Photography Gear & Equipment

LaCie Rugged SSD Review

Last updated on May 13th, 2023

If you were to buy a new SSD hard drive today, what boxes would you want it to tick? Let’s guess. Does it have to be portable? Sophisticated? Superfast? High quality? Whichever criteria you want your new hard drive to meet, one thing is certain. You sure want to get full value for your money. So, if you have been daydreaming of owning a LaCie Rugged SSD Hard Drive, it is only right that you keep on reading this post to get an answer to the big question of getting value for money. Here, you would get to know all there is to this hard drive. From its key features to its specifications to its pros and cons as described by users to how it fares compared to its pro version, let’s get right into the review proper

lacie rugged usb port

LaCie Rugged SSD vs. LaCie Rugged SSD Pro

While they were both released at the same time, as the ‘Pro’ already depicts, the Rugged SSD Pro and the Rugged SSD differ in a few areas. One such area is in their speed. While the Rugged SSD has a speed of 950MB/s while its pro version has a speed of up to 2800MB/s. The Rugged SSD Pro is said to provide a performance that is 2.5 times more than that of the Rugged SSD. All these explain why the pro costs about $100 more even at the same capacity.

lacie ssd with cables

Build

If you are all for portability, then this hard drive weighing only about 3.52 ounces and with a dimension of 0.7 x 2.6 x 3.9 inches would get the job done for you. It is smaller than most of the other rugged drives out there. It comes with two short cables in its box. One of the cables is a USB-C to USB-A while the other is a USB-C to USB-C. This makes it stand out from older versions of rugged drives that usually come with connected cables. These short cables would work out fine if you would connecting the hard drive mainly to your laptop. However, if it would be to a desktop, you might want to get a much longer cable for convenience. One other prominent way the hard drive differs from other ones is where the USB-C connector is located. While other LaCie drives have the connector located on the shorter side, this rugged SSD has its located on the longer side. We have to say this was a good way to change the aesthetics of the LaCie hard drives without compromising on its quality. What’s more outstanding about this hard drive? It is water, dust, car crush, and even drop-resistant. In addition to all this, it comes with a data recovery plan as well as a 5-year limited warranty. Talk about actually getting value for money!

Performance

If the build of this hard drive already has you completely sold out, wait till you find out about its performance. You would be astonished at how much it goes above and beyond with its performance. Compared to other hard drives, it has a faster write than read when files are transferred using software. It is more typical to come across hard drives with a faster read than write but the LaCie Rugged SSD is an exemption. The same goes for if you are transferring files from your drive to the computer and from the computer back to the drive. While it might not be as fast as the speed observed with the software, its read and write speed is still very impressive. The results are very similar when using both the USB-C to USB-C cable and the USB-C to USB-A cable. It suffices to say that the LaCie Rugged SSD hard drive gets the job done

lacie rugged ssd next to quarter

Specifications

  • Size of 0.7 x 2.6 x 3.9 inches
  • Capacity of 500BG, 1TB or 2TB
  • NVMe technology for a superfast transfer speed of up to 950MB/s
  • It is made using a liquidized silicon-on-metal process which contributes to its ruggedness
  • Three meters drop tolerance
  • Extreme IP67-rated water resistance. It can survive in 3 feet of water for 30 minutes as far as the hard drive isn’t in ‘ON’ mode when water enters it. This means it would fare well when it encounters rain
  • Two-ton car crush resistance
  • Seagate secure self-encrypting technology to safeguard files from unauthorized access
  • Rescue Data Recovery services for 5 years
  • It comes with a 1 month free trial of Adobe Creative Cloud All Apps Plan for free access to photo and video editing apps
  • Multiple streams of 4K uncompressed RAW videos can be edited directly from the drive
  • Quick installation guide
  • USB-C (USB 3.1, 10GB/s) cable
  • USB-C to USB-A cable (USB 3.0 compatible)
  • Suitable for both Windows and Mac computers

Impressions

With the amazing specifications and features above, it is only to be expected that it has a favorable impression with users. However, as the case is with many devices, it also has some not so favorable ones. Let’s get right into the pros and cons of this product

Pros

  • Portable durability
  • Large storage space
  • Great speed
  • USB-C connection works better than the everyday typical USB
  • Easy to use with no extra wires to worry about

Cons

  • The USB-C port on the hard drive is prone to get damaged from everyday use

 

 

In conclusion, it is safe to say that to a large extent, the LaCie Rugged SSD hard drive does exactly what it says it would do. It has a good build, topnotch performance and its ruggedness is perfect for all types of environment. It is also very fast when it comes to transferring files and you don’t have to worry too much about not getting your money’s worth as the hard drive is covered by a 5-year warranty. What’s more, its security is top-notch and if you are a photographer or videographer, you get full access to a month free trial of all apps on Adobe Creative Cloud!