Netac ZX20L portable SSD review

Netac ZX20L: 30-second review

The Netac ZX 20L2 is a compact, portable, and fast SSD designed for use by both those in the creative sector and gaming. The design of the ZX20L breaks away from the usual small black box we’re so familiar with and instead opts for a full metal design that gives it an aesthetic edge over its more mainstream competitors.

One of the major features that really appeals about the ZX 20L portable SSD is the fact that it utilises the latest USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 connector. This means it can deliver ultra-fast transfer speeds of up to 2000 MB/s, which is ideal for anyone looking for a portable SSD for video editing.

During testing, the application of choice to check that speed was DaVinci Resolve, and setting up projects using the SSD as the main storage medium worked extremely well, with file access being fast enough to keep up with the pace of editing both HD and 4K video.

One point worth noting is that the interface is USB 3.2 Gen 2×2, and to utilise the speed this connector offers fully, you need a machine with a Gen 2×2 port. While you might have a Thunderbolt 3, Thunderbolt 4, or USB4 port, these will only deliver USB 3.2 Gen 2 speeds of 1000 MB per second, resulting in a downgrade in performance from this portable SSD.

However, if you do have the correct port on your machine, as we did with our test rig, the speeds this SSD can deliver are outstanding. The aluminium alloy outer casing, combined with its slimline design and weight of just 50 g, makes it easy to transport and extremely robust. When pushed under load while editing 4K video from the Canon EOS R5C, it was able to cope with half a day’s editing, handling the loads and demands placed on it with ease.

While the styling might not appeal to everyone, it does provide a nice aesthetic edge. The aluminium casing does more than just offer a good look; it also ensures durability and dissipates heat effectively when under load. Considering we’ve tested many of the best portable SSDs on the market, including many Gen 2×2 options, the Netac ZX20L, with its slimline design and stylish looks, is a great choice.

Netac ZX20L: Price & availability

The Netac ZX20L is widely available and has storage capacities ranging from 256GB to the 2TB version that we’ve looked at in this review. Prices for the 2TB version can be found on Amazon at $148 / £145, while the 256GB version costs just $45 / £42.

• Score: 5/5

Netac ZX20L: Design & build

The design of the ZX20L instantly stands out with its full aluminium alloy build. Weighing just about 50 g and measuring 102 x 30 x 9.2 mm, it can easily slip into a trouser pocket or almost any kit bag without issue. This makes it a great accessory for photographers and videographers looking for a high-capacity, fast-speed SSD, whether for storing media or recording directly from cameras.

The slimline design and flat back make it easy to attach to devices with Velcro, enabling you to secure it to equipment such as a Blackmagic 6K camera or the back of a laptop easily. For connectivity, it features a single USB Type-C port, which is fully bus-powered. This port uses the USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 protocol, which, while not the most common, offers impressive transfer speeds of up to 2000 MB/s. The port is fully backward and forward-compatible, so as long as your computer has a USB Type-C port, it should work. However, to achieve the maximum speeds, you’ll need a machine equipped with a USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 port.

In terms of capacity, the drive is available in a range of options. The 2 TB version reviewed here is ideal for video editing, but the high transfer speeds also make it a great choice for high-end gaming. However, a lower capacity would probably suffice for other uses.

Thanks to its small size, lightweight build, and USB Type-C port, the drive can also be connected to the latest iPhones, enabling you to record ProRes video. This makes it a versatile choice for all sorts of storage needs where capacity and speed are essential.

• Design & build: 4.5/5

Netac ZX20L: Features

The ZX20L is designed as a plug-and-play, easy-to-use SSD, and as such, its features are minimalistic. The drive is available in a range of capacities, from 256 GB, 512 GB, 1 TB, through to the 2 TB version that we’re looking at in this review. This frankly huge capacity for a portable SSD makes it ideal for high-demand use such as video editing, photo editing, and gaming. To keep up with these demanding tasks, it relies on ultra-fast connection technology, featuring USB 3.2 Gen 2×2, which offers a 20 Gb/s transfer speed.

These high transfer speeds are perfect for video editors, enabling the quick connection of the drive in order to handle large video files from cameras like the Canon R5C within DaVinci Resolve. The SSD, due to its speeds, is also well suited to large-scale gaming, providing fast access to files and data for a host of machine types including consoles.

The ultraportable and lightweight design is the most obvious feature, and that enables you to slip it easily into a jacket pocket without adding too much weight or bulk. As you’d expect from a drive of this type, it’s bus-powered, meaning there’s no need for a separate power adapter, although it will draw a small amount of power from the host machine. Along with the SSD itself, a USB Type-C cable is included.

