Technology is one thing that we can always count on continuing to innovate, year after year. One thing that we haven’t seen, is a tank-like, heavy-duty, water-proof SSD that not only deals with abuse but works like a dream. OWC’s Envoy Pro Elektron Portable NVMe SSD is something extremely unique to itself. I was lucky enough to get some hands-on with a 1TB version of the drive and found myself totally taken back by what was delivered to me. This is one of, if not the most versatile SSDs on the market today.

What’s In The Box

Upon opening the box for the Envoy Pro Elektron, you’ll find everything you need to get you going. You’ll find the SSD itself, as well as it’s nifty little USB Type-C cable that sports a swappable male USB 3.0 and another USB Type-C on the other end. Everything is bundled together in a nice small package that fits right in the palm of your hand. It gives off the right vibes that the company was going for with this drive’s size.

Aesthetics and Build Quality

When actually talking about the feel of the SSD, it’s extremely tiny. Don’t let its small stature fool you though. This bite-sized morsel is really weighty and feels sturdy like a phonebook. It’s a dense little thing that I think would make it back in one piece even if I were to skip it down a hallway. I feel like it would only do damage to what’s in its path and walk away unscathed. It’s extremely pleasing to hold because of its cold metal exterior too. Luckily, it does have some rubber feet on the bottom of it so that it doesn’t scratch what it’s on top of.

The cable included is also very well made. It’s a small and thick cable that feels like it too was made with the best materials. I’m actually pretty happy that the cable isn’t too much longer than it is as it’s about 3 feet which is a standard size that should accommodate most. The swappable heads on the other end lock into each other very well and give a click when they snap together. They’re held by a little cord so that you don’t have to worry about losing the attachable head.

Carrying this thing around would be very easy to do. It’s smaller than a credit card in height and width, making it perfect to toss in a purse, backpack, or even a larger wallet. I could also see this being a go-to for folks that need to bring a portable SSD with them to and from work. Popping around my house and plugging this into all of my test subjects was extremely easy due to its small stature and durability. HDDs and even SSDs can be pretty delicate, so it felt nice to have no worries about it falling off of something.

Synthetic Performance

OWC boasts that the Envoy Pro Elektron 1TB Portable NVM SSD is 2x faster than other portable SSDs. It can actually get up to 1011MB/s given the situation. I ran a test on CrystalDiskMark and came to find that it does exactly what OWC says it does. I was able to get it just shy of that 1011MB/s and am extremely pleased. Keep in mind that this is simply running off of a USB 3.2 Gen 2 so it’s pretty amazing to see how quick it is. My PC port is actually only a USB 3.1 Gen 2, so I’m sure that made the slight difference.

Real-World Performance

Next, I tried to compare it on my consoles by testing how quickly my games would boot up and transfer to the Envoy Pro Elektron. I compared it with both my PS4 and Xbox One X’s internal HDDs as well as an external Western Digital EasyStore 8TB HDD on my Xbox One X. The overall findings are actually quite interesting. There are vast improvements in speed coming from the Envoy Pro Elektron that I’ll get into below.

PS4

Cyberpunk 2077

Internal (PS4) - 49.13s

Envoy Pro Elektron - 43.61s

Transfer - 24.35 minutes

Xbox One X

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War

Internal (Xbox One X) - 39.23

WD EasyStore (Xbox One X) - 45.47s

Envoy Pro Elektron - 29.80s

Transfer - 13.42 minutes

On all booting fronts, the clear winner is the Envoy Pro Elektron. Keep in mind that CoD is about 98GB and Cyberpunk is about 110GB for transferring findings. I also loved transferring files from my phone to the PC. It’s a seamless transfer from my phone to the SSD to my computer that took only seconds.

What It Could Have Done Better

The only knock that I can give the Envoy Pro Elektron is the price tag. It’s a retail price of $199.00 which can make it hard for some to get their hands on. The thing is though, this is a one of a kind piece of tech at the moment. You can’t buy something like this from anyone else, so if you want it, then that’s the price you’ll have to pay. Is it worth the price? I’d say yes, but again, to others, it might be a tougher sell.

Verdict

OWC has not halted in providing true quality products that aim to innovate technology. The Envoy Pro Elektron is an extremely portable SSD that performs far beyond what you may think just looking at it. Not only is it a star athlete in performance, but it’s also a gladiator in its durability and toughness. Swapping it between my PC, phone, PS4, and Xbox One X was a dream and I’ve never felt more comfortable with the quality of a tech product in my life. This is a must-have for folks that are tech wizards as it’s the magic wand of SSDs.