SanDisk Extreme 500 Portable USB 3.0 SSD review - Introduction

Small portable storage with proper performance

We review the  SanDisk Extreme 500 Portable SSD. It a very fast portable storage unit based on USB 3.0. Combined with the DNA of an SSD it can reach over 400 MB/sec on both reads and over 300 MB/sec writes - making this a VERY fast and easy to carry around portable SSD. Our sample has been equipped with 240 GB storage space and if you are on the move, this great device might just be what you need in terms of fast data you can travel with.

The SanDisk Extreme 500 Portable SSD external storage drive is a thin external storage unit, lightweight as well. It is compatible with USB 3.0. (also known as SuperSpeed USB) has a maximum bandwidth rate of 5 gbps (gigabits per second). That would be to 625 MBPs (megabytes per second), ten times faster than USB 2.0 (aka Hi-Speed USB). The 500 series are available in three volume sizes, 120GB, 240GB and 480GB. The 240GB as tested today starts at roughly 95 EURO (40 cents per GB). These units are shockproof and vibration proof SSDs feature a USB 3.0 connection interface (USB 2.0 backward compatible) and come with SanDisk SecureAccess software that provides 128-bit AES file encryption and password protection so that you may add a layer of security towards the unit.

Depending on the volume sizes these drives have sequential read/write speeds of up to 415/340 MB/s (120GB & 240GB models) and 430/400 MB/s (480GB model). Interested already? Well have a peek with the help of a photo first and then head onwards into the review.

SanDisk Extreme 500 - 240GB - USB 3.0