Lexar SL200 Portable SSD

£140/$135 (1TB) www.lexar.com

Lexar is a brand usually associated with top-notch memory cards and card readers, but it also offers several portable SSDS. The SL200 is its latest offering, and measures a portable 86x60x9.5mm. Build quality feels solid, and the matte silver finish looks the part next to most modern laptops.

Lexar advertises maximum read/write speeds of 550/400MB/S, which is fairly typical for a non-nvme SSD. We clocked the drive at a max 448/289MB/S when reading/writing a single large video file – a best-case real-world speed scenario. Transferring large quantities of small image files inevitably slows any SSD down, but the SL200 still managed a reasonable 384/267MB/S read/write. These speeds are comparable to similar non-nvme drives, but considering the modest price difference between this and the Sandisk drives, we’d recommend going for a faster model.

The Lexar SL200 can be had in the popular 512GB, 1TB and 2TB capacity options, and connects via a USB 3.1 Type-c port on the drive. USB Type-c to Type-c and Type-c to Type-a cables are included in the box.

PROS Decent performance at a relatively low price; small and well built

CONS Not as quick as NVME SSDS; not much cheaper than much faster NVME drives