Adata sd600q review in Spanish (full analysis)

This beginning of the year 2020 will bring us great news, and one of them is this ADATA SD600Q, a now portable high-performance SSD drive. ADATA is one of the most prominent manufacturers of storage solutions and it is not the only portable SSD we have, but it is the best quality / price ratio.

The model we analyzed comes in a plastic encapsulation with a rubber cover that protects it from fatal blows. Its performance is around 440 MB / s thanks to its USB 3.2 Gen1 connection, available in 240, 480 and 960 GB, it is the ideal complement to get rid of mechanical units once and for all.

Before we continue, we thank ADATA for trusting us in giving us this portable SSD for analysis.

ADATA SD600Q technical characteristics

Unboxing

We start this review of the ADATA SD600Q with its corresponding unboxing. In this case, the portable SSD has arrived in a good flexible cardboard box, all screen-printed in different colors of the brand, accompanied by photographs of this giant flash drive and some of its specifications.

Inside, we find the product in a semi-rigid transparent plastic sandwich mold that will help protect it with guarantees during transport. Besides the main product we have the user manual in different languages and the USB cable to connect it to our equipment.

A presentation if no other extra or anything like that, so we continue now with the design and its background.

External design

This analysis will not be very different from that of an internal SSD, since ultimately it is about oneself arrived at an external package with integrated drivers. This ADATA SD600Q is far from the first portable SSD released to the market by the manufacturer, since a long time ago the ADATA SD700 already appeared. This unit was a revelation since it is available in capacities of up to 1 TB with a performance that a priori should be somewhat higher than this because it has the hardware of an ADATA SU800 SSD.

We will see the technical details later later. In this case, the manufacturer has opted for a quality / price ratio that is almost groundbreaking and accessible to most users. For this, it has used a square encapsulation and built in black ABS plastic of good thickness and rigidity. In fact, we haven't even been able to open it to explore the interior, although it does not have IPX water and dust certification. We say this because this package could easily have been sealed, but of course, something has to be cut. You can draw our attention to those torx-type screw heads in the corners, but it is nothing more than decoration and they are made of plastic.

On the plastic frame we have a thin rubber cover that is responsible for protecting both the central area and the corners against possible falls. The ADATA SD600Q has US military MIL-STD-810G 516.6 certification, withstanding 1.22m drops with warranties. In fact, seeing the encapsulation and its design we could even step on it without problems, although the plastic is not totally rigid. It is available in three different colors, specifically this rubber protection: black, red and blue.

In the lateral areas we have absolutely nothing for the sole purpose of a Micro B type connector widely used for this type of external units to replace the USB Type-A that we will find at the other end. Unlike the SD700, it does not have a protective rubber cap, so it will be an exposed port. The final measurements of the set will be 80 square mm and 15.2 mm thick, weighing only 60 grams. Surely it could have been smaller, and we intuit that inside it there will be a PCB practically the same as the one existing in the 2.5 ”ADATA.

Features and benefits

Now we go on to see in more detail the internal specifications of the ADATA SD600Q, checking to what end we are dealing with an internal SSD tucked inside an external plastic casing. It is obvious, the technology used is the same for both, so it is an excellent decision.

And if we check for example with CristalDiskInfo this ADATA SD600Q, we will discover that we are talking about the same configuration as the ADATA SU630 SSDs. It was the first SSD with 96-layer 3D NAND memories of QLC type that the manufacturer launched on the market, so we are dealing with medium / low range memories, so to speak, as they support fewer write / erase cycles than TLC. Specifically, we talk about 100 TBW as a limited warranty in its three years for this 480 GB unit, 50 TBW for the 240 GB one and 200 TBW for the 960 GB one.

The controller that we would have inside should also be the same as managing the SU630, that is, a MAS0902A from Maxio Technology. In this case logically the amount of operations is reduced, since the interface is a little slower than SATA, translating into 440 MB / s for reading and 440 MB / s for writing, using for this purpose USB 3.2 Gen1 interface, or what which is the same, USB 3.1 Gen1 or simply USB 3.0, which provides a bandwidth of 5 Gbps that would be about 650 MB / s theoretical and much less in reality.

