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.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

The SL200 gets shipped inside a white and gray box which has a product picture at the front surrounded by the company logo, performance numbers and the drive capacity.

Both the system requirements and the contents of the bundle are listed on the left side.

The compact size of the SL200 is showcased on the right side.

At the rear we find the product features in 9 languages.

Along with the SL200 portable SSD Lexar also packs a USB-C to USB-C cable, USB-C to USB-A cable and the quick start guide.

THE SL200 1TB

The plastic enclosure of the SL200 measures 86mm in length, 60mm in width and 9.5mm in thickness/height.

Typically to give all of you a better idea about size i placed the SL200 right next to the iStorage diskAshur2 SSD, Silicon Power Bolt B75 Pro, Samsung T3 and T1 and the Silicon Power PC60.

Lexar placed both the USB-C port and the activity LED at the front of the drive.

The serial number is printed at the rear of the enclosure along with the drive capacity.

Just like with the PC60 the plastic enclosure of the SL200 uses clips so removing the top is easy.

At the top of the PCB we find the 88NV1120 controller by Marvell, two NAND flash modules and the asmedia bridge chip.

Two more NAND flash modules are located on the other side of the PCB.

Worth pointing out is that the SL200 fully supports the Lexar DataSafe AES-256 encryption software.

TEST BED

TESTING METHODOLOGY

   Solid state drives are basically the same as USB flash drives and so we’re using almost the same testing methodology to successfully record achieved read & write performance numbers in our charts*. The benchmark suites used are HD Tach RW (Read Speeds / Long Bench 32mb Zone Testing), HD Tune Pro (Read / Write speeds), Sisoftware Sandra Titanium 2020 (Read / Write speeds), AIDA64 Engineer Edition (Average Linear / Random Read & Write speeds), Crystal Disk Mark 6.0.2 (2GB Read / Write speeds) and finally ATTO 4.00.0F2 (Max Read / Max Write speeds). Every test is repeated a total of 6 times after which the average performance numbers are recorded into our charts (0 = we were unable to complete that test).

   All tests are performed with our main rig running Microsoft Windows 10 Pro installation on a CORSAIR MP510 960GB NVME SSD* with all updates installed up to the day we started tests.

* Since August 2019 for portable SSD tests I started using our primary test rig.

TEST RESULTS - AIDA64 / ATTO

TEST RESULTS - HD TACH RW / HD TUNE PRO

TEST RESULTS - SISOFTWARE SANDRA TITANIUM / CRYSTAL DISK MARK

CONCLUSION

   SATA based portable SSDs may not be able to compete with their NVMe based cousins but still having a compact 1/2TB drive which can reach read and write speeds all the way up to 550-450MB/s respectively can’t be called bad. Yes 1000MB/s is better but how many consumers and even professionals really need such performance levels? With that out of the way as you can see from the charts the SL200 1TB is clearly among the 3 fastest SATA based portable SSDs so at least in that regard there’s nothing to complain about. I can complain about the plastic enclosure which just like with other similar models doesn’t offer much protection (not rugged) but since size and weight are what manufacturers prioritise lately that can’t be helped.

   With a current price tag set at 155Euros inside the EU (Amazon.de) the SL200 1TB USB 3.1 Portable SSD by Lexar is priced slightly higher than expected. This could be due to serious availability issues however (I was unable to find it anywhere in the USA right now) but still at the time of this review this is a serious drawback. That being said the SL200 1TB is very fast, compact, comes with two USB cables (increased compatibility out of the box) and is covered by a 3-year limited warranty which is why it gets our Golden Award.

PROS

- Compact Size & Weight
- Very Good Performance
- AES 256 Encryption
- Just 9.5mm Thick
- Shock Proof
- 3 Year Limited Warranty

CONS

- Price & Current Availability
- Enclosure Durability (Plastic)