Corsair EX100U 2TB Review: Portable Storage Drive

This tiny, lightweight, high-capacity portable SSD has ultra-fast data rates. That's what Corsair is offering with its EX100U, a small, super-efficient external SSD.

Pros

• Ultra light and compact
• Excellent performance
• Aluminium housing

Cons

• No USB-A adapter

While Corsair produces many internal SSDs in M.2 format, the gaming manufacturer has also launched a portable model with the sweet name of EX100U, available in capacities of 1, 2 and 4Tb. The manufacturer aounces USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 compatibility and 1600 MB/s read and 1500 MB/s write speeds.

The EX100U is the smallest external SSD we have tested to date. With dimensions of just 7.9 x 3.7 cm, it can fit in any pocket without any problems, significantly as it weighs only 22 g. We put it next to the WD My Passport, which was already a model of compactness, to get an idea, and the EX100U became a new benchmark in the field.

The design is quite essential. The black and grey casing is relatively plain, but it has the advantage of being made of aluminium, which gives it good shock resistance and better heat dissipation than plastic. Moreover, the SSD heats very little during use.

The USB-C port has a small cover to protect it from dust when carrying the SSD. It is a pity that a USB-A adapter is not included in the box, as older computers are not always equipped with a USB-C port.

As we said in the introduction, Corsair promises speeds of 1600 and 1500 MB/s, which are quite plausible, but rarely, manufacturers' marketing does not inflate the figures in this area. However, our CrystalDiskMark software measured throughputs that matched or exceeded the promise! In read mode, the SSD achieved 1647 MB/s, and in write mode, 1537 MB/s. This puts the EX100U ahead of the excellent Transcend ESD380C and about on par with the WD Black P40.

The actual file copying is also perfect, even if it is below the results obtained with CrystalDisk. It should also be remembered that although manufacturers sometimes aounce speeds approaching 2000 MB/s thanks to the new USB-C 3.2 2x2 standard, this is only valid if two data streams are launched at the same time and if the hardware is compatible (recent motherboard - like the ROG Strix B650E-F that we used for this test - or a PCIe card). In this case, we could reach about 1300 MB/s by copying two files in parallel. Still, in reality, "classic" transfers are unfortunately limited to 1250 MB/s, the current theoretical limit of the USB standard.

The EX100U achieved 924 MB/s read, and 906 MB/s write when copying one large file and 850 MB/s read and 811 MB/s write when copying a multitude of photo files. While other models have been faster at reading large files, the EX100U is one of the fastest on the market, especially as it offers the same write performance as read performance, which is rare in the SSDs we test.

The Corsair EX100U is, without a doubt, one of the best portable SSDs. Not only does it offer a very compact design that makes it easy to carry around, but it also offers excellent read and write speeds. In short, it's everything you'd expect from a portable SSD; it just lacks a USB-A adapter for added versatility.