Silicon Power has recently sent us their new all-around tough portable HDD for review. The Silicon Power A66 comes in multiple different capacities: 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, and even 5TB. The A66 is designed for tough conditions in the field with a drop rating of 1.22 meters and an IPX4 water-resistant rating.
Silicon Power has recently sent us their new all-around tough portable HDD for review. The Silicon Power A66 comes in multiple different capacities: 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, and even 5TB. The A66 is designed for tough conditions in the field with a drop rating of 1.22 meters and an IPX4 water-resistant rating.
This drive was designed for rugged conditions, but also has a sleek design so as to not stand out in the office. These portable HDD’s also have an advanced suspension system to increase shock absorption. Along with the unique build element embedded into the inside of the A66, there shouldn’t be many places where data is at risk due to bumps and bruises with this drive.
These guys start at $69.99 for the 2TB capacity at Amazon.
Silicon Power Armor A66 Specifications
| Capacity | 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, 5TB |
| Dimensions | 139.2mm x 96.0mm x 16.2mm (1TB/2TB), 139.2mm x 96.0mm x 24.0mm (4TB/5TB) |
| Weight | 209g (1TB/2TB), 328g (4TB/5TB) |
| Material | Rubber + Plastic |
| Colors | Black/Black, Black/Blue, Black/Yellow |
| Interface | USB 3.2 Gen 1 (USB 3.0, USB 2.0 backwards-compatible) |
| Support OS | Windows 10/8.1/8/7/Vista/XP 64-Bit, Mac OS 10.5.x, Linux 2.6.x
*Reformatting required for use with Mac OS |
| Operating Temperature | 5°C – 55°C |
| Storage Temperature | -40°C – 70°C |
| Operation Voltage | DC 5V |
| Certifications | CE, FCC, BSMI, Green dot, WEEE, RoHS, KC, RCM |
| Warranty | 3 years |
Silicon Power Armor A66 Design and Build
The design and build of this external, portable hard drive have been very solid. There are a couple of layers that protect that physical hard drive. As shown in the exploded diagram below.
On the inside, Silicon Power has designed an advanced suspension system for the drive ensuring that all impact that the unit sustains is reduced. The advanced suspension system also increases shock absorption to ensure that the data on the drive is well maintained and isn’t lost upon impacts. This suspension system is largely due to the silicone that protects the drive.
This drive comes with an IPX4-level water-resistant shield that ensures that the drive is able to handle water that comes at it in any direction. With this rating of IPX4, it is important to remember that this means that the drive isn’t water-resistant once fully submerged. The rating of IPX4 means that if water is splashed on it in any direction, it will be resistant to it. The biggest factor that makes this drive only water-resistant is shown below. The cover for the USB port cover of this drive is pushed into the silicone, it doesn’t snap or lock into place. This is largely what makes the drive only have a water-resistant rating as opposed to a waterproof rating.
The drive also has a handy notch on the top of the case. This notch is used to hold the USB 3.2 Gen 1 cable in place so that it can’t get lost. When we tested the notch, the cable actually stays in the grove fairly well. Rest assured that there isn’t going to be a problem of losing this small cable as long as it is tucked into the drive.
Silicon Power Armor A66 Performance
For our performance testing, we used Blackmagic’s popular Disk Speed Test. We did test both drives that we received. The 2TB A66 that we tested was able to get 112.4MB/s read and 117.1MB/s write, which is okay for a 2.5″ hard drive.
For the 5TB A66, it tested at 113.4MB/s read and 119.2MB/s write. These speeds aren’t the fastest, however, that isn’t the main selling point of this drive.
Our next and last test is IOMeter, which we ran single-threaded. The performance is in line with what we expect from a consumer 2.5-inch drive. It won’t seem at all impressive if you’re used to looking at solid-state drive benchmarks, but again the most unique aspect of this portable HDD is the build and design aspect of this drive.
| IOMeter (1-Thread) 2TB Model | |
| Test | Result |
| 2MB sequential write | 117.7MB/s |
| 2MB sequential read | 120.3MB/s |
| 2MB random write | 112.5MB/s |
| 2MB random read | 47.3MB/s |
| 4K random write | 2,085.3 IOPS |
| 4K random read | 102.8 IOPS |
| IOMeter (1-Thread) 5TB Model | |
| Test | Result |
| 2MB sequential write | 117.6MB/s |
| 2MB sequential read | 121.5MB/s |
| 2MB random write | 110.9MB/s |
| 2MB random read | 114.9MB/s |
| 4K random write | 2393.5 IOPS |
| 4K random read | 280 IOPS |
Conclusion
The Silicon Power A66 is the newest tough portable hard drive released by the company. With its all-terrain tough protective shell, this HDD can be taken most places with the peace of mind of data not being at risk due to physical damage. 
In terms of the performance aspect, this isn’t the quickest drive but the performance of this drive did what we expected given the 2.5″ HDD inside. At 120MB/s, the transfer speeds are good enough for offloading media content or housing video games, for instance.
Of course, there are other many options in this space, like the SanDisk’s G-Drive ArmorATD we reviewed not long ago. The A66 though is less expensive though, starting at $70, and is still really well-engineered. Also, we like that the cable isn’t fully integrated, giving the user a little more flexibility. Overall, it’s a strong effort for those that need physical data protection but don’t want to spend more than they need to accomplish that goal.
A66 Product Page at Amazon
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