Inateck FE2004 USB 3.0 HDD External Enclosure Review

Bohs Hansen / 10 years ago

Final Thoughts

Pricing

You won’t have to decide for a long time whether to get Inateck’s FE2004 2.5-inch HDD enclosure or not if the purchase depends on the price. At the time of the review, the FE2004 will only cost you $12.99, £11.49, and €12.99 at Amazon in the US, UK, and Germany respectively. That’s a cheap way to turn your spare 2.5-inch drive into a portable storage solution.

Overview

Let us dive right into it. Some of you might have noticed the not so great speeds compared to the other Inateck enclosures we have tested so far, but we have to be fair here as the enclosure is categorized for HDDs and not SSDs. The enclosure can easily support any speed the small 2.5-inch hard drives can perform and as such the enclosure is right on par with where it should be.

Inateck used the Norelsys NS1066 low power USB 3.0 to SATA bridge controller that supports all three generations of both SATA and USB protocol and it is a cost-effective solution. It doesn’t support UASP, but as previously mentioned we don’t really need that when using it for mechanical hard drives.

I really like the optics of the FE2004. The smooth and elegant cover feels great to touch and handle and the manufacturing is perfect. You won’t find any rough edges or similar and the rounded corners allow you to slide it into even the tightest pockets. A detachable USB 3.0 cable is included and I really like when you can remove the cables. It’s a safer way to transport it and prevent damage to plugs and cables and you also have the option to replace it with a shorter or longer version depending on your personal needs.

The enclosure only weighs 90 grams and measures just 130 x 83 x 13 mm, so taking it on the road won’t be a problem. This could be a great enclosure to use for the spare HDD you have after upgrading your notebook or laptop with a new and faster SSD. Why use that old hard drive as a paperweight when you could use it to bring along even more data.

Pros:

USB 3.0
Solid build quality from ABS plastic
Tool and screw-less design
Hot-swap

Cons:

No UASP: Doesn’t set any speed records, but did okay.

“Inateck’s FE2004 would be a great enclosure to turn that spare 2.5-inch HDD from your notebook’s SSD upgrade into a useful portable storage solution.”