Durable USB SSD with a high-performance option
One-minute review
With USB 4.0 taking too long to become commonplace, external SSD makers have started backtracking and embracing a technology most of them had overlooked. USB 3.2 Gen 2×2.
The Adata Elite SE880 is one of these products to support Gen 2×2, if you have a suitably empowered USB port, but it will work as a Gen2 or even a Gen1 device if required.
As with most external SSDs, the SE880 has a USB-C port on the end of its slightly odd-shaped tube construction, but Adata does provide cables for both USB-C and USB-A connections, not just an adapter.
What you don’t get is any pouch to carry those cables and the drive, though at just 64.8mm long, it is easily pocketable.
Available capacities include 500GB, 1TB and 2TB, but no 4TB option, and we found the 2TB difficult to source.
What Adata does offer is a suite of utilities that help the purchaser get the most out of the drive and automate the securing of folders and files. These include a firmware updating tool, something that could be a necessity should a firmware issue arise, as it did with SanDisk recently.
With a price point close to $85 for the 1TB, this isn’t the cheapest way to get Gen 2×2 performance drive. But when you factor in that you get both USB cables and a five-year warranty, that cost is reasonable.
Overall, the Adata Elite SE880 is a small, robust external SSD with good performance for small file transfers if you have Gen 2×2 specification ports, but it is not good value for those who don’t have that port or want to secure huge video files using it.Adata Elite SE880: Pricing and availabilityKingston XS1000: Pricing and availability
How much does it cost? $49.99/£57.10/€65.89
When is it out? It is starting to be available now
Where can you get it? Direct from Adata or through online retailers like Amazon.
Adata is one of the few external SSD makers that still supports sizes below 1TB, and therefore, the Elite SE880 comes in a 500GB option along with the 1TB and 2TB models.
In the UK through Amazon, only the 500GB and 1TB models are available, and they are priced at £57.10 and £84.37 respectively.
A better deal can be had by US customers, with the prices being $49.99 and $79.99, and as with the UK, the 2TB model appears to be missing in action.
In Europe, the prices are €65.89 and €83.95, and no 2TB to be seen.
The major competitors for a drive of this specification are the Corsair EX100U, Crucial X10 Pro and the Kingston XS2000. And, taking the 1TB as an example, the Adata Elite SE880 is more expensive than all of them but the Crucial X10 Pro.
We’re generally talking about $5 or more, but the Corsair EX100U can be found for close to $60, making it substantially cheaper.
Value: 4 / 5Adata Elite SE880: Design
Odd lozenge shape
Both cables provided
There is a basic engineering concept that a curved surface is better at keeping its shape than a flat one, and the Elite SE880 was designed with exactly that consideration in mind.
As a method to stiffen the tubular form of the enclosure, the profile was designed with a shallow dip along the upper and lower faces, making the plastic ends shaped like a dog’s bone.
On one end is the USB-C port to connect it to a system, and next to the port is a small blue activity LED that is often difficult to see.
While the plastic ends and the USB-C port are probably the weak points, the alloy tube that makes up the majority of the enclosure feels remarkably solid, and we can only imagine the amount of force needed to distort it.
