 (Linear Read/Random Read), Crystal Disk Mark x64 (100MB/1000MB read/write speeds) and finally the quite outdated yet highly reliable ATTO 2.47 (Max Read/Max Write speeds). Every test was repeated for a total of 6 times and after that the average (not peak) numbers were recorded into our charts. As always every test was performed in a fresh installation of Microsoft Windows 7 Service Pack 1 with every update installed up to June 26th 2013.

 

 

TEST RESULTS - AIDA64 / ATTO

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TEST RESULTS - HD TACH RW / HD TUNE PRO

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TEST RESULTS - SISOFTWARE SANDRA PRO / CRYSTAL DISK MARK X64

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TEST RESULTS - TEMPERATURES

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

CONCLUSION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   It's quite unfortunate that the previous 2.5" Portable Hard Drive we reviewed was the lightning fast Touro Mobile Pro 1TB by HGST so naturally when checking our charts eyes tend to compare that to the Diamond D20 500GB which in turn obviously lags behind in terms of performance. However if you move down the ladder you will see that the Diamond D20 actually does just as well if not better than many other 2.5" portable hard drives. Size is also a factor and since the Diamond D20 is not only smaller than the Toshiba STOR.E. Slim but it also performs better in most tests I’d say that goes a long way in deciding which is best. Of course the housing of the Diamond D20 is not entirely made by aluminum and in that aspect i do prefer the STOR.E Slim more but that is something that always comes down to personal preference. Worth mentioning for potential buyers is that the Diamond D20 portable hard drive is also compatible with the usual and quite useful SP Widget software suite which simplifies the various functions end users can perform.

 

   As we speak 500GB portable hard drives come quite cheap and so does the Diamond D20 500GB USB 3.0 PHD by Silicon Power since you can find it for USD70.67 inside the USA (Purchase Directly from Amazon.com) and for 61.67Euros inside the EU (Purchase Directly from Amazon.de). As expected there are many other drive models at around the same price tag but not as small and as fast as the Diamond D20 and in the end that's pretty much it's only strong card. The scratch-proof aluminum housing is also something we don't really see much with 2.5" portable hard drives but i would swap if for a rugged enclosure like that of the A80/A15, however that would mean doubling its size and that's not what the Diamond D20 is all about. Bottom line for excellent build quality, blazing fast speeds and its size/weight thanks to which we can actually refer to as portable we award the Diamond D20 500GB USB 3.0 PHD by Silicon Power with our Golden Award.

PROS

- Build Quality (Aluminum Housing)
- Excellent Performance
- Size/Weight
- SP Widget Software
- Price (For Some)

 

 

CONS

- None