Seagate contributes to the slow demise of flash drives with an SSD that looks like a thumb stick

• Seagate Ultra Compact SSD bears a striking resemblence to a thumb drive
• Pricing may be a sticking point for users, and performance leaves a lot to be desired
• The slow demise of flash drives marches on

Seagate’s new portable SSD is small but mighty, and may well mark another nail in the coffin for flash drives.

The firm’s new Ultra-Compact SSD, which is available in both a 1TB and 2TB format, boasts a small, sleek design that more closely resembles a thumb stick or top-of-the-range flash drive than a portable SSD.

Complete with a USB-C port, the SSD includes a single-piece aluminum shell and measures in at 2.7 x 0.7 x 0.34 inches. Notably, Seagate had sustainability in mind during development, with the drive made up to at least 35% recycled materials. From a durability perspective, it can also take a slight beating, being rated for drops up to three meters while featuring IP54 dust and water resistance capabilities - so how does it match up to other industry counterparts?

Under the hood of the Seagate Ultra-Compact SSD

As mentioned, the drive comes in both a 1TB and 2TB options. Both of these offer sequential read and write speeds of up to 1,000 Mbps.

PCMark 10 trace-based testing by Tom’s Hardware showed it wasn’t quite up to scratch with other options available on the market, however. On transfer rates, the drive also “fails to impress” - particularly on read speeds.

Its write speed of 512 Mbps did rank it in fourth place behind the Silicon Power DS72 (1TB), Silicon Power MS70 (1TB), and the PNY Pro Elite 3 (1TB). Tom’s Hardware further noted that with a mixed-file read speed of 570 Mbps, this still remains quite an impressive performance for such a compact drive.

One particular area that users may find appealing are the backup recovery options, though. The SSD ships with Seagate Rescue Data Recovery service, covering users for up to three years.

All told, the SSD is an impressive bit of kit for your everyday user. Capabilities may be lacking in some areas, but its compact design will likely be a draw.

There is one major detail that might put customers off, though: the pricing. The 1TB option comes in at £90.99, making it a middling option compared to other drives available. The price jump to the 2TB version - priced at $179.99 - might be jarring.

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