Expert’s Rating
Pros
- Good 40Gbps learn efficiency
- Very inexpensive
- Compact and handsome
Cons
- Slower than most USB4 SSDs
- Low TBW ranking
Our Verdict
While Corsair’s EX400U is on the gradual aspect for a USB4 SSD, it’s additionally cheaper. It’s quicker and extra suitable throughout platforms than 20Gbps USB3.2×2 SSDs, as effectively. We’d like the next TBW ranking although.
Price When Reviewed
This worth will present the geolocated pricing textual content for product undefined
Best Pricing Today
Price When Reviewed
1TB: $130 I 2TB: $190 I 4TB: $350
Best Prices Today: Corsair EX400U USB4 SSD
The Corsair EX400U is well the smallest USB4 SSD I’ve but examined. It’s additionally good trying and a quick reader, although write efficiency is extra like what you’d see from 20Gbps USB SSDs. Still, contemplating the low pricing, it’s a really fascinating exterior storage gadget.
Read on to study extra, then see our roundup of the best external drives for comparability.
What are the EX400U’s options?
The EX400U is an exterior USB4 SSD rendered in pewter and measuring round 2.5-inches sq. by simply shy of an inch thick. Weight is a mere, however palpable-in-the-hand 1.8 ounces — it isn’t so mild it feels low cost.
The huge shock for me was that the white circle (don’t let the inventive lighting idiot you) on the underside of the unit is magnetic. It was form of enjoyable sticking the drive to numerous steel surfaces (together with the ruler).
Sadly, a lot of the surfaces I’d like to stay it to are non-ferromagnetic, like my aluminum Mac Studio. I say sadly as a result of it’s the proper form and dimension to cover behind stated unit.
Kudos to Corsair for truly revealing what’s contained in the EX400U, as I had no need to dissect it and most distributors simply clam up when requested. The controller is a Phison PS2251-21 and the NAND is layered TLC.
That controller is definitely designed for USB4 and eliminates a cumbersome bridge chip to maintain the value and weight down. Alas, it doesn’t appear to carry out fairly in addition to the ASMedia ASM2464PD discovered in lots of pricier opponents.
Corsair warranties the EX400U for 3 years, or 250 TBW (terabytes which may be written earlier than it turns into a read-only hockey puck) for each 1TB of capability. That’s lower than half the TBW ranking we usually see with TLC NAND, and extra according to what QLC SSDs are rated for. (I’m kidding in regards to the hockey puck!)
A magnetic ring on the underside of the EX400U makes it enjoyable to stay the compact drive to steel surfaces.
How a lot is the EX400U?
The Corsair EX400U is out there in 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB capacities for $130, $190, and $350 respectively. That’s hardly dust low cost, however significantly extra inexpensive than the Adata SE920 and OWC 1M2 competitors.
It even works out a bit cheaper than the Ugreen CM850 or CM642 enclosures — relying on what capability and high quality of SSD you populate these empty USB4 merchandise with.
But these are all quicker merchandise…
How quick is the Corsair EX400U?
I form of let the cat out of the bag on this matter up prime. While the EX400U competes effectively with the competitors in multi-queued studying, it’s writing and single-queue efficiency was extra like that of a 20Gbps (USB 3.2×2) SSD than a full-on USB4 SSD just like the Adata SE920 and OWC Express 1M2.
Note that the Ugreen CM850 (PCWorld reviewed the ever-so-slightly slower CM642) is an unpopulated enclosure that we examined with a really quick 8TB WD SN850X inside. The EX400U’s greatest quantity by far was within the eight-queue sequential learn. Note that Windows solely makes use of one queue for its I/O.
The Corsair EX400U was extra aggressive in CrystalDiskMark 8’s random checks, truly proving the quickest within the single-queue, single-thread write by 4MBps.
Our 48GB switch outcomes corroborated the CrystalDiskMark numbers. While quick, the EX400U was considerably off the tempo set by the opposite USB4 SSDs we’ve examined.
The EX400U’s slower write charge can be mirrored within the 450GB switch, although it’s nonetheless the seventh quickest time we’ve seen from any exterior SSD.
While the efficiency dialogue above could come off a bit unfavourable, that’s solely in comparison with different USB4 SSDs — all of that are very, very quick. The EX400U nonetheless ranked seventh place total — quicker than each 20Gbps SSD we’ve kicked the tires on in addition to numerous Thunderbolt 3/4 SSDs.
Should you purchase the Corsair EX400U?
I say, yeah. While it’s not the quickest 40Gbps SSD on the market, it is extremely inexpensive and much more suitable throughout PCs and Macs than 20Gbps USB 3.2×2 SSDs. It’s additionally properly mild and compact.
How we check
Drive checks presently make the most of Windows 11, 64-bit operating on an X790 (PCIe 4.0/5.0) motherboard/i5-12400 CPU combo with two Kingston Fury 32GB DDR5 4800MHz modules (64GB of reminiscence complete). Both 20Gbps USB and Thunderbolt 4 are built-in to the again panel and Intel CPU/GPU graphics are used. The 48GB switch checks make the most of an ImDisk RAM disk taking on 58GB of the 64GB of complete reminiscence. The 450GB file is transferred from a 2TB Samsung 990 Pro which additionally runs the OS.
Each check is carried out on a newly NTFS-formatted and TRIM’d drive so the outcomes are optimum. Note that in regular use, as a drive fills up, efficiency could lower attributable to much less NAND for secondary caching, in addition to different components. This could be much less of an element with the present crop of SSDs with far quicker late-generation NAND.
Caveat: The efficiency numbers proven apply solely to the drive we had been shipped and to the capability examined. SSD efficiency can and can fluctuate by capability attributable to extra or fewer chips to shotgun reads/writes throughout and the quantity of NAND accessible for secondary caching. Vendors additionally often swap elements. If you ever discover a big discrepancy between the efficiency you expertise and that which we report, by all means, tell us.