The Envoy Pro FX from OWC is advertised as everything you want in a portable SSD: a flexible plug & compatible, rugged and extremely fast playback. Is he responsible for the bill? OWC sent me one to try.
OWC’s Envoy Pro FX Portable SSD includes a Thunderbolt 3 cable.
Brad Moon
In OWC
Before I get into the technical details of this drive, I should mention OWC. If you only buy in big box stores, you may not recognize the brand, but OWC (Computer World Computer) is an American company that has been selling parts, upgrades, fringes and accessories for Apple’s people for the past 30 years. You can find his full – and extensive – catalog online. Sharp readers may recognize the OWC logo from some of my previous posts, including my M1 MacBook Pro review, and a replacement approach for the MacBook Air SSD.
Unboxing and impressions of Envoy Pro FX
A few years ago, the Envoy Pro FX would have looked a little tiny. Today, it’s still a small and very portable driver, but it spoils some of the ultra-portable options out there. It’s heavy too. But this is all by design. There is no plastic here, the enclosure is a piece of aluminum. It’s obviously cut down the sides – not for appearance but because the extra surface space turns the whole case into a heatsink. This allows the drive to operate at full speed for long periods without excessive heating.
It’s bigger and heavier than ultra-portable SSDs, but that aluminum enclosure makes it awful … [+]
Brad Moon
That case also makes the Envoy Pro FX very rough. It passes MIL-STD810G certified weapon standards for fall testing, and carries an IP67 rating. What does all this mean? This is a portable driver that can be used in extreme conditions, including being lowered from four feet, or submerged in up to three feet of water. water for 30 minutes.
The aluminum housing also hides the blistering fast OWC Aura P12 Pro NVMe M.2 SSD.
USB-C port (Thunderbolt 3) provides power and USB 3.2 Gen 2 data transfer.
Brad Moon
There seems to be very little along the way. It has an OWC logo on the top, a blue LED signal light on the front, a USB back equipped with a USB-C port (Thunderbolt 3), and the lower surface is decorated with rubber strips to keep the drive from slipping around . OWC comes with a 28-inch Thunderbolt 3 cable with an integrated USB Type-A adapter in the box, so you can plug into almost anything.
The included Thunderbolt 3-cable is compatible, and includes a handy, integrated USB Type-A adapter.
Brad Moon
Key Species OWC Envoy Pro FX:
- OWC Aura P12 Pro NVMe M.2 SSD (240GB, 480GB, 1.0TB or 2.0TB capacity)
- USB-C port (USB 3.2 Gen 2, Thunderbolt 3)
- Bus powered operation, no fans
- Thunderbolt 3 maximum data transfer rate: up to 2711MB / s
- Aluminum circumference measures 4.3 x 2.6 x 0.8-inches
- MIL-STD810G certified, IP67
- 28-inch Thunderbolt 3 cable with built-in USB Type-A adapter
- Plug and play operation
- Backed by a 3-year limited warranty
- MSRP $ 199 to $ 499
Note: See the OWC product page for a full list of OS and system compatibility.
Real Life Performance
Once the driver has been installed into your computer, you will be asked to immediately configure it. After formatting it as ExFAT, I tested the Envoy Pro FX with several systems, including the 2017 MacBook Air running macOS Mojave (using the USB adapter), Google PixelBook Go, and M1 MacBook Pro running macOS Big Sur. I did not find a Windows tool useful in the assessment, but there is nothing in this configuration that should cause issues there.
Connecting to Chromebook.
Brad Moon
As advertised, there was no problem accessing the driver on any of these systems. I then formatted it as APFS for using macOS. Copying files back and forth on my M1 MacBook Pro – equipped with a Thunderbolt 3 compatible USB-C port – saw distances pretty close to the maximum advertised. Each type of variable can affect the speed of data transfer, including the OS and the number of files involved.
Using the USB Type-A adapter cuts down on speed, but makes the drive compatible with older ones … [+]
Brad Moon
As an example of what to expect in a typical usage scenario, copying a 32GB folder containing 260 files from the MBP running macOS Big Sur to the Envoy Pro XS took a total of 16 seconds. That works out to around 2000 MB / s. That’s not as fast as the maximum of 2711 MB / s, but there were a lot of files instead of one large file, which could make the work slower. I’m left hanging off the MacBook Air (using that integrated USB Type-A adapter) as the library’s host driver for the iTunes media server, and it’s been secure. A rugged, fast driver like this would be used for that type of application, but it has been shown to be able to withstand hours of sustained use.
I did not let him again from four feet, but the driver survived being pushed off my workbench (about three feet high) on a hard wooden floor with a strange cat.
Praise
The OWC Envoy Pro FX Portable SSD delivers at super fast speeds, and is rugged than most portable … [+]
Brad Moon
If you need high-speed, rugged portable storage with high capacity, the OWC Envoy Pro FX Portable SSD should be on your radar. He’s not a cheap driver, but he’s a quick winger and built to survive.
Disclosure: OWC provided an Envoy Pro FX Portable SSD for evaluation but did not submit it to this review.