We hope you have USB 3.0 ‘Enyo’ PC by now…

OCZ’s Enyo external USB 3.0 SSD has been seen in renderings and previews since before CES in January but we now have the final shipping model in-house and have spent the last days testing it and putting it through the paces. It easily becomes the fastest external drive we have ever tested but does it validate the move to USB 3.0?
Introduction

We first spotted the new OCZ Enyo portable SSD back in November of last year as an early preview of products to be shown during the upcoming CES in January 2010.  Back then it was just a quote and a rendering but today we have the real-world product in our hands and have spent some time with it for benchmarking and evaluation.  As with all USB 3.0 devices we have seen thus far, we always open up with a heavy dose of excitement but then are usually tamed by pricing, availability or something of that nature.  Can the OCZ Enyo portable SSD keep our spirits high? 



Check out our video review above and then move on to the full written review below!

The OCZ Enyo Portable SSD

The OCZ Enyo is an external and portable solid state drive that offers the benefits of an external hard drive but the speed of an internal SSD when utilized with a USB 3.0 connection. 

OCZ Enyo 128GB USB 3.0 Portable SSD Review - Storage 16

The packaging of the Enyo will look familiar to anyone that has opened up an iPhone and it presents the device as the high-end accessory that it is.  

OCZ Enyo 128GB USB 3.0 Portable SSD Review - Storage 17

OCZ Enyo 128GB USB 3.0 Portable SSD Review - Storage 18

The contents include the drive that measures only 2.25-in across, 4.75-in long and 0.4-in thick as well as the necessary USB 3.0 cable, instructions and a sticker to declare your mobile storage superiority. 

OCZ Enyo 128GB USB 3.0 Portable SSD Review - Storage 19

You might notice the cable is unique to the Enyo drive; this is a part of the new USB 3.0 standard and will be seen on slim devices (like the Enyo) as well as on cell phones, etc.  So while cables like this might be common in the future, for now they definitely are not and that is one potential drawback to getting the Enyo today.  You will ALWAYS need to carry this cable with you and buying another or assuming others will have one for you to use isn’t likely at the moment. 

OCZ Enyo 128GB USB 3.0 Portable SSD Review - Storage 20

The OCZ Enyo unit is very slick looking and has an anodized aluminum finish much like the current generation of MacBook Pro notebooks.  It easily slides in a pocket and seems to be pretty resilient to scratches and fingerprints.  Also, because it is solid state rather than standard spinning disk storage you have less to worry about in dropping it or hitting it during use or in stowage. 

OCZ Enyo 128GB USB 3.0 Portable SSD Review - Storage 21

OCZ Enyo 128GB USB 3.0 Portable SSD Review - Storage 22

This is another close up of the micro USB 3.0 connector.

OCZ Enyo 128GB USB 3.0 Portable SSD Review - Storage 23

OCZ Enyo 128GB USB 3.0 Portable SSD Review - Storage 24

Inside the Enyo (of course we had to rip it open) you will find the 128GB of flash memory our model shipped with as well as the Indilinx SSD controller and the Symwave USB 3.0 controller.  The use of the Indilinx controller should tell us that the OCZ Enyo will be a fast external drive – let’s test that theory out on the next page with some benchmarks. 



« PreviousNext »