SanDisk Pro-Blade Transport Review: Modular SSD system delivers convenience and excellent performance
posted Monday, October 3, 2022 at 5:00 PM EDT
Western Digital announced the SanDisk Pro-Blade modular SSD system in May. The pro-oriented system is built around a solid-state drive (SSD) cartridge, or mag, that you can hot-swap between two primary devices, the Pro-Blade Transport, and the Pro-Blade Station. The former is a shell that accepts a Pro-Blade Mag and plugs into your device using a USB-C cable. The latter is a desktop-oriented station that holds up to four Mags simultaneously, like an external hard drive array. For the last few weeks, I've been using the Pro-Blade Transport and Pro-Blade Mags, and it's a super-convenient, high-performance storage solution that has fit very nicely into my workflow.
What is the SanDisk Pro-Blade Transport?
The Pro-Blade Transport is an enclosure that accepts a single SanDisk Pro-Blade Mag. Of course, it's a bit more in-depth than that. The Pro-Blade Transport isn't just a simple enclosure; it's meticulously designed for durability and performance. The enclosure features a cooling aluminum heat sink to help sustain performance even under extensive, continuous use. SSDs can become quite hot, so the enclosure needs to move the heat away from the SSD as efficiently as possible, otherwise, performance could suffer.
The Pro-Blade Transport is pretty simple in appearance. It features a three-tone gray design, ranging from silver grips on the sides to a dark gray for most of the shell. It's roughly the size of a pack of trading cards, although a bit thicker. Its precise dimensions are 130 x 71 x 16 millimeters (5.13 x 2.81 x 0.63 inches). It weighs 200 grams (0.4 pounds) without a Mag, although the Mag adds just 45g (0.1 lbs). There's not much else to the Pro-Blade Transport, save for a small white LED status light near the cartridge slot on one end and a USB-C port on the other.
The device has a 20 Gbps USB-C port and ships with a matching cable. The cable is quite thick and a meter long. You can use other USB-C to USB-C cables if you want, but you should ensure it's 20 Gbps compatible for the ultimate performance.
Performance
Speaking of performance, how fast are the Pro-Blade SSD Transport and the SSD Mag? It promises read/write speeds up to 2,000 MB/s. Hooked up to my 2021 MacBook Pro with an M1 Max chip and using the supplied USB-C cable, I didn't get quite those speeds in the Blackmagic Disk Speed Test app. In that testing environment, 968.4 MBps write and 857.5 MBps read speeds. That said, this is pro-level performance and is still very impressive. After cycling the test repeatedly, performance didn't drop off.
There's a major caveat here, though. My MacBook Pro, while very fast, does not support dual-lane USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 with any of its three Thunderbolt 4 ports. To my knowledge, no Mac supports this technology yet, so my computer's theoretical limit is about half of what Western Digital says the Pro-Blade system is capable of. That means that my testing results are almost reaching the limit of what my computer can deliver, which is impressive. As of now, if you're using a Mac, you won't be able to get the top speed out of the Pro-Blade. That said, I wasn't left wanting for speed, as transferring files to and from the SSD Mag was super-fast, and the device works great as an active working drive for editing photos and videos.
Usability
While the performance is great, what sets the SanDisk Pro-Blade system apart is its usability. The Mags come pre-formatted for use with Apple computers, so I opened the package and plugged it in. Voila. It was that easy.
To put a Mag in the Transport, you line it up and slide it in. It slots in nicely, with some feedback to let you know it's fully seated in the device. To remove it, you use the built-in ridge on the end of the Mag and pull. Anticipating quite a bit of swapping, WD says that the Mag is rated for at least 2,000 insertions. It's a robust design that feels very rugged. The Mag can withstand a 3-meter drop and 4,000 pounds of force. If you're using the Mag for different projects, there's also space on the back to write project information. It's a nice touch.
The Pro-Blade system is so easy to use. It's plug-and-play. The convenience of being able to hot-swap SSD magazines is also great. SanDisk sent me three 2TB Mags, and I've been able to put a ton of photos on them. It's a great way to back-up files when traveling or to use as a full working drive with a Lightroom catalog. I will get a lot of use out of the SanDisk Pro-Blade system.
Pricing
High-performance external drives, especially ones built around SSD technology, are rarely cheap, and the SanDisk Pro-Blade system is no exception. The Transport enclosure by itself is $70. A 1TB Mag is $180. The 2TB Mag I used is $300. Rounding out the lineup is a 4TB Mag for $600. For reference, SanDisk's 4TB Extreme PRO Portable SSD V2, which promises similar performance, is on sale for $450, although it's regularly $1,000. The Pro-Blade system isn't out of whack with similar storage solutions. However, what the Pro-Blade system offers is extreme modularity. For more information, visit SanDisk.
To purchase the SanDisk Pro-Blade SSD Transport, visit B&H.
Summary
The SanDisk Pro-Blade Transport and Pro-Blade SSD Mag are very easy-to-use, high-performance modular storage solutions for photographers and videographers on the go. The device is compact and durable. With the forthcoming Pro-Blade Station 4-slot array, the system will become even more versatile and deliver high-end external drive performance for desktop users.
What I like:
- Easy to use and convenient
- Sleek and compact
- Aluminum design helps keep the drive cool during sustained use
- Fast and quiet
- Modular design is very useful
What I dislike:
- Doesn't utilize Thunderbolt technology, so current Macs can't take full advantage of the promised speeds
- Fairly expensive, although not out of line with products with similar performance
Specs
- Storage capacity up to 4TB
- Sustained read/write speeds up to 2,000 MB/s
- Preformatted for Mac and also compatible with Windows
- Ships with 20Gbps USB-C cable
- Can withstand 3m drops and up to 4,000 pounds of force
- Aluminum design for cooling
- W x H x D: 130 x 71 x 16 millimeters (5.13 x 2.81 x 0.63 inches)
- Weighs 200 grams (0.4 pounds) without a Mag
- Mag is W x H x D: 109.7 x 27.9 x 7.6 mm (4.3 x 1.1 x 0.3 in.) and weighs 45g (0.1 lbs).
SanDisk provided me with the review units but had no editorial input for this review.