INTRODUCTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   Portable solid state drives (SSD's), USB flash drives and memory cards may have risen in popularity in recent years (mainly due to price cuts and in some cases superior read and write performance) but as we've all come to expect by now it's virtually impossible for them to ever compete both in terms of capacity and price with regular portable hard drives. Certainly portable SSDs, USB flash drives and memory cards are all much smaller compared to portable HDDs but if you need to carry several terabytes worth of data around with you (for professional or personal use) then size shouldn't really be much of an issue (especially if you're on a budget). To date Silicon Power has had a near excellent track record when it comes to portable hard drives and since they recently released the Armor A85 line we just had to take a closer look.

   Founded in 2003 by a group of enthusiastic data storage industry experts, Silicon Power is committed to delivering outstanding product and service quality. Headquartered and with our own state-of-the-art production site in Taipei, we have become a leading manufacturer of flash memory cards, USB flash drives, portable hard drives, solid state drives, DRAM modules and industrial-grade products. As an international player with four branch offices around the globe, we continuously strive to offer the perfect data storage solution for all requirements of modern digitalized life. With a strong focus on combining innovative technology and award-winning design, we live up to our brand promise to reliably preserve and protect your most valuable data. Because memory is personal.

   Just as its name suggests the brand new Armor A85 line of portable hard drives (currently available in 1/2/3/4/5TB) lands very close to the old A80 model in terms of durability (and actually surpasses it). To be more specific the Armor A85 features an aluminum exterior enclosure which is not only IP68 certified (dust and water proof up to well over 1 meter beneath water) and pressure-proof (up to 500kg) but it's also compliant with the US military MIL-STD-810G Procedure IV transit drop test (survived falls from heights up to 3m). Under the hood of the Armor A85 2TB variant we find a 7mm thick Seagate Mobile HDD 2TB (ST2000LM007) model featuring a rotational speed of 5400RPM with 128MB of cache. Just like several models in the Armor line the A85 also features a convenient cable-carry function, has a full sized USB 3.1 Gen 1 port and is covered by a 3 year limited warranty.

 

 

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once again from the front of the box you can check the size of the drive and of course its capacity and main features.

 

 

The amount of media and data files one can store in this drive is showcased on the left side.

 

 

Printed at the rear of the box are the product specifications, package contents, OS compatibility and contact information for Silicon Power.

 

 

Along with the Armor A85 drive you will also get its USB 3.1 Gen 1 cable and the user manual.

 

 

THE ARMOR A85 2TB

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The aluminum enclosure of the Armor A85 2TB measures 132.5mm in length, 92.3mm in width and 25.9mm in height and weighs 296g (cable not included).

 

 

When compared to the Armor A80 2TB the Armor A85 2TB model is nearly identical (139.5/94/18.1mm - 132.5/92.3/25.9mm).

 

 

Silicon Power has placed their logo on the upper end of the drive.

 

 

The IP68 certification is printed at the base of the enclosure.

 

 

Moving at the top we find a small cap which is used to protect the full sized USB port.

 

 

Both the capacity of the drive and its serial number are printed at the rear of the enclosure.

 

 

The cable-carry function of the Armor A85 may not be as good as the "hidden" one of the A80 model (although there it was for a cable half the size of this one) but it could come handy.

 

 

Once again we find a Seagate Mobile HDD inside an Armor model and why not when this 7mm thick drive spins at 5400RPM a total of 128MB cache and can achieve performance numbers of up to 140MB/s?

 

 

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 is repeated for a total of 6 times and after that the average (not peak) numbers are recorded into our charts. As always every test was performed in a fresh installation of Microsoft Windows 10 Pro with every update installed up to June 10th 2018.

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   When I first got my hands on the Armor A80 PHD many years ago I was impressed by the sheer durability of the drive not only because it was virtually dust, water and shock proof but also because it could be run over by a car and nothing would happen to it. What I’m trying to say is that I was eagerly waiting for its “successor” and the Armor A85 doesn’t disappoint not only in terms of durability (can even endure higher amount of pressure and can also be submerged even deeper in water) but also in terms of looks and performance. For good or bad due to its rugged design the Armor A85 (just like its predecessors) may not be the most compact 2.5” portable hard drive in the market today but we’ve always believed that durability comes before size so at least for us that’s not really an issue.

   With the introduction of 4/5TB portable hard drives 2TB models have become very affordable making them extremely popular among consumers. Still since the Armor A85 is not your average portable hard drive it does cost slightly more and to be specific it will set you back USD91.07 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and 103Euros inside the EU (Amazon.co.uk). Just like its predecessor the award winning Armor A80 the brand new Armor A85 combines extreme data protection with very good read and write performance levels two things that are definitely worth our Platinum Award.

PROS

- Superior Build Quality
- Design
- Military Grade Rugged Enclosure (Water/Dust/Shock/Pressure Proof)
- Near Excellent Performance
- Temperatures
- Full Size USB Plug
- Up To 5TB Capacity
- SP Widget Software (Free Download From Silicon Power)

CONS

- Price (For Some)
- Cable Carry Feature