Apacer ASMini 240GB Portable Mini SSD Review

Bohs Hansen / 7 years ago

Final Thoughts

Pricing

Apacer storage products aren’t as widely available as other brands, but well prices when you find them. I had trouble finding a listing for the ASMini at the time of writing, but it is out there. I found a few German shops with it listed for €114.90 which is a fair price for such a drive.

ASMini Overview

I’ve had the pleasure to review a few other Apacer products and while they aren’t new as such, they often do bring a twist along. For the ASMini, it has to be the size. We get a tiny drive that fits into the palm of your hand. It could have been made even smaller, but it might have required different case materials which again might have returned in a more expensive or a heavier drive. Despite the small size, the drive delivers performance and the latest type USB connector, the reversible USB-C.

The design is one thing, but it’s the performance that most people care about. You might have noticed that the fresh drive speeds were quite a bit lower than the conditioned. That’s unusual, but there’s a reason. If I receive a product that’s already formatted, I’ll use it the way it is. Why? Because that’s what 9 out of 10 consumers would do. However, this drive wasn’t properly aligned for the volume setup, which is why it didn’t reap the same good scores as fresh drive. Once you reformat it with default settings, it will be as it should: properly aligned. With a proper alignment, the Apacer ASMini has no trouble reaching the USB 3.0’s limitations.

Performance

We got a nice looking, small, light, and fast drive, we know that. But what about the price? It’s clear to everyone that you get a lot more capacity in an HDD than you do in an SSD for the price, especially when it comes to portable drives. While that’s said, there are a lot of advantages in a portable SSD. To start with, it is about 4 times faster and it has no moving parts. That makes it a lot less prone to damage from shocks and vibrations which is a wanted feature in a portable drive.

The choice of NAND, which is MLC, does make it a bit more expensive than TLC based drives. But in return, you get a far more durable drive which can handle more rewrites. Considering the size and common usage scenarios of a portable drive, it’s highly preferable.