With every new generation of camera producing large files and high bitrates, the demand for rapid transfer speed is tireless. Now, entering the new Thunderbolt 5 standard with Apple’s M4 Pro and M4 Max Chips, the goalposts have gone once again. Can Owc Envoy Ultra give the next step-change in portable drive speed?
Other world computing, or Owc, has created a reputation for storage technology to be state -of -the -art, especially for Mac Ecosystem. It was not surprising that they were one of the first market with a portable drive prepared for this new standard. Owc Envoy Ultra was the first Thunderbolt 5 portable SSD that I saw on the NAB, and my goal was simple: see if this drive can actually keep this drive with the heaviest demands of a modern creative workflow.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7a9bm8zmgci
Construction and design
While unboxing Envoy Ultra, the first thing I saw was an enough experience, shared with the previous OWC portable drive that I have tried. Black aluminum housing is cool to touch and is a confident for it.
In about three-fourths of pounds, this is not the kind of drive you slip into a pocket of a pair of skini jeans, but it should still easily fit into any camera bag or jacket pocket. The design clearly focuses on durability and heat wastage, maintaining enough portability to not interfere with transportation.
OWC states that the drive is IP67 rated, which means that it is sealing against dust and can avoid submerging one meter of water for 30 minutes. While I did not sting to test it, this rating gives anyone peace of mind to shoot or travel with his images. The SSD itself also adds some underlying flexibility, which refers to shock resistance on HDD options.
The drive has a built -in Thunderbolt 5 cable, and initially, I was a little disappointed to see it. While the TB5 will definitely be older soon, captive cables have historically been a point of failure on portable devices. However, my concern decreased when I learned that OWC is designed to use the cable to user-service, in which replacement parts are expected to be available in 2025. According to OWC, it enables the weather resistance of integrated design drive, so it sounds like a proper trade band.
Display
The main sales point of Envoy Ultra is SSD and coupled TB5 connection capable performance. To avail this drive the most, you need a computer with Thunderbolt 5 port, so I added it to a new M4 Pro MacBook Pro, to see what it can do.
In my test using synthetic benchmarks, the results were stunning for a portable, bus-operated drive. I wrote and read the speed above 5,200 MB/s. These are numbers, which were reserved for the fastest internal NVME drive so far.
In the real world test, the results were equally impressive. I transferred 8k video files and 100 MP images from computer in about 30 seconds to 100 GB folder and 100 MP images. Although it will be an unexpected combo, it is worth noting that you will need both a TB5 port and a source drive that can keep these speeds to achieve these speeds.
It is also important to note that very large, continuous data is written, the speed of the drive will come at a constant rate. OWC has raised the speed of this right-kashe tiredness from 1,350 MB/S to 1,700 MB/S, depending on the capacity of the drive. It is a common behavior for SSD because their cache fills, and this continuous speed is still incredibly sharp and most is higher than sufficient for high-bitrate video editing. The read speeds will not drop, however, distribute great reed speed in large -scale synthetic reeds and file integrity tests with drives.
During these transfers, the aluminum body only became lukewarm, and because it is a fan design, the operation is completely silent. It is a very large plus for anyone working on a set or in a quiet studio. It increases a trend that I have seen with a recent high-performance gear, which fan-based cooling or, worse, always comes on a fan.
If you do not yet have a TB5-enabled computer, or want to use this drive in equipment, it is important to note that it is compatible back through TB3 on MAC, but requires TB4, TB5, or USB4 port on PC. When you are not getting full speed, the drive is capable on an old port, convincing that both of which performs at the maximum capacity of the plug in port in the port and can enable you to access data in a range of recent equipment.
what’s that for?
The Owc Envoy Ultra is a specific type of creative squarely targeted: a professional who requires the fastest in the fastest speed in a reliable housing. For anyone using a new M4 Pro or M4 Max Mac, Envoy Ultra provides external storage performance that can actually match (or more), (or more), the speed of your internal drive.
If your work contains a small file size on the more comfortable delivery schedule, or you do not have a thunderbolt 5 port computer, this is the possibility of a drive overs. You can find excellent Thunderbolt 4 or USB-C drive per GB less money that will serve you completely well. The Envoy Ultra is a top level tool for those who need the fastest (or just want) out of there.
Owc Envoy Ultra distributes on its main promise. It is an extraordinary sharp, incredibly well built, and is a portable SSD that sets a new performance benchmark. This proves that Thunderbolt 5 is not only the vaporware, but an important step in performance. The Envoy Ultra starts at $ 379.99 For 2.0 TB And one Available for 4.0 TB version $ 549Given that it is one of the thunderbolt 5 drives long ago, the price seems more appropriate than my expectation.
What did i like
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Revolutionary Thunderbolt 5 Transfer Speed.
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Extremely rugged and IP67 water-resistant construction.
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Completely silent and cool operation under the load.
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The user-installed cable design addresses a common durability anxiety.
