INTRODUCTION

   Regardless of whether or not you're a professional, enthusiast, gamer or an even a regular every day consumer, owning a blazing fast USB portable SSD is something that can always come in handy. Unfortunately, portable SSDs are still nowhere near to the price/capacity ratio offered by portable HDDs but with performance levels in some cases that reach and even surpass 2000MB/s (recently announced models) that doesn't seem to matter much, at least not to all who need the extra performance. A while back i had the chance to test the latest SL200 portable SSD by Lexar (review here) and even though it did very well it's SATA 6Gb/s based NAND controller topped out at around 500MB/s. So today with me i have their SL100 Pro 1TB model which thanks to its PCie NAND controller it can reach speeds almost twice as much (up to around 950MB/s).

   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.

   At the time of this review the Lexar SL100 Pro is available in 500GB/1TB capacities and is clearly based on a M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD controller (based on its advertised performance levels). Unlike the SL200 the SL100 Pro features a durable brushed aluminum enclosure under which Lexar has placed the DRAM-less 88NV1160 quad-channel NAND flash controller (dual ARM Cortex R5) by Marvell along with 64-Layer TLC NAND Flash (just like with the SL200 these are probably manufactured by Intel judging by the serial numbers) and an USB3.2 Gen 2 to PCIe Gen3x2 host interface bridge chip by JMicron. The 88NV1160 NAND controller fully supports Marvell’s NANDEdge 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 and TCG Opal support. Lexar covers the SL100 Pro line of portable SSDs with a 3-year limited warranty.