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.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

The Lexar SL100 Pro gets shipped inside a 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 of the box.

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

Printed at the rear are the main product features and specifications.

Along with the SL100 Pro portable SSD Lexar also packs a USB-C to USB-C cable, USB-C to USB-A cable and the quick start guide (which was obviously left out of the picture).

THE SL100 PRO 1TB

The brushed aluminum enclosure of the SL100 Pro weighs just 70.5g and measures 73.4mm in length, 55mm in width and 10.8mm in thickness/height.

In order to give all of you a better idea about its size i placed the SL100 Pro right next to the iStorage diskAshur2 SSD, Samsung T3 and T1, Silicon Power PC60, SL200 (again by Lexar) and the Z7S by Netac.

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 and several certifications.

Turning the drive around we just see a small print which points to the fact that Lexar is now part of Longsys.

Accessing the interior involves removing the side covers and two screws on each side.

At the top of the PCB we find the 88NV1160 controller by Marvell, the JMicron JMS583 bridge chip and two NAND flash modules.

It’s worth pointing out that the SL100 Pro includes the ENC Datavault Lite data 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

   As many of you are certainly aware the SL100 Pro may in fact be an older product (launched last year) compared to the SL200 but since it’s aimed towards professionals as you can all clearly see from the charts it’s actually a lot faster. My bet is that the SL200 Pro (next logical step) should be even faster but at least for now the SL100 Pro is the flagship model in the Lexar portable SSD lineup. Of course, the DRAM-less controllers used in such portable SSDs don’t fair that well in benchmark programs like HD Tach RW and HD Tune Pro but that’s not something we haven’t seen many times in the past. Also the brushed aluminum enclosure of the SL100 Pro even though not exactly rugged is still much more durable (not to mention better looking) than the plastic one used in the SL200 model.

   The SL100 Pro 1TB Portable SSD currently retails for USD189.99 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for 171.52Euros inside the EU (Amazon.de) a price tag which is actually quite balanced for such a drive. Price aside however what really matters is that the SL100 Pro by Lexar is currently the 2^nd fastest USB portable SSD in my charts not far behind the X8 by Crucial and that alone is more than enough to secure it the Golden Award.

PROS

- Durable Brushed Aluminum Enclosure
- Compact Size & Weight
- Near Excellent Performance (Up To 950MB/s Read & 900MB/s Write)
- AES 256 Hardware Encryption
- Just 10.8mm Thick
- 3 Year Limited Warranty

CONS

- Only Available In 500GB/1TB Capacities