OWC Envoy Pro Mini (2024) review

OWC Envoy Pro Mini: 30-second review

The OWC Envoy Pro Mini takes a different approach to storage than most of the best portable SSDs we've tried - offering the capacity and speed of an external SSD in the compact form of a USB stick. The high-quality full aluminium build not only gives it a premium feel but also ensures durability. The design features a flip-over protective lid that enables you to switch from USB Type-A to Type-C connectors quickly. Our review unit features a 256GB capacity with the full line-up ranging from 256GB to 2TB of storage. Transfer rates up to 946MB/s are also impressive, which means that the OWC Envoy Pro Mini is ideal for mass storage and can be used as a working drive.

However, there could be some drawbacks to consider. The compact size, while convenient, could also make it easy to misplace. Additionally, as the drive is so small, it's likely to get hot during intensive use, such as video editing, which could impact performance. So the question is, will the OWC Envoy Pro Mini be able to deliver its full potential as one of the most compact and portable hard drives on the market?

OWC Envoy Pro Mini: Price & availability

The OWC Envoy Pro Mini is available for purchase directly from the OWC website and various authorized retailers. Pricing starts at $79.00 for the 250GB model and goes up to $199.00 for the 2TB model. The Envoy Pro Mini includes a USB-C (40Gb/s) cable, a protective cap, and a lanyard. It comes with a three-year OWC Limited Warranty.

• Score: 4/5

OWC Envoy Pro Mini: Design & build

The OWC Envoy Pro Mini offers the capacity and speed of an external SSD but in the compact form of a USB stick rather than a more traditionally shaped and sized portable hard drive. At first glance, there is little to tell this apart from an aforementioned USB stick, aside from its slightly lengthier body and the fact that it has a full metal build. Still, it remains small and compact, and inside the tough outer casing, our review unit features 256GB of high-speed storage, which can offer transfer rates up to 946MB/s.

The OWC Envoy Pro Mini is small, weighing in at 26g and measuring 11 x 80 x 17mm, with the all-metal exterior providing durability and that premium feel. At one end is a protective metal cap that covers the USB Type-C port, while at the other end is a blue LED status light that flashes to show the status and activity. The high build quality is evident throughout the design of the drive, with a textured section that, when pulled out, pivots around a central joint to reveal the USB Type-A connector. The addition of a lanyard hole is a nice design feature and helps enhance the design further. 

• Design & build: 4/5

OWC Envoy Pro Mini: Features

The OWC Envoy Pro Mini brings the performance of a full-sized SSD to a device that fits comfortably in your pocket. Its sleek, thumb drive-sized design offers high-speed storage that you can take anywhere. What's more, it's universally compatible, featuring plug-and-play functionality with USB or Thunderbolt (USB-C) ports on Macs, PCs, iPads, Chromebooks, Android tablets, and Surface devices.

When it comes to speed, the Envoy Pro Mini shouldn't disappoint, with OWC stating real-world data transfer rates of up to 946MB/s. This means that whether you're working with large multimedia files, backing up crucial data, or launching applications, this drive provides the speed you need. That combination of speed and capacity ensures versatility and makes it a great solution for a variety of uses, such as pro audio, photography, graphics, gaming, and general data storage or backup.

If you're concerned about data protection, then the Envoy Pro Mini is compatible with Apple Time Machine and Windows File History, which means that this no-fuss USB Stick design will act as an ideal solution for use with those systems to back up your files. While not strictly a professional use for the drive, it can be used as a storage solution for PlayStation and Xbox consoles, providing additional space and quick load times. When needed. Additionally, if you have presentations and video, then again, those fast transfer speeds and capacity means that it can essentially act as an entertainment hub, enabling you to playback presentations, videos, and music and view pictures on your Smart TV or projector just by simply plugging the drive into the USB port.

The Envoy Pro Mini isn't just for storage; it can also be used as a bootable drive, enabling you to start up your system and launch applications. This is a great solution for both Mac and Linux users, and those using Windows will be able to launch some applications and extras directly from the drive, helping to free up valuable disk space and an easy way to increase storage media for laptops. 

One of the key design elements is the slim design that ensures that adjacent ports remain accessible. Being small, like most other portable SSDs, it is bus-powered, meaning that the single USB connection will provide all the power that it needs to run. 

Being small, heat is a consideration, and the heat-dissipating machined aluminium housing helps to ensure that the Envoy Pro Mini makes no, audible noise and should remain cool even during intensive tasks.

• Features 4/5

OWC Envoy Pro Mini: Performance

For those looking for the best external hard drive for Mac, the OWC Envoy Pro Mini comes pre-formatted in the advanced Apple APFS file system, which ensures maximum compatibility with macOS. While it comes with the system installed, you can reformat into NTFS or ExFat if you want to use this on a Windows PC.

To make things easy, the drive comes with the "OWC Drive Guide (Mac)" application, which is ready to load from the drive. This application is a once-run app that enables you to select several options, from the latest APFS to the older Mac OS Extended; there's also the ExFat option. On first inserting the drive into a Windows machine it's worth noting that the SSD is OWC Mac HFS+ / APFS formatted and will need to be either reformated using the OWC Drive Guide for Windows or by purchasing MacDrive11. The OWC Drive Guide is a free utility to format/reformat OWC drives in a Windows drive format (NTFS & ExFAT) and a full OWC Drive Guide for Windows can be downloaded to help begin the process of reformatting the OWC device with Windows.

Once the file system is in place, the original factory-installed contents of the drive are wiped and replaced with a single PDF with a QR code that will take you to the getting started guides, manuals, and FAQs. So, there's plenty of additional information, including support if you need it. However, once set up, there's little not to understand—plug it in, and off you go! 

In performance tests, the OWC Envoy Pro Mini delivered impressive results with read speeds of 828MB/s and write speeds of 927MB/s when tested in AJA System Test Lite. This makes it suitable for demanding tasks such as video editing and large file transfers. Depending on the software and type of test run, the results varied, as you'll see in the benchmark result. Still, as a general rule throughout the testing, the Pro Mini was an excellent storage option when additional fast access storage was required for both backup and as a working drive. 

• Performance: 4/5

Should you buy the OWC Envoy Pro Mini?

The OWC Envoy Pro Mini is a great storage solution. Its small size, large capacity options, and speed make it an all-around great option for anyone who needs to store large files out in the field. While the drive is designed for Mac users, and in the post part, you will need a Mac to get up and running initially, you can opt to format it in the ExFat files system so that it can be used between both Mac and PC systems.

When it comes to design, the SSD's USB stick style means that it can slip easily into a pocket, or with the small lanyard, you can pop it into a bag and keep it safely secured on an internal loop if one is available. 

In use, the dual USB Type-A or C gives you plenty of options, especially when transporting between Mac, PC and other systems. The transfer rates of large files are incredibly quick, meaning that you can back up files from a shoot at speed, as well as use the drive as working storage media which is a huge asset. While the transfer rates do enable you to use the OWC Envoy Pro Mini as a working drive, it can get hot, although it is surprisingly well-balanced, especially when it's used for video editing. In reality, it's a great working drive for photos, but it's best to push it on time with video editing, however able it seems. 

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