SK Hynix Tube T31 review: Looks like a USB drive, performs like a SSD

Price When Reviewed

512GB: $80 I 1TB: $100

Best Prices Today: SK Hynix Tube T31 USB SSD stick

$79.99

$79.99

SK Hynix is nothing if not inventive with naming. Witness the beforehand reviewed scarab-shaped Beetle, and now the Tube T31. The Tube T31 is, in truth, a Type-A USB stick, aka thumb/flash drive or “tube” if you’ll — no less than in form and design.

Internally, nonetheless the T31 options NVMe and 10Gbps USB and performs extra just like the cable-attached exterior 10Gbps USB SSDs we assessment — i.e., it’s quick.

Note that whereas we distinguish between what’s generally known as a thumb drive and exterior SSDs, the previous is in truth a kind of the latter. The main distinction being {that a} commodity thumb drive typically makes use of older, slower know-how similar to SATA and USB 5Gbps.

Further studying: See our roundup of the best external drives to study competing merchandise.

What are the SK Hynix Tube T31’s options?

The Tube T31 is a Type-A USB 3.2, 10Gb/s SSD that weighs round 1.2 ounces and measures roughly 3.6-inches lengthy, by 1.17-inches vast, by 0.54 inches thick. While SK Hynix wasn’t particular in regards to the internals, the efficiency tells me the interior transport is NVMe and the NAND is probably going QLC.

As you’ll be able to see from the photographs, the Tube T31 is black, with the one styling prospers being the silver of the emblem and, when the cap is eliminated, the Type-A connector.

SK Hynix warranties the T31 for 3 years. The guarantee is restricted, as all warranties are, so overuse (writing an excessive amount of knowledge) and bodily abuse will give the corporate the choice to disregard a declare.

No point out is product of the T31’s TBW score (terabytes that could be written), however it’s possible across the business common of 600TBW per 1TB of NAND. That’s quite a lot of knowledge and greater than you’re prone to write in a decade, not to mention three years.

How a lot is the SK Hynix Tube T31?

The 1TB Tube T31 is presently accessible on Amazon for $100, whereas the 512MB capability is $80. That’s dear in case you consider it as a thumb drive, however fairly affordable in case you examine it with different high-powered exterior SSDs, similar to SK Hynix’ aforementioned Beetle.

How quick is the Tube T31?

As mentioned, the Tube T31 may be very quick for a thumb drive. Easily the quickest we’ve examined — neither the Teamgroup C212 nor the PNY Pro Elite V2 thumb drives may sustain. Note that the Kingston XS1000, which did sustain in some checks, is a Type-C cable hooked up SSD, not a thumb drive, however is definitely a tad smaller general than the Tube T31. It’s priced equally so we threw it within the ring.

As you’ll be able to see above, CrystalDiskMark 8 rated the Tube T31 as very quick at transferring giant recordsdata. It additionally dominated the roost among the many three drives in random 4K efficiency, as proven beneath.

You wouldn’t suppose the T31 was a thumb drive wanting on the 48GB switch outcomes beneath. It is, although clearly not backyard selection.

While middling for an exterior 10Gbps SSD, the T31’s 450GB write time is incredible, once more, for a thumb drive.

The PNY Pro Elite V2 from the earlier charts shouldn’t be included right here as its 256MB capability didn’t enable for a 450GB write.

I discussed up prime that QLC is the possible sort of NAND concerned. This is essentially primarily based on the write charge dropping to round 255MBps when secondary cache was exhausted. And it was exhausted at across the 95 p.c mark of the 450GB write, which added fairly a number of seconds to the Tube T31’s time. This sort of write shouldn’t be one thing most customers will ever carry out, so don’t weigh this outcome closely in your shopping for choice.

Should you purchase the SK Hynix Tube T31?

If you need the velocity of an exterior SSD, however the comfort of a captive Type-A connector and a svelte kind issue, the Tube T31 is what you search. It’s the one I’ll be protecting in my pocket, which is certainly — a advice.

How we check

Drive checks presently make the most of Windows 11, 64-bit working on an X790 (PCIe 4.0/5.0) motherboard/i5-12400 CPU combo with two Kingston Fury 32GB DDR5 4800MHz modules (64GB of reminiscence whole). Both 20Gbps USB/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 over 58GB of the 64GB of whole 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 as a consequence of much less NAND for secondary caching, in addition to different components. This is much less of an element with the present crop of SSDs with their far quicker NAND.

Caveat: The efficiency numbers proven apply solely to the drive we have been shipped and to the capability examined. SSD efficiency can and can differ by capability as a consequence of 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.