The Lexar SL600 is a sleek portable SSD touting up to 2,000MB/s read and write – without the lights in the gaming-centric SL660.
The Lexar SL600 utilizes the quick USB 3.2 Gen2x2 interface and touts up to 2TB of storage. A little over a year ago we reviewed their previous external SSD, which was the SL660 Blaze. The SL600 differs from the SL660 Blaze in the fact that it falls under their Professional line (no lights). Otherwise, the drives are largely the same, with a unique shape that has plenty of room for a carabiner or other attachments.
Lexar SL600 Specifications
| Lexar SL600 | |
|---|---|
| Capacity | 1TB, 2TB |
| Interface | USB 3.2 Gen2x2 |
| Performance | Speed up to 2000MB/s read, Up to 2000MB/s write |
| Operating Temperature | -40°C ~ 85°C |
| Storage Temperature | -40°C ~ 85°C |
| Dimensions (LxWxH) | 112.6 mm x 59mm x 10.6mm(4.433” x 2.323” x 0.417”) |
| Weight | 64g / 0.141lbs |
Design and Build
Lexar took much of the same design as the SL660 Blaze with the SL600. The two drives are almost identical in size and shape. The only real visual changes between these two drives are a slight increase in width on the SL600, and the removal of the LED ring in the attachment loop to make the SL600 fit their Professional branding better. The SL600 also keeps a black and gray monochrome look to it.
The SL600 features the same aluminum top and bottom shell pieces as the SL660 as well as the composite middle section. Connectivity-wise, the SL600 has its USB C port on the bottom, directly opposite the attachment loop, which allows it to be used even when clipped to something like a bag. Another visual aspect of this drive is it has little slanted grooves around most of the perimeter that look like some sort of vent, but upon closer inspection, they’re there for aesthetics.
The Lexar Professional SL600 Portable SSD comes in three capacities and is available for $129.99 (MSRP) for 1TB and $174.99 for 2TB. It will also be available in a 4TB capacity at the end of Q2
Lexar SL600 Performance
We tested the SL600 on our Lenovo ThinkStation P520 with a USB 3.2 Gen2x2 add-on card. This is the same platform we use for most USB drive testing.
We will use the following drives for comparison to the SL600.
Blackmagic Disk Speed Test
Our first test with most storage devices is the Blackmagic Disk Speed Test. This test is single-threaded and uses a 5GB sample file to test the read and write speeds. Here we see the SL600 and SL660 pulling ahead of all of the other comparisons. Notably, the SL600 and SL660 perform fairly close to each other.
| Disk Speed Test | Lexar SL600 | Crucial X10 Pro | LaCie Rugged Mini | Samsung T9 | Lexar SL660 Blaze |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Write | 1728.3MB/s | 1,564.0MB/s | 1,592.3MB/s | 1,581.6MB/s | 1,611.1MB/s |
| Read | 1890.5MB/s | 1,723.1MB/s | 1,764.7MB/s | 1,566.0MB/s | 1,758.6MB/s |
IOMeter 1 Thread
The next test we run is the single-threaded IOMeter test. We will still see speeds a little lower than advertised in this test just due to its single-threaded nature. Again the SL600 did pretty well here and was on top for most of the tests, sometimes trading wins with the LaCie Rugged Mini, but not by a huge margin.
| IOMeter (1 Thread) |
Lexar SL600 | Crucial X10 Pro | LaCie Rugged Mini | Samsung T9 | Lexar SL660 Blaze |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seq 2MB Write | 1,423.40MB/s | 1,273.3MB/s | 1,352.0MB/s | 1,284MB/s | 1,298.27MB/s |
| Seq 2MB Read | 1,769.56MB/s | 1,591.5MB/s | 1,750.8MB/s | 1,355MB/s | 1,597.99MB/s |
| Random 2MB Write | 1,286.14MB/s | 1,104.1MB/s | 1,179.0MB/s | 1,355MB/s | 1,204.17MB/s |
| Random 2MB Read |
1,439.85MB/s | 1,242.8MB/s | 1,446.8MB/s | 1,117MB/s | 1,309.95MB/s |
| Random 4K Write | 20,635 IOPS | 19,988 IOPS | 21,339 IOPS | 16,643 IOPS | 19,589.63 IOPS |
| Random 4K Read | 4,878.83 IOPS | 4,609 IOPS | 4,889 IOPS | 4,441 IOPS | 4,313.64 IOPS |
IOMeter 4 Thread
Moving on to our final test, the IOMeter 4 Thread test will bring out more of the drive’s full potential. This time the SL600 came through and got the highest results on all of the 2MB tests, but fell behind a little on the 4k tests. Surprisingly the SL600 fell behind the SL660 in the Random 4K Write test, which was led by the X10 Pro. The SL600 also was barely beat by the LaCie Rugged Mini in the Random 4K Read and in the lead was the T9.
| IOMeter (4 Thread) |
Lexar SL600 | Crucial X10 Pro | LaCie Rugged Mini | Samsung T9 | Lexar SL660 Blaze |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seq 2MB Write | 1,906.68MB/s | 1,736.2MB/s | 1,775.3MB/s | 1,766MB/s | 1,790.09MB/s |
| Seq 2MB Read | 2,101.49MB/s | 1,966.9MB/s | 1,996.77MB/s | 1,944MB/s | 1,979.76MB/s |
| Random 2MB Write | 1,741.64MB/s | 1,447.9MB/s | 1,604.2MB/s | 1,493MB/s | 1,618.69MB/s |
| Random 2MB Read | 1,959.41MB/s | 1,863.8MB/s | 1,902.6MB/s | 1,468MB/s | 1,835.22MB/s |
| Random 4K Write | 60,755.19 IOPS | 67,206 IOPS | 61,906 IOPS | 32,358 IOPS | 64,145.92 IOPS |
| Random 4K Read | 16,361.77 IOPS | 15,333 IOPS | 16,610 IOPS | 18,925 IOPS | 14,329.8 IOPS |
Conclusion
At its core, the SL600 is an updated and more professional-oriented (RGB light delete) version of the SL660 that came out back in 2022. Just as the SL660 was good upon its release, the SL600 stands pretty strong as well with slight performance bumps over the SL660. It is also worth noting that some of these performance numbers on the SL600 fall within the margin of error to possibly have the same internals as the SL660 though we didn’t crack them open to confirm.
Pricing-wise, the SL600 is currently on B&H with a sale price of $89.99 for the 1TB variant and $139.99 for the 2TB, while the list price is $129.99 for the 1TB and $174.99 for the 2TB. B&H doesn’t have the 512GB variant at this time though. At this street pricing, the SL600 takes a pretty commanding lead for Price to Performance in the category.
Overall the Lexar SL600 utilizes the potential of the USB 3.2 Gen2x2 interface to get close to the advertised speeds. What’s even better is the street pricing on the SL600, Lexar looks to be going very aggressive on price point. The net result is a win for consumers, it’s a great performing drive that offers tremendous value making it very easy for us to recommend.
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