The recent fallout from the CrowdStrike update served as a timely reminder of just how much we rely on our technology and the precious data stored on it. Although more of us are now storing data in the cloud, there’s still nothing like having a local and physical backup of your most important data. I’ve got into the habit of backing up my work files daily with a simple routine powered by Get Back Up Pro 3 from Belight Software.
Once you’ve developed that good habit of regularly backing up, you’re going to want somewhere reliable and affordable for storing it. There are plenty of external SSDs on the market and they vary from slow and cheap USB thumb drives, all the way up to ultra-fast Thunderbolt drives that can back up huge slices of data in moments.
OWC is a U.S. brand that makes a wide range of data storage solutions with a particular leaning towards those of us who use Macs for our work. However, OWC drives play nicely with Windows and other systems as well, but it’s good to know that a company like OWC is comfortable supporting those of us who love our Macs.
To strike a balance between speed and affordability, OWC has produced a tiny drive called the Envoy. This compact SSD is superbly rugged and about the same size as a small box of matches. It’s small enough to slip comfortably into the ticket pocket on a pair of jeans, plus its housing is made from aircraft-grade aluminum which offers excellent cooling properties preventing thermal throttling.
The Envoy is available in 1TB and 2TB capacities and can work with a huge range of devices thanks to its USB 3.2 Gen 2 interface with a Type C port. The Envoy also works with USB 4 and Thunderbolt ports and can be mounted on Macs, iPads, PCs or docking stations.
This little SSD ships pre-formatted as an APFS drive so it’s ready to get to work with most Macs. For PC users, the OWC can be easily reformatted with a different file structure for use with Windows, but it’s so good to see a drive that ships with APFS rather than ExFAT. Incidentally, OWC makes software called MacDrive (sold separately) which enables an Envoy formatted with APFS to be read by a Windows PC if you want to work between the two platforms.
The Envoy SSD is aimed at the consumer end of the market and it’s ideal for digital nomads and people working from home or anyone capturing video on location as is bus-powered. The Envoy is rated at 10GB/s or 1,250MB/s. In my trials, using Blackmagic Speed Test, I managed to clock a maximum write speed of 910.8MB/s while the read speed came in slightly lower at 716.5MB/s.
Registering slower real-world speeds over the quoted ones is perfectly normal and in day-to-day use, the Envoy is certainly no slouch. It passed speed tests for nearly all functions up to streaming 12K DCI 60 video.
To give an example of how much a 1TB Envoy can hold, that capacity is the equivalent of storing 250,000 photos or 200 hi-res movies. Or to put it another way, that’s 24 PS4/Xbox games or 4.3 million MS Office documents. That’s quite a lot of storage which nets out at 960GB when formatted.
The OWC Envoy comes with free custom apps like OWC’s Copy That Mobile. This handy bit of software is a fast and easy way to copy photos and videos directly from an iPhone or iPad to the SSD, helping free up precious internal storage space on a smartphone while also protecting valuable data with its three-step Connect, Select, and Click backup process.
Verdict: Other SSDs on the market might be slightly cheaper, but I like that OWC thoroughly tests its data storage products and that they work so well with Apple products straight out of the box. OWC tortures its products with real-world serious abuse during the product development process, which means they offer a good level of reliability. I’ve yet to have an OWC drive fail on me so far—fingers crossed. If you’re looking for a great balance between price, speed and reliability, the OWC Envoy is hard to beat and it takes up hardly any space in your laptop bag. Highly Recommended.
Pricing & Availability: The Envoy SSD is available now from OWC and costs $119.76 for the 1TB version or $217.76 for 2TB.
Tech Specs:
- Capacity: 1TB / 2TB.
- SSD: OWC Aura Pro IV PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 2242 SSD.
- Boot support: Mac only.
- Drive format: APFS for Mac and iPad systems
- Device ports: USB 3.2 Gen 2 (USB-C) up to 10Gb/s (1250MB/s) – USB 2.0/3.0 backward compatible.
- Data transfer rate (max): USB 3.2 Gen 2: Up to 10 Gb/s (or 1,250 MB/s).
- Chipset/controller: Jmicron JMS-583.
- Host interface: USB-C or USB-A.
- Mac OS compatibility: macOS 10.13 – 14.x Sonoma.
- PC OS Compatibility: Windows 10 64-bit Edition, Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2022, Windows 11.
- Mobile compatibility: iPadOS 13 – iPadOS 17, Android 13.x, iOS 17, iOS 16.
- Power supply: Bus-powered.
- Security slot: No.
- Activity LED: Yes.
- Dimensions (HxLxW): 12 x 71 x 38mm.
- Weight: 44.5g.