Unlike many other drives of this type, Netac has opted for a touch of design flair when it comes to the case. The aluminium outer features engraved graphics into the Aluminium frame, adding to its aesthetic appeal. These graphics, depending on your taste, look great but also aid heat dissipation by increasing the surface area.

Other than its impressive portability and performance, the ZX 20L keeps things simple. It requires no setup—just plug it in, and you’re ready to go.

• Features: 4.5/5

Netac ZX20L: Performance

Starting out with the ZX 20L is straightforward. The drive arrives pre-formatted in the exFAT format, which is ideal for cross-platform use, but you can reformat it to suit your specific system requirements. For macOS systems, reformatting to APFS is recommended; for Windows, NTFS is a perfect option. If cross-compatibility between Windows, Mac, and Linux is essential, exFAT remains a good choice.

In this test, because we were swapping between Windows and Mac systems, we initially left the drive in exFAT format and later re-tested it after reformatting to both APFS and NTFS to ensure consistent performance across platforms.

On MacOS, the drive was tested with a MacBook Pro M1 Max, which is equipped with 4 Thunderbolt ports. This is where a small issue over the speeds does arise as due to backward compatibility limitations, the USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 transfer rate was downgraded to Gen 2, delivering speeds of 10 Gb/s instead of 20 Gb/s. Despite this, the drive was instantly recognised, and its performance in DaVinci Resolve was impressive. Working with HD and 4K video, the transfer rates were more than enough able to handle the footage files with relative ease through the 4K video editing process. While the drive did heat up during use, it remained warm to the touch rather than hot.

The aluminium casing with that design effectively acts as a heatsink, helping to keep the drive cool while under the load created by video editing, all without the need for a fan.

Switching the drive to a PC equipped with a Gen 2×2 port and the full transfer speeds that this drive is capable of were seen. While the improvement from the Mac system to the PC could be seen in the benchmark test, the difference in real-world application when editing 4K and HD video in DaVinci Resolve was less noticeable.

Throughout editing, the 2 TB capacity was put to good use, with 500 GB consumed by raw footage and the remainder filled by project files. For professional video editors, more than 2 TB might be necessary for large-scale projects, but for small office or business use, it is more than adequate.

Throughout real-world testing, the drive performed exceptionally well when used with DaVinci Resolve as well as direct storage media for the iPhone 15 Pro. The SSD kept up with all demands placed on it, with the casing remaining warm but never too hot to handle. Through the editing process, checks of transfer rates with the benchmarking software were carried out to confirm the performance and to check to see if they were was any thermal throttling.

Switching to benchmarks created the scores to measure the drive’s speed truely. In CrystalDiskMark, read speeds reached 1897 MB/s, with write speeds slightly higher at 1971 MB/s. Checked with the ATTO tests reported a read speed of 1730 MB/s and a write speed of 1858 MB/s. This trend was consistent across other benchmarks, such as AS SSD and AJA System Disk Test.

These results show that the drive excels not only at reading media files for use in applications like DaVinci Resolve but even more so at writing files. This make the ZX20L a great choice as a destination media for rendering video as well as managing file before being backed up to a NAS or archieve storage. The drives transfer speeds, portability, durability, and handling of heat that enables it be used under load for prolonged periods makes it a great choice for professionals.

• Performance: 5/5

Should you buy the Netac ZX20L?

The ZX 20L is a portable SSD with a touch of design flair, although whether you like it or not will depend on personal taste. The drive clearly targets the gaming community, offering fast SSD transfer rates ideal for storing game data and other related files. However, Netac also aims to drive this drive in the video production market, where its ultra-fast transfer speeds make it suitable for both reading and writing large video and image files. This enables you to quickly transfer files to editing applications and output edited media back to the drive.

In testing, the ZX 20L was used to store a variety of media types, including video, images, and even word-processing documents. In all tests, it coped well with the demands of the applications accessing the files. Unsurprisingly, smaller files such as Word documents loaded instantly, given their minimal size. Large Excel files also didn’t pose an issue, with the SSD delivering quick performance throughout. For larger media files, such as videos and high-resolution images, the SSD maintained its speed and transfer rates, surprisingly more so for the write speeds than read.

While there are many SSDs offering similar speeds on the market, including numerous Gen 2×2 options, these can present challenges if your computer lacks the correct port, as you won’t achieve maximum performance. The ZX 20L, however, with its all-metal casing, provides enhanced durability, and a compact design, with built-in heat dissipation that not only protects the drive but also helps maintain performance over prolonged periods of use.

If you’re looking for a slightly unconventional-looking SSD with outstanding performance, particularly in terms of write speeds, the ZX 20L is an excellent choice. However, if you prefer a more traditional design, there are plenty of other options available offering comparable transfer speeds.

Buy it if…

Don’t buy it if…

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For more storage solutions, we reviewed the best external hard drives.