MyDigitalSSD OTG (On The Go) Pocket SuperSpeed USB 3.0 mSATA SSD Review (256GB)

AS SSD BENCHMARK VER 1.6

Up until recently, AS SSD was the only benchmark created specifically for SSD testing and it uses incompressible data.  AS SSD, for the most part, gives us the ‘worst case scenario’ in SSD transfer speeds because of its use of incompressible data and many enthusiasts like to AS SSD for their needs. Throughput is displayed on the left with IOPS on the right:

Although we can identify very low IOPS with such external storage devices, the transfer performance for the MyDigitalSSD OTG SuperSpeed Pocket SSD, in this case, is very encouraging.  Consider the fact that this SSD is extremely small and weighs only 1.2 ounces, can transfer a HD video in only 3 seconds while, in the same sense, having the ability to hold over 800 HD movies.

ANVIL STORAGE UTILITIES PROFESSIONAL (BETA)

You may not see this for long (and it’s definitely not common) but you get a freebee simply for reading!  Over the last little while, we have been assisting with beta testing new benchmark software called Anvil Storage Utilities which is an absolutely amazing SSD benchmarking utility.  Not only does it have a preset SSD benchmark, but also, it has included such things as endurance testing and threaded I/O read, write and mixed tests, all of which are very simple to understand and use in our benchmark testing.

For the most part, testing with incompressible data in Anvil confirms what we saw with AS SSD.  It also gives us an excellent opportunity to confirm its identification, as well as system identification, along with IOPS and disk access times.

REPORT ANALYSIS AND FINAL THOUGHTS

I typically don’t like to put products side by side because most people could never visually observe any differences from one SSD to another, and also, because SSD technology is such a massive step forward.  We are going to make an exception in this case, if only to identify the importance of understanding how specific memory can affect performance in a portable storage device.  Just before this review, we reported on the EDGE diskGO that is a similar product but uses asynchronous mlc memory in order to retain value.  The MyDigitalSSD OTG SSD, on the other hand, has a very similar price, yet uses Toshiba premium toggle mode memory.  Take a look at the difference testing highly incompressible data, the MyDigitalOTG on the left and the diskGO on the right:

As you might imagine, it will take longer to transfer files using the EDGE, in comparison to the MyDigitalSSD OTG that we are reviewing today.  When comparing the two, we can identify that EDGE relied on the premium LSI SandForce controller and controlled pricing with the asynchronous memory, whereas MyDigitalSSD had better success with the mid-level Phison controller and premium Toshiba memory.

REPORT ANALYSIS AND FINAL THOUGHTS

Value, size and performance are the three things that make the MyDigitalSSD OTG SuperSpeed Pocket SSD such a great product.  It was only a matter of time before someone used the small size of the mSATA SSD to their advantage and we are now seeing the result in ultra small external SSDs.  Timing of this couldn’t be better as we are seeing UASP and SuperSpeed make a successful transition into the retail market, which gives us incredible speed in a very small for factor.

MyDigitalSSD is going one further by using just the right components in order to market the OTG (On The Go) as a value driven solution.  This brings the SSD in at 66¢/GB and the only way it could have been done was with the Phison controller, a controller by the way that seems to be enjoying much success around the internet.  MyDigitalSSD could have probably saved themselves a bit of money with ‘less premium’ memory offerings and we are glad they didn’t.  Our being able to transfer a 9GB Blu-ray movie in 24 seconds, as well as a HD movie in 3 seconds, is the result.

For value, performance and build size, we are awarding MyDigitalSSD with or Gold Seal.

Check Out MyDigitalSSD OTG Pricing at Amazon