G-Technology ArmorATD

amazon G-Technology ArmorATD reviews

The Armor ATD is rough and cluttered, G-Technology’s latest hard drive, performs well, and costs competitively enough per gigabyte to pit it against the competition.

Who said class and strength couldn’t coexist? The ArmorATD external hard drive by G-Technology (a subsidiary of Western Digital) is a fascinating little beast. Measuring 0.8 x 3.4 x 5.1 inches, it has a sleek blue brushed aluminum exterior wrapped with a rubber bumper. The crush-resistant core meets IP54 specifications to repel rain and dust, and it’s been tested to withstand drops as little as four feet onto carpeted concrete. (“ATD” is the abbreviation for “All Terrain Drive.”) In testing, the ArmorATD ($119.99 in our 2TB review sample) performed on par with the other 2.5-inch drives we’ve tested. You can find some less expensive drives but equally solid, but this one is a solid choice for day-to-day use if you need absolute capacity and an SSD isn’t in the card.

How sure is this?

ArmorATD is a 5,400 rpm platter-based drive that is IP54 rated. That means it’s dustproof, and you can splash (but not soak) the device without ill effects.

Of course, no matter how hard you try to make a hard disk-based drive, it still has things prone to damage and spinning inside; it won’t be comparable to an SSD in terms of how much abuse you can deal. If you throw the drive against a wall or drop it from the roof onto the concrete below, the results won’t look good, while the SSD might show up with a few dents and scratches, or it could just be a case Cracked. (Of course, the SSD’s smaller weight plays a part in that, but what’s more important is the lack of moving parts.)

As a result, the drop distance rating mentioned above is less than what you’ll find from many ultra-durable SSDs, while the 1,000-pound crush resistance comes down to the strength of the chassis. The internal shock mount, sturdy aluminum housing, and protective rubber shield will do a good job protecting the drive’s vulnerable internals from normal, non-serious abuse. With the cable removed and the USB port is hidden beneath its protective rubber cover, you can ensure that a splash of water or a quick drop in humidity during a rainstorm won’t damage your drive or precious data.

The bottom line is that the G-Technology ArmorATD is rugged enough for most of us. For example, a backpacking or skiing trip involving the need to back up data from a laptop to a camera would pose no threat. You certainly don’t have to worry when you’re at a coffee shop, on campus, or the subway. But if water is a big concern—you might drop your device in a lake or jacuzzi, for example—you might be better off with a higher IP-rated drive like the recently reviewed ADATA HD830 or CalDigit Tuff.

Minimal features, minimal fuss

G-Technology’s package comes with itself, the cable (it’s USB Type-C on both ends and comes with a Type-C-to-A adapter for the client), and a quick start guide with pictures, briefly. (That’s all you need; plug it in, and it works.) A rubber stopper on one end of the case reveals or seals the USB Type-C port on the chassis. As noted, we tested the 2TB version of the drive; G-Technology also offers 1TB ($89.99) and 4TB ($169.99) capacities.

The drive is formatted in the exFAT file format by default, but you can reform it if needed. One reason you can do it worry-free: There’s nothing included on the drive that you have to clone to keep before reformatting safely. That means no special deals, no utilities, no backup or recovery software. It’s not that you need backup software or a free one-month subscription to Adobe CC All Apps or some free cloud storage. But it would be a great touch, especially since the ArmorATD is a bit more expensive than some similar drives.

An LED activity indicator on the chassis would also be nice, as nothing on the drive tells you when data is being transferred to or from the device. Since it’s a drive, you can usually detect activity (depending on how quiet your surroundings are) by the slight vibration and hum the drive makes when it’s in operation. Still, the light will be a useful addition.

Test: Fast enough for a drive

We simulated typical operations with ArmorATD on both PC and Mac. In our benchmark tests, the ArmorATD performed well on its own, comparing favorably with several other drive drives we’ve tested, including the equally rugged ADATA HD710M Pro and the even ADATA HD830, even more, certain than mentioned earlier. In terms of speed, the ArmorATD outperforms some of our other tested drives, including the 2TB LaCie Mobile Drive and the 2016 4TB version of the WD My Passport.

On the computer side of the aisle, we tested the ArmorATD on our standard Intel X299-based storage, equipped with a 2nd Gen USB-C port hosted on the motherboard. On the Mac side, we used a 2016 MacBook Pro and tested the drive over one of the combo USB Type-C/Thunderbolt 3 ports using the included USB Type-C cable.

PCMark 7 Secondary Memory Test

The Secondary Memory sub-test in the PCMark 7 benchmark suite evaluates drive speed with a proprietary score, as the system handles various simulated workloads. Sample workloads include Windows Defender scanning, video editing tasks, and application launching.

ArmorATD topped the pack in this test, outpacing the LaCie Mobile Drive and Seagate Backup Plus Ultra Touch and about 10% ahead of the ADATA entries. (G-Technology rates this as a 5,400-rpm spin-speed drive.)

Crystal DiskMark

Crystal DiskMark is used to test sequential read and write speeds — transfer data continuously in a straight line, a best-case scenario for disk units. Here, ArmorATD scores are on par with this batch.

ArmorATD produces very impressive write speeds (136MBps), best in class at several megabytes per second. Read speed reached.

Check folder transfer

Next, we transferred the drive to our test MacBook Pro laptop. Our drag-and-drop folder transfer test included copying our standard 1.2GB folder from the test drive to the drive, and here ArmorATD once again shows the transfer rate on point with the pool.

The difference in transfer time is only 1 or 2 seconds, so the real-world variance here doesn’t make sense.

Blackmagic 3.1 Disk Speed ​​Test

Finally, ArmorATD handled itself well enough on the BlackMagic bench-top utility, which is used to gauge the throughput of a drive for playback of various video formats.

It comes close to the top of the test group, with 124MBps read and 125MBps write speeds. That’s not far above its Crystal DiskMark rating and within the range expected for a portable drive. Again, the difference here isn’t large enough to be a selling point or a depreciating point.

Advantages

Nice for a hard drive.

Protective case, removable all around.

Cables for both USB Type-A and Type-C on the client-side.

Defect

No activity indicator light.

Does not include backup utilities or photo/video subscription deals.

A bit expensive per gigabyte.

where can you get a G-Technology ArmorATD online

G-Technology 5TB ArmorATD All-Terrain Rugged Portable External Hard Drive – USB-C, USB 3.1 Gen 1 – 0G10478-1: Buy it now