The ADATA SE800 is the company’s newest high-performance external SSD. Lightweight and compact, this new portable SSD leverages the USB 3.2 Gen 2 interface and is designed for content professionals dealing with large files or simply those consistently need to transfer a lot of data very fast. It is also ideal for gamers looking for supplemental storage on their PS4 or Xbox One consoles. Over the past few years, ADATA has been the go-to brand for inexpensive storage products that give consumers a great bang for their buck.
The ADATA SE800 is the company’s newest high-performance external SSD. Lightweight and compact, this new portable SSD leverages the USB 3.2 Gen 2 interface and is designed for content professionals dealing with large files or simply those consistently need to transfer a lot of data very fast. It is also ideal for gamers looking for supplemental storage on their PS4 or Xbox One consoles. Over the past few years, ADATA has been the go-to brand for inexpensive storage products that give consumers a great bang for their buck.
As far as performance goes, ADATA quotes read and write speeds up to 1000MB/s. ADATA also focuses on durability with the SE800, as it meets both the IEC IP68 and MILSTD-810G 516.6 standards. The former means that it is completely dust resistance and can operate normally in 1.5m of water past 30 minutes, while the latter means that it can withstand impacts from accidental drops and is shock-resistant. That said, these dust and waterproof rating claims only apply when the USB-C port cover is firmly closed.
Backed by a 3-year warranty, the ADATA SE800 is available in 512GB and 1TB capacities priced at $100 and $190, respectively. We are looking at the 512GB for this review.
ADATA SE800 SSD Specifications
| Cacacity | 512GB / 1TB |
| Color | Blue / Black |
| Dimensions (L x W x H) | 72.7 x 44 x 12.2 mm / 2.8 x 1.7 x 0.4 inch |
| Weight | 40g / 1.4oz |
| Interface |
USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C (backward compatible with USB USB 2.0) |
| System requirements |
Windows 8/8.1/10, Mac OS X 10.6 or later, Linux Kernel 2.6 or later, Android 5.0 or later with no device driver needed |
| Warranty | Limited 3-year |
Design and Build
At under 3 inches long and under 2 inches wide, the ADATA SE800 is an extremely portable and durable SSD. It features a nice hairline-brushed surface design and is available in blue and black models.
The top of the device features the ADATA branding, while the bottom of the device has information such as certifications and capacity.
On the side of the device is the USB-C (Type C) connector, which is protected by a rotating cover. Because this type of connection is reversible, you’ll always be able to plug it in on the first attempt. The side cover takes a bit of effort to remove and expose the USB-C port; however, this means that it will also stay in place if dropped or tossed in a back pack.
Performance
To test the performance of the ADATA SE800, we will cover two different areas of analysis: (1) the BlackMagic disk speed test and (2) the 2MB sequential and random transfer speeds via IOMeter. We will be comparing the SE800 to the company's earlier SE730H.
We tested drives using a current generation MacBook Air via the Blackmagic Disk Speed Test with a 5GB test file. The ADATA drive posted 806.2MB/s read and 475.7MB/s write in this setting. A big step up from the SE730H's 425.3MB/s read and 407.9MB/s write.
For the IOMeter portion, we connected the ADATA drive to our HP Zbook 15 G6 workstation and looked at sequential and random transfer speeds with a 2MB test, as well as random transfer speeds with a 4k test. For sequential read and writes it posted 665MB/s and 582.21MB/s, respectively, while the SE730H measured 399.23MB/s read and 380.21MB/s write. Our random 2MB test showed 496.09MB/s read and 457.65MB/s write, with the SE730H having 349.4MB/s read and 384.2MB/s write.
For Random 4k transfers, the ADATA recorded 3,121.48 IOPS read 8,406.66 IOPS write.
Conclusion
Nicely designed and portable, the SE800 is another solid release by ADATA. It is a very durable device and features certified protection against water, shock and impact, making this portable SSD a reliable companion for professionals on the go. Despite not quite living up to the quoted numbers by ADATA, the SE800 still performed well in our benchmark tests; users will be able to swiftly transfer large files to and from computers with read speeds over 800MB/s (as noted in our BlackMagic test). The SE800 is a huge step up from the previous SE730H model.
For pricing, the 1TB model currently goes for $190, which is roughly $40 more than the Samsung T5 portable SSD of the same capacity. However, the SE800 boasts significantly better performance, including its 665MB/s read and 582.21MB/s write vs. the T5's 426.62MB/s read and 406.39MB/s write in sequential transfer speeds.
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