Storage is a key part of any system and if you’re someone who shares their work across multiple devices then a portable, external hard drive is the best option for you if you want to avoid paying for subscription-based cloud services. The only downsides to external hard drives have always been low speeds and bulky sizes, not everybody has the facilities to be able to hold or carry a gigantic 3.5″ drive or even a 2.5″ drive without looking a little, let’s say, suspicious!
This is where today’s product comes in and looks to combat this by offering high data speeds in a truly portable size. Kingmax is a name synonymous with storage solutions and this little guy here is the KE31 portable SSD and we really weren’t kidding when we said its portable, compare it to a 2.5″ drive and it sits around half its size, put it next to a 3.5″ and it’s almost a scene from David vs Goliath!
Kingmax KE31 480GB Portable SSD: Specifications
| Color | White |
| Interface | USB3.1 Gen 1 |
| Capacity | 240GB\480GB\960GB |
| Sequential R/W Speed(up to) | 400MB/s (R)Â Â Â Â 390MB/s (W) |
| MTBF | 1.2 million hours |
| Dimension | 49.5 x 80.0 x 9.4mm |
| Weight | 35g |
| Voltage | 5V, 900mA |
| Operating temperature | 0~70°C |
| Support OS | Support Windows XP, Win7, Win8 , Win10 Support Mac OS 10.8 and later Support Linux 2.4.1 and later |
| Warranty | 3 years |
Kingmax KE31 480GB Portable SSD: Review
Kingmax KE31 480GB Portable SSD: The Verdict
Don’t be fooled by its tiny size however as the KE31 packs a surprising punch in that tiny form factor, but before we go further let’s consider the unboxing experience… The box is pretty basic with a white theme and grey dots across the centre and a viewing window to see the drive through. Apart from the names and company logo there’s not much else to see on the front, on the back you get a little specifications table that reads off a few of the essential details of the SSD such as USB interface, drive size, sequential speed and more. Open the box and you get a simple plastic tray holding the SSD in place and underneath is a USB cable and that’s it. But then it’s not about the size and how fancy it looks, it’s about how you use it right?
The KE31 comes in 3 different capacities, 240, 480 and 960gb, we have the 480gb version here. As you can see it’s an attractive little unit with a gloss white plastic casing. The use of plastic is good for keeping the weight and cost down but I can’t imagine it would be incredibly durable, however there are no moving parts to worry about so it shouldn’t really be an issue. On the front is the Kingmax logo in grey and a service light just above this, whereas on the rear you get a serial sticker to the bottom right. The sides are wrapped in a grey/silver bumper style surround. At the right-hand side you get the USB 3.1 Micro B port, this connects the SSD to your system using the included cable, on one end you get the USB Micro B and on the other a USB 3.0 connector.
Connecting the device to your system is really as simple as plug and play, attach the SSD to the cable and pop it into your USB port on your system. It is worth noting that it will work on any USB port from 2, 3.0 or 3.1 so if you don’t have any 3 or 3.1 ports on your pc your not stuck. Naturally, the sequential speeds will be much improved over a 3.1 port so for the purpose of this review that is exactly what we’re using!
Kingmax claims that the KE31 will offer read speeds of 400MB/s and Write speeds of 390MB/s and when we tested it we can confirm that actually the KE31 performed even better than the company’s projections with 444.1mb/s read speed and 436.9MB/s write speed which is very impressive for a unit this size. Even 4K reads at 116 and writes at 120.5!
When you compare it to the abysmally slow standard 3.5″ hard drives 166.5 and 164.2mb/s read and write speeds it’s certainly a massive improvement. Whilst it’s still not quite as speedy as an internal SSD (mine comes in at 534 and 450.4 respectively) it is still very impressive.
The KE31 applies SLC Caching technology to further accelerate transfer speeds and system response time. Also, the KE31 supports advanced LDPC Error Correction Code technology to prevent R/W errors for guaranteed data integrity and higher protection against data corruption. It also features NAND 3D synchronous flash for great performance and reliability. All of this wrapped up in a tiny shockproof, no noise, high-speed 35g package.
Kingmax KE31 480GB Portable SSD: Conclusion
That pretty much wraps up this short review of the Kingmax KE31 portable SSD and it has certainly left us feeling impressed here at Play3r. With its compact size, very near SSD performance and sleek looks it seems that it really can eradicate any need for those big bulky external drives and can even replace your cloud subscription services if you wish to have a little more practicality and availability especially when offline. For this alone we have no other option but to award the KE31 our Play3r TV Gold award for ingenuity and practicality!
A big thank you to Kingmax for sending the KE31 portable SSD in for review!
