OWC Envoy Pro Elektron portable SSD review

OWC Envoy Pro Elektron: 30-second review

The OWC Envoy Pro Elektron joins the company's range of compact portable storage solutions designed for creatives.

We've tested the best portable SSDs but this one really caught our eye. The overall look and style are minimalistic, with the small design easily slipping into a jacket or kit bag pocket without adding much weight or bulk. The exterior is simple, featuring an all-metal build with a status light on the front, a USB Type-C port at the back, and a logo on top. On the base are two rubber strips along with a model info label.

The simplicity of the design also reflects the toughness of the drive. As soon as you lift it from the desk you can feel the additional weight afforded by that reinforced case. It's not heavy, but it's heavier than you'd expect for such a small device. This extra weight comes from the thick metal casing that is not just designed to protect the drive from minor knocks, but to survive being run over, thrown, and generally subjected to conditions that would ordinarily destroy a drive of this type.

That robust build continues throughout the design with the USB Type-C port, which, despite being open to the elements and without a protective rubber cap, still enables the drive to be IP67 certified. The drive is essentially built like a tank and able to survive being crushed (though perhaps not by an actual tank) as well as being submerged in water. Sure enough, in testing, the drive withstood more than most, and even after being run over and submerged, it continued to function without issue.

While the drive's strength is its main feature, speed is another important consideration. Inside is an NVMe SSD, enabling ultra-fast transfer rates. While it doesn't feature the latest connection technology, its data transfer speeds are still impressive and more than enough for HD and 4K video editing, image manipulation, and audio editing.

If you need a drive that can withstand the elements and rough handling while providing ample storage capacity and speed, the OWC Envoy Pro Elektron is an excellent choice—and one of the few with this level of protection.

OWC Envoy Pro Elektron: Price & availability

The OWC Envoy Pro Elektron is available in multiple storage capacities, typically ranging from 4800GB to 4TB. Pricing for the drive varies depending on the capacity, starting around £129 ($129 USD) for the 4800GB model and going up to approximately £529 ($529 USD) for the 4TB version. Availability is through major online retailers, including OWC's website, Amazon, and other electronics and computer accessory stores.

• Score: 4/5

OWC Envoy Pro Elektron: Design & build

The OWC Envoy Pro Elektron has been designed to be small and compact at 12mm x 76mm x 52mm, making it ideal for slipping into a jacket or kit bag pocket, taking up minimal space. While small and extremely simple in design, the all-metal aluminium casing adds a bit of weight at 85g, more than you'd expect from a device of this size but reassuring in terms of durability. With an IP67 rating, this is up there with the best rugged hard drives we've reviewed - a happy middle-ground for who need a robust, portable SSD.

The drive connects via a single cable that handles both data transfer and bus power, which is common for compact external drives. A nice touch from OWC is the inclusion of a USB Type-C cable with a Type-A adapter to maximise compatibility across different machines. On the exterior, there's a status light at the front that glows bright blue when the device is connected and flashes during transfers to indicate that the drive is in use—standard but useful features.

Aside from the single USB Type-C 3.2 port at the back and the status light, there are no other buttons or ports, keeping the exterior sleek and minimalistic. Another nice addition and finishing touch are the two rubber strips on the base, these provide better grip when the drive is placed on a desk or other surfaces, preventing it from sliding around during use.

• Design & build: 5/5

OWC Envoy Pro Elektron: Features

OWC is an interesting company, very much driven by the real-world use of its products. It's not difficult to find professionals who swear by OWC gear. The Envoy Pro Elektron is designed as a compact, go-anywhere portable SSD that's simple in design yet capable of quickly transferring and storing large quantities of data, all while withstanding extreme conditions.

Starting with speed, which is usually the headline feature of any external SSD, OWC quotes several different transfer rates for the drive. The blister pack states transfer rates of up to 1011MB/s, while the website cites 996MB/s in real-world tests, highlighting similar benchmarking software to what we use here at techradar.com.

The drive is also USB 3.2 Type-C, offering up to 10GB/s transfer rates via the single bus-powered cable connection. It's great to see OWC opting for the most common generation of USB 3.2, ensuring that on almost every modern system, you'll likely achieve the quoted speeds. This contrasts with many manufacturers that produce drives using USB 3.2 Gen 2x2, which is often throttled back to slower speeds for machines that aren't equiped with that exact connection type.

