CONCLUSION

   Although Silicon Power has used the same drive model for all 3 Armor PHDs we've tested so far namely the Seagate/Samsung ST1000LM024 (only this time over it seems to have an updated Cache of 16MB) we got some strange results since sometimes the A30 managed to beat both the A15 and the A80 and sometimes the exact opposite. Now i can't say if this is because of the USB 3.0 controller used this time (perhaps it's a different model) or because the drive seems to be slightly upgraded (and thus some performance difference may exist) but it did surprise us regardless. That being said overall the Armor A30 performed on par with the rest of the Armor line models with very good read/write speeds so we can't really complain. If you get down to it there's really nothing wrong with the Armor A30, the design is good, it can withstand drops of up to 122cm, it's very fast, it's available in two color combinations (black/orange - white/grey) and it's even slightly smaller than its Armor line brothers. I have to admit that the USB 3.0 cable mounting is something that some people may not really like at first (much like myself) but it does work so we can't really complain about that either.

   As we speak the Armor A30 1TB USB 3.0 Portable Hard Drive retails for a very tempting price tag of USD79.98 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and 88Euros inside the EU (Amazon.co.uk). However at the same time the current pricing of the Armor A30 comes extremely close to the pricing of its larger brother the Armor A80 and although the A80 has been around for a while and that would explain its price reduction at least for me it's the better choice because of its buffed rugged aluminum enclosure. So unless Silicon Power does something with the pricing of the Armor A30 i really don't see a reason as to why anyone would choose it over the Armor A80 (unless it's a design thing). If you are after the best possible protection for your data paired with very good performance you really can't go wrong with any of the Armor models by Silicon Power including the latest A30 which is why it also gets our Golden Award.

PROS

- Build Quality
- Design
- Size
- Military Grade Rugged Enclosure (Shock/Drop-proof)
- Very Good Performance
- Low Temperatures
- SP Widget (Free Download From Silicon Power)

CONS

- Design May Not Appeal To Everyone
- Price (Compared To That of the A80)