INTRODUCTION

   While typing the review of a portable hard drive (PHD) roughly a year ago i mentioned that it was the first time that 2.5" drives closed in to 3.5" ones in terms of capacity since back then we had up to 1TB of the first and 4TB of the second (1/4). Unfortunately today things are not just as good and although the same 1/4 ratio still applies the end result is very different since aside the very popular 2TB 2.5" models in the market also available are 8TB 3.5" ones. So yes although the 1/4 ratio remains the same in the end 3.5" drives can still offer up to 6TB more compared to 2.5" ones. Regardless 2TB is still lots of space for data on the go and although some of you may argue that we now even have 1TB USB flash drives the price/capacity ratio gap between those and 2TB PHDs is huge. Today on our test bench we have the latest 2.5" USB 3.0 portable hard drive from Silicon Power the Armor A60 model.

   Silicon Power Computer & Communications Inc., founded in 2003 by a group of enthusiastic specialists of flash data storage industry. Well dedicated in brand image and product quality, SP 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. With superior quality and innovative design, our products stood out in several competitions and awarded Taiwan Excellence and COMPUTEX Design & Innovation Award in 2009 and 2010. Winning trust of global consumers SP holds a record of successive double-digit revenue growth for last seven years. For SP, the product we introduced is not only a digital storage device but also a real promise to create and preserve your most valuable memory in every moment.

   As the name suggests just like the USB 3.0 compatible A80/30/15 models we've tested in the past the A60 is the latest addition in the Armor line of 2.5" rugged portable hard drives by Silicon Power. Unlike however the extremely rugged IPX7 certified enclosure of the Armor A80 model the A60 model features an IPX4 water-resistant enclosure which is also shockproof for drops from heights up to 122cm (certified via the U.S military MIL-STD 810G Method 516.6 Procedure IV). The A60 also uses the same system to "store" the cable (more like route around the drive itself) like the one used in the A30 model and although i don't really agree with it (i prefer the A80 solution) still it works as advertised. All that's left is to see how well it performs compared to the rest of the Armor line (and more) so let's do exactly that.