Page 7 - Conclusion
ADATA aims to challenge the limit with the Elite SE880 1TB, which promises up to 2000MB/s over its USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 interface. Is this one of the fastest external USB SSDs to ever appear on APH Networks? If we look at its linear read and write performance, the SE880 1TB absolutely dusted the non-USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 competition with tested read at up to 2014MB/s and write at up to 1726MB/s. Having an NVMe drive behind the speedy USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 interface will no doubt unleash the potential of what is within. Besides its ultra-fast linear read and write performance, ADATA's latest performance portable SSD also offers a sleek, compact design. The aluminum is cold to touch, and the enclosure does not flex under stress. I also like there are two cables included; one for USB Type-C to Type-C and for USB Type-C to Type-A. The USB Type-C to Type-C cable is also of good length for day-to-day use. There are some key areas to note with the ADATA Elite SE880 1TB though. In IOPS-intensive tests, it is about the same as, if not a little slower, than other performance USB SSDs we have tested in the past. It is still plenty fast, but it will not leave USB 3.2 Gen 1 or Gen 2 drives in its rear-view mirror. So if you are planning to copy lots of small files in one go, you will not save any time. And on that thought, the SE880 has serious thermal throttling issues. Continuous write will cause throttled performance rather quickly, which all the other tested drives did not have an issue with. This means if you are planning to write a bunch of files to the SE880, you will not see its speedy write speed for that long. On the activity LED, I am glad there is one, but it is very faint to the point it is barely visible. It would also be better if it blinks rather than flash. Lastly, the USB Type-C to Type-A cable is about a third shorter than the USB Type-C to Type-C cable, which makes it a bit too short for my liking. Making both the same length or simply including a USB Type-C to Type-A adapter would be better. For about $125 at press time, the ADATA Elite SE880 1TB is priced about right for its performance class, but the company needs to improve its thermal management to make sure its speed can be sustained in real world conditions.
ADATA provided this product to APH Networks for the purpose of evaluation.
APH Networks Review Focus Summary:
7/10 means Great product with many advantages and certain insignificant drawbacks, but should be considered before purchasing.
6/10 means A product with its advantages, but drawbacks should not be ignored before purchasing.
-- Final APH Networks Numeric Rating is 6.2/10
Please note that the APH Networks Numeric Rating system is based off our proprietary guidelines in the Review Focus, and should not be compared to other publications.
The ADATA Elite SE880 1TB is a knock-your-socks-off fast compact portable external SSD, but watch out for the thermal throttling, as it happens rather quickly during sustained writes.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. A Closer Look, Test System
3. Benchmark: AIDA64 Disk Benchmark
4. Benchmark: ATTO Disk Benchmark
5. Benchmark: Crystal Disk Mark 8.0
6. Benchmark: HD Tune Pro 5.70
7. Conclusion
