By: Jonathan Kwan
February 9, 2023
What makes one brand of gasoline more preferable than another? For most people, price is usually the primary consideration. I think the majority of the population is not particularly loyal to one fuel brand. This does not mean the same people do not believe there is a performance or quality difference between brands, but for the most part, there is a presupposition that any difference is negligible in day-to-day use between Top Tier retailers like Shell, Chevron, or Mobil, and hence price becomes the determining factor. Even for me who has a particular affinity for Shell -- one of my cars has literally never seen anything but Shell -- I have no issues putting Costco in all my other cars, especially when they take premium. I think Shell has done a tremendous job in convincing people V-Power is really the best premium fuel, but you literally pay a premium for them here in Canada. However, from my extensive data logging, I have seen no variance between V-Power and Kirkland Signature premium with my Acura TL Type-S, at least at the Costco I usually fill up at. This is not surprising, considering I have been told many times by people who work there and local tuners that this particular Costco is actually supplied by Shell. In the same way, what differences are there between external USB SSDs? Just like gas, the performance and quality are important, but if they run on the same interface, what you take your credit card out for usually just comes down to price, since the real-world difference is likely minor. Today, we have the Netac ZX10 2TB USB 3.2 Gen 2 portable drive for testing. Netac is a newer Chinese SSD manufacturer to us here in North America, and we have previously covered the NV7000-t 1TB, which we came away pretty satisfied with how it performed relative to the price. Will they pull off the same thing again with the ZX10 we are evaluating today? Read on to find out!
Our review unit of the Netac ZX10 2TB arrived in a small brown corrugated cardboard box from Shenzhen, China, which is often referred to as the Silicon Valley of China. Using the DHL Express Worldwide service, everything arrived in excellent condition to us here in Calgary, Alberta, Canada for our review today.
I am personally new to the Netac brand, but my colleague Aaron Lai has previously reviewed the NV7000-t 1TB. The compact retail box is based off the same template as the NV7000-t. so you can see the ZX10 retail package's family resemblance. As you can see in our photo above, the predominantly black and white design is complemented by areas of shiny finishes, particularly a stylized "t" from the brand itself. A photo of the ZX10 portable SSD is shown in front of a printed circuit board outline drawing. At the top, you will find Netac's logo and product description. You can also see its interface and operating system compatibility. On the opposite corner, the ZX10 model number is listed as well as a badge signifying it can pull up to 1050MB/s. The drive's capacity is printed on a sticker in the top right corner. System requirements and specifications can be found at the back of the box.
Before we move on, let us take a look at the features and specifications of the Netac ZX10 2TB, as obtained from the manufacturer's website:
Brand: Netac
Model: ZX10
Interface: USB 3.2 Gen 2
Transfer Speed: 1050MB/s
Capacity: 2TB
Color: Black + Silver
Size: 102mm x 30mm x 9.2mm
Material: Aluminum alloy
Compatible with: Windows/Mac/Linux/Android
Warranty: 3 years
Out of the box, everything is neatly laid out thanks to a white plastic tray, small foam bracket, and the fact there is not a whole lot of stuff to begin with. You will receive the Netac ZX10 2TB itself, USB Type-C to USB Type-C cable, USB Type-C to USB Type-A cable, leatherette carrying case, and a multi-language user manual. This is a practical bundle that contains a little more than the usual USB SSD, but I am always appreciative of having both USB Type-C and USB Type-A cables along with a carrying case.
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