In this case we do not have software available for management as is normal, losing that capacity typical of internal SSD drives. In its place we have the possibility of hot-plugging like any other flash drive and perfect compatibility with all kinds of operating systems.

In this case we would have liked that, instead of using Micro B as a port, it was directly a USB Type-A or much better a USB Type-C. The version used is consistent, since with 3.2 Gen2 we would not be taking advantage of the full potential of the bus, which would be 10 Gbps.

Test equipment and benchmarks

We now turn to the battery of tests corresponding to this ADATA SD600Q. To do this, we have used the following test bench:

TESTING BENCH
Processor:	Intel i9-9900K
Base plate:	Asus Maximus Formula XI
Memory:	16GB DDR4 T-Force
Heatsink	Corsair H100i Platinum SE
HDD	ADATA SD600Q 480 GB
Graphic card	Gigabyte RTX 2080 Super
Power supply	Cooler Master V850 Gold

The tests to which we have submitted this SSD are as follows:

Windows Explorer Crystal Disk MarkAS SSD BenchmarkATTO Disk BenchmarkAnvil´s Storage

All these programs are in current versions, and although it is true that in this case it is a USB-connected drive, it is worth seeing what its performance is as a normal SSD with its external condition. Remember not to abuse these tests in your units, since the life time is reduced.

Low performance USB 3.2 Gen1

Low performance USB 3.2 Gen2

The most important for us will be the performance in the file transfer. Which we have tested on both USB 3.2 Gen1 and USB 3.2 Gen2 to see the differences. And the truth is that we have obtained greater speed in the Gen1 interface as you see in the screenshot. We have tried it several times to verify, and we have always obtained better results in its native interface. We are not reaching the 440 MB / s that it promises, but it is much higher than the typical flash drives on duty.

The performance in the benchmark programs is closer to its specifications, around 410 MB / s in reading and slightly less, 350 MB / s in writing, and a little more in CristalDiskMark.

Final words and conclusion about the ADATA SD600Q

We finish this review of the ADATA SD600Q, an external SSD that has left us with a very good taste, especially for its good quality / price ratio.

As for the design, it is true that they are not precisely premium finishes as they are based on hard plastic and rubber, and a metal casing would have made it much more elegant. But it fulfills what it promises, security, portability and also available in various colors. An IPX certification would also have come in handy.

The performance has been very satisfactory, as it far exceeds standard flash drives and of course portable hard drives, which is ultimately what this drive is trying to replace. 300 MB / s transfer is excellent figures, with which we could copy a 4K movie in 2.2 minutes, and twice as fast as between two HDDs.

We recommend our guide to the best SSDs of the moment.

As for the interface, choosing USB 3.2 Gen1 is the right thing to do due to the performance of its hardware, which inherits it directly from an ADATA SU630, with NAND 3D QLC and 3.2 Gen2 would be pointless. But the SDD port could have been USB-C instead of Micro B or even USB-C at both ends to be more portable and suitable for more devices.

Finally, the price of this 480 GB ADATA SD600Q we analyzed is 77.50 euros, an even lower figure than most SATA SSDs. The 240 GB version is at 49.90 euros and the 960 GB version at a very good 120 euros. If we plan to transport large amounts of data, it is certainly the right choice.

ADVANTAGE	DISADVANTAGES
+ QUALITY / PRICE	- NO IPX PROTECTION
+ MUCH FASTER THAN AN EXTERNAL HDD: +300 MB / S	- DOES NOT USE USB TYPE-C
+ GOOD PORTABILITY	- QLC MEMORIES INSTEAD OF TLC
+ SHOCK RESISTANT ENCAPSULATED
+ SIZES OF 240, 480 AND UP TO 960 GB

The Professional Review team awards him the gold medal:

ADATA ASD600Q-480GU31-CBK SD600Q

Up to 440/430 mb / s read / write speed with smart 3d nandCach slc flash and dram memory memory Compatible with windows, mac os, android, xbox one, ps4M consoles lighter, quieter, shock resistant, and more durable than external hard drives