Unfortunately I’ve experienced broken hard drives from drop damage and the like. It’s a big kick in the stomach knowing that you have kept most of your important files stored here which are inevitably lost forever. That sucks, and lab recoveries are extremely expensive for sometimes failed results in gaining your files back. Hard drive protection, especially if you’re on the go is important.
Adata has just released their HD710M external hard drive. It’s covered in a rubber coating and claimed to have been military tested against drops, dust and water. Good news so far. If you’re likely to stick this device in a travel bag then you can for the most part guarantee it will not get damaged in transit.
The drive we were sent is covered in a camouflage green pattern, but they’re also available in black, blue and yellow. The majority of the drive is covered in rubber, mixing up the camouflage pattern between black accented stripes. The middle uses a faux carbon fibre like texture which looks a little fake, but still stylish. The USB cable clips around the outside of the drive for easy storage and a way of not losing it which on adventures.
As I said before, this drive is splash, water and dust proof as well as protected from drops. The USB 3.0 port is covered with a rubberised flap which when positioned right completely seals the unit. However, this is fiddly. So much so that I would not recommend sending this drive for a dunk in the sea. Don’t worry though, you still have your splashproof protection.
The Adata HD710M uses a USB 3.0 interface which means faster transfer speeds when coming from USB 3.0 port on your computer. USB 2.0 ports will still work, but you’re limiting the transfer speeds. It’s formatted to a FAT32 format from retail which means it can be used on both Windows and Mac. If you need to store individual files larger than 4GB, then a quick format to exFAT will give you the same functionality.
Running FlashBench directly into a USB 3.0 revealed these results below.
For the hardened traveller who loves to take photos and video, this hard drive may be the one for you. The waterproof protection isn’t fully trusted, but thanks to the rubber casing shroud, the hard drive will be well protected in a bag. Transfer speeds are more than acceptable over the older style USB 2.0 speeds which means you can transfer more Mb/s at a time during transfers. And for the price of around £60 from some retailers, the Adata HD710M external hard drive is an absolute steal. For more information, visit the Adata website.
