Meet the Transcend ESD250C, a portable SSD that’s super classy it definitely fits the professional profile

External drives aren’t exactly the sexiest devices on your desk, but thanks to solid-state memory, engineers are now able to cut the size of storage products down – while still being able to innovate when it comes to form factors. Meet the Transcend ESD250C, a portable SSD that’s super classy it definitely fits the professional profile.

Design
Today we reviewed the 960GB model which comes with a USB Type-C (USB 3.1 Type 2) connector. At 120.16 x 33.6 x 7.5mm and weighing 47g, it looks like a small chocolate bar, with the device’s body featuring a sturdy metallic case in an alluring space-gray hue.

In the box you get the drive itself, plus a USB type-A to type-C, a USB type-C to type-C data cable,and some instructions.

The drive itself is incredibly small, compact & lightweight, so small that it will fit in the palm of your hand and so light that you would never feel it in your pocket. It’s a sleek, sturdy but lightweight aluminum enclosure with a thinness of 7.5mm and weighing at only 47g. The drives is plug & play straight out of the box and no external power is required.

The ESD250C features a USB type-C interface that supports not only high-speed data transfer of up to 520 MB/s read and 460 MB/s write but also compatibility for both Windows and Mac OS operating system, as well as USB OTG for supported Android devices. The SSD works just fine as an OTG USB drive with an Android smartphone (I tried with a SONY XZ Premium).

Performance
Out of the box, the ESD250C is set to exFAT file system which ensures compatibility across any latest Windows PC or a Mac. There’s also 256-bit AES hardware encryption on board. I reviewed the 960GB variant, and the formatted capacity was 894GB. Transcend claims the ESD250C can hit 520MB/s read and 460MB/s write performance, and we’ll be putting that to the test.

AS SSD Benchmark
AS SSD Benchmark can determine an SSD’s performance by conducting several specific tests on sequential or random read/write performance without using the cache.

AS SSD Benchmark has pretty much the same result as per specifications.

Software
Transcend Elite is an advanced software package compatible with Mac OS, Windows OS, and Android system that helps you manage data. Available for both desktop and mobile. It can be downloaded for free from Transcend’s website or Google Play Store. Transcend Elite features backup and restore, data encryption, file synchronization, cloud backup, and disk locking functions.

Conclusion
If you are a photographer or graphic designer you will love how the ESD250C’s capacious storage of 960GB easily handles all large files, high resolution images, and 4K videos. If you’re looking for a performer storage device that you can carry around with you with the essential features you’re going to need and with the aesthetics to spare, the Transcend ESD250C Portable SSD can easily deliver what you’ll need.