TechRadar Verdict
A nicely sized hard drive with port flexibility and physical protection. You can't go wrong with this HDD.
Pros
- +
Silicon casing
- +
Plug-n-Play
- +
USB and Thunderbolt ports
Cons
- -
Price
- -
Long and wide
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Whether it be for internal or external use, hard drives are everywhere and everyone always needs one for something. There are so many on the market and seemingly all function well to some extent in terms of speed and portability. So what makes a hard drive good?
Well, it all depends on you. If you want something really small, that can be transported without issue, check out the Samsung Portable T1. If you want something with more capacity designed for a small-to-midsize business, then the Western Digital DL4100 is perfect for your outfit.
But, if you are someone who needs a portable, high-speed hard drive, that suits your rugged lifestyle, then the Sony PSZ-HB2T 2TB ($189, £121.26, AU $256.22 for 1TB) drive is just for you.
Design
What makes the Sony PSZ-HB2T a great option is that it has a silicon casing that protects the hard drive if it falls. If you work in a factory or out in a field, you never have to worry about your hard drive getting smashed and losing all of your work.
The silicon casing, which can be removed, has two plugs to cover both Thunderbolt and USB ports. The casing is built to provide a layer protection if you were to drop the Sony PSZ-HB2T. The casing can protect the drive from a drop of about 2 meters (6.56 ft).
The PSZ-HB2T is 7 x 8 x 2 in. (17.78 x 20.32 x 5.08 cm WxDXH) in size and weighs 1.32 lbs (.6 kg). This is incredibly tiny for a hard drive and you won't even feel the weight in your backpack.
What's also cool about the PSZ-HB2T is that it has two ports (one for USB and another for Thunderbolt). This provides compatibility for multiple devices (Mac and PC), and it gets transfer speeds of up to speeds of 122MB/s.
Specs
Sony created two models for for this hard drive unit, the PSZ-HB1T and the PSZ-HB2T. The difference? 1TB and read/write speeds. The model given to TechRadar was PSZ-HB2T - full 2TB glory.
The 2TB model of the hard drive can record up to 300min of 4K XAVC footage, which equals about 60p at 600Mbps, which is pretty fast, although not record-breaking.
Along with the hard drive, Sony provides two different connectors, the USB and the Thunderbolt cable. This is a nice touch, as you don't have to go and purchase something else after you buy the PSZ-HB2T.
In addition to drop protection, the PSZ-HB2T is also IP5X dust-resistant standard and IPX4 splash-resistant standard, when covered by the silicon and hard case.
