INTRODUCTION

   Compact size and performance versus price and higher capacity, this has always been the crucial question professionals and consumers alike have been asking ever since the very first portable SSDs made their debut in the market a few years back. On one hand we have small portable SSDs with performance numbers reaching 1000MB/s and capacities up to 2TB (prototypes with higher capacities exist but the when they'll be available is unknown) whereas on the other we have the larger 2.5" portable hard drives with speeds up to 200MB/s and capacities all the way to 5TB. On top of this add the price factor which always sides with 2.5" portable hard drives and that means PHDs currently offer the best price/capacity ratio. Still portable SSD sales have been blooming lately and so today with me i have yet another model, the SL200 1TB by Lexar.

   For more than 20 years, Lexar has been a trusted leading global brand of memory solutions. Our award-winning lineup includes memory cards, USB flash drives, card readers, and solid-state drives. With so many options, it’s easy to find the right Lexar solution to fit your needs. All Lexar product designs undergo extensive testing in the Lexar Quality Labs with more than 1,100 digital devices, to ensure performance, quality, compatibility, and reliability. Lexar products are available worldwide at major retail and e-tail stores. For more information or support, visit www.lexar.com.

   The SL200 (currently available in 512GB/1TB/2TB capacities) portable SSD by Lexar is the successor to the award winning SL100 model and just like that it's also based on a SATA III SSD (always based on its advertised performance levels). Now i never had the chance to test the SL100 but under the plastic hood of the SL200 Lexar has placed the DRAM-less 88NV1120 NAND flash controller (dual ARM Cortex R5) by Marvell along with 64-Layer TLC NAND Flash (probably by Intel judging by the serial numbers) and an USB3.1 to SATA III host interface bridge chip by asmedia. The 88NV1120 controller fully supports Marvell’s 3rd-generation LDPC technology (low-density parity-check) for increased reliability/endurance, low power support with integrated DEVSLP (Device Sleep) and of course AES-256bit encryption. Lexar covers the SL200 line of portable SSDs with a 3-year limited warranty.