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TESTED: 8TB OWC Envoy Express Thunderbolt 3 SSD
Acepting a single M.2 NVME SSD blade and/or preconfigured as such, the diminutive OWC Envoy Express Thunderbolt 3 enclosure delivers up to 8TB of capacity.
Available in 4TB or 8TB capacity, or 0TB DIY install-your-own-blade.
It offers and ideal way to expand storage inexpensively, a backup drive always silent and fast, etc.
Highlights
- Certified: first bus-powered enclosure that meets stringent Thunderbolt™ power requirements
- DIY easy: uses any 2280 M.2 NVMe SSD available today and in the future
- Super-fast: supports up to 1553MB/s real-world performance1
- Convenient: ready to go with 10.2-inch Thunderbolt™ 3 cable
- Compact: shorter than a ballpoint pen and weighs only 3.3 ounces with drive
- Silent: runs cool and distraction-free
- Stylishly rugged: Black anodized aluminum provides “field-tough” data protection
- Gets onboard: includes back of laptop screen slide mount for safe, out-of-the-way use
- Worry-free: 2 Year OWC Limited Warranty
Capacity
TB = 1000^3 TiB = 1024^3
Actual capacity in the 8TB version is 8,001,563,222,016 bytes = 8.00TB = 7.45 TiB, same as other 8TB SSDs.
$180 SAVE $20 = 10.0% OWC 2.0TB OWC Envoy Pro Elektron USB-C Portable NVMe SSD in All Other Categories
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$400 SAVE $50 = 11.0% OWC 4.0TB OWC Envoy Express Thunderbolt 3 Bus-Powered Portable N… in All Other Categories
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$450 SAVE $30 = 6.0% OWC 4.0TB OWC Envoy Pro FX Thunderbolt + USB-C Portable NVMe SSD in All Other Categories
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$2280 SAVE $100 = 4.0% OWC 16.0TB OWC ThunderBlade Thunderbolt External NVMe SSD Storag… in All Other Categories
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$5000 SAVE $300 = 5.0% OWC 32.0TB OWC ThunderBlade Thunderbolt External NVMe SSD Storag… in All Other Categories
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Test results
MPG tested the about $950 8.0TB OWC Envoy Express under hot conditions of 85°F (no air conditioning in the office). That along with the demanding continuous writing is a pretty tough test of any SSD.
To its credit, the Envoy Express performed without a hitch under maximally demanding conditions that no normal usage would ever require. While its write speed (red line) did drop off just shy of the 3.2TB mark, it still sustained write speed for 8TB that exceeds the fastest USB-C SSDs. It’s unclear if this dropoff might have been due to environmental conditions (hot office), and with no relief in sight, I did not retest.
But what really counts for all but rare cases of real-world usage is read speed. Read speed (green line) pegs-out 1599 MiB/sec = 1677 MB/sec which exceeds the claimed rating of 1553 MB/sec by 8% faster. Moreover, the Envoy Express sustained that speed with nil variation for the full 8TB capacity.
Since the Aura Ultra IV SSD blade is stated to deliver around 7GB/sec, it appears that the Envoy Express enclosure limits the blade speed to about half of the Thunderbolt 3 bus speed. Why this is so is not clear.
Write, average = 1111 MiB/sec = 1165 MB/sec
Read average = 1599 MiB/sec = 1677 MB/sec
MiB/sec (1024^2). Multiply by 1.048 for MB/sec
Real-world speed
A clone backup was made, with excellent speed. Following that, IntegrityChecker Java verified that backup of 356689 files totaling 1132.1 GiB on the Envoy Express, with throughput very close to the read speed of 1566 MiB/sec = 1642MB/sec.
MacPro:DIGLLOYD $ icj verify /Volumes/Spare/MasterClone/ # icj 3.0fc32.3 2023-08-03 14:33 ... Hashing 356689 files totaling 1132.1 GiB in 27540 folders... ...
100%: 356689 files 1132.1 GiB @ 1566 MiB/sec, 12:20.0.0 DONE
