WD My Passport SSD

The yin to the yang to the left, it justifies the high cost with fleet-footed performance

SCORE

PRICE 1TB, £117 (£140 inc VAT) from pcpro.link/324wd2

READ SPEED 979MB/ SEC

WRITE SPEED 980MB/ SEC

While the mechanical WD My Passport is best suited to low-speed applications ( see left), this flash-based counterpart focuses much more on performance.

To that end it supports USB 3.2 Gen 2, and takes full advantage of the bandwidth available: in our tests, the My Passport SSD read and wrote big files at around 980MB/sec, close to the maximum the connection can handle. It proved a strong performer at random-access tasks too, achieving a PCMark data disk score of 1,694 – the best we’ve seen from any USB SSD, aside from those few using the newest Gen 2x2 technology.

Hardware-based encryption is another plus, and the WD Discovery software that manages it can also take care of basic backup duties. A USB-A-to-USB-C adapter in the box ensures that, however your computer is equipped for ports, you can connect the drive using the bundled USB-C cable.

It must be said, the drive isn’t much to look at. A few ridges add some visual interest to the case, but at the end of the day it’s a small plastic box in your choice of black, grey, gold or maroon.

And while it’s rated to survive drops of up to 2m, the construction feels cheap, caving inwards easily when you squeeze it. That’s disappointing considering this is one of the priciest USB SSDs we’ve tested: the 1TB and 2TB models both work out to 15p/GB, while the top-tier 4TB model comes to 17p/GB.

Still, the My Passport SSD remains a compact, versatile and above all speedy little drive. If your budget will stretch, you won’t be disappointed with its performance.