This connection also means the drive is fully compatible with a wide range of devices, including Macs, PCs, iPad Pros, and Chromebooks.

The standout feature of the drive, as mentioned earlier, is its durability. It is crushproof, dustproof, and waterproof to IP67, meaning it can survive being submerged in water up to 1 metre deep for 30 minutes. The durable, aircraft-grade aluminium casing is impressive and helps dissipate heat when the drive is working hard. As the drive is solid-state, there are no fans, so cooling is entirely passive through the case—this reduces potential points of failure and ensures the drive operates completely silently

Due to its design and connection type, the drive can launch apps on a Mac, which is handy if you have a Mac with a smaller internal SSD and need to offload larger or less frequently used apps to external storage.

It's also worth mentioning that the drive is Innergize enabled, software from OWC. This software enables you to monitor and manage the drive's health and performance and apply firmware updates as they become available

• Features 5/5

OWC Envoy Pro Elektron: Performance

The small Envoy Pro Elektron's size and simplicity means that it hardly adds any weight or bulk to you kit bag. Although the drive feels heavier than expected at first glance, it's still extremely light at 85g—lighter than most larger external hard drives with similar capacity.

The drive includes a 38cm USB Type-C cable, which comes with a handy USB Type-A adapter. Together, they make for a neat package that can easily slip into any small side pocket.

In use the drive connected quickly and for the first test, it was formatted to APFS for use with Mac systems. Upon first connection, the software guides you through the formatting and system compatibility setup, in just a couple of simple clicks you're done and the drive is ready to use. We ran several tests running some of the best video editing software and best audio editors for performance.

Used with Logic and Final Cut Pro X, the drive performed as expected, handling work as a fast, reliable drive with transfer speeds more than sufficient for most 4K ProRes edits. During long editing sessions, the 1TB capacity was slightly limiting, but with 2TB and 4TB versions available, there is greater flexibility. Speed and performance remained consistent throughout, with the drive becoming warm but never hot. Notably, there was no noise from the drive, although the Mac's fans spun up occasionally as the M1 Max processor was pushed.

When switching to a PC, the drive required reformatting to ExFat. In Premiere Pro and Audition, the drive again performed well, handling data transfer demands without issue and becoming warm but again not hot.

In real-world tests, the drive provided the storage and transfer speeds required by the applications. While the 1TB capacity may be limiting for video, it's a good size for audio and image work.

Benchmark testing showed the drive performed exceptionally well, with varying results depending on the application used. Read and write speeds were fast across the board, confirming the drive is an ideal companion for most content creators.

Beyond performance testing, the IP67 rating called for a durability check. The first test was to run over the drive, and aside from a few scratches and some dirt, it survived. Plugged back into the Mac, it was instantly recognised, and performance matched the speeds recorded prior to the test.

Next, the drive was submerged in water for 30 minutes. After drying and clearing water from the port, it was plugged in again and mounted without issue.

After these tests, the drive's exterior showed marks and scratches as expected from such handling, but it continued to perform exceptionally well despite the tough conditions.

• Performance: 5/5

Should you buy the OWC Envoy Pro Elektron?

If you need a fast, high-capacity portable SSD, the OWC Envoy Pro Elektron is a great choice on many levels, although you are paying extra for its robust build.

As a portable SSD, its compact size and light weight are appealing. With a range of capacities, it caters to a variety of users—from musicians and photographers to videographers and general content creators. The transfer rates make it an ideal solution for anyone needing a fast working drive capable of handling high-definition multi-track audio and 4K video editing.

What really sets this drive apart is its toughness and small size. You can easily pack it into any bag or jacket pocket without adding noticeable weight. Unlike other SSDs, you don't need to worry about the drive if it gets wet or bashed around in transit—this drive will survive, making it a great choice for those on the road or travelling.

The speed will meet most creative demands for a wide range of users, but the rugged build and IP67 rating will particularly appeal to broadcast industry professionals, content creators, and musicians. The OWC Envoy Pro Elektron serves as a reliable on-the-go storage solution.

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For more storage, we reviewed the best external hard drives and best external hard drive for Mac.