Orico M20 Portable SSD review

30-second
review

Orico
is
a
brand
active
in
many
different
technology
sectors,
and
it
has
supported
portable
storage
for
some
time.

The
M20
is
a
portable
SSD
from
the
new
Taichi
Series
with
speeds
up
to
2000MB/s.
It
will
work
with
a
PC,
Mac,
or
Chromebook
and
can
connect
to
either
USB-A
or
USB-C
ports.

It’s
also
lightweight
at
just
59g
(0.13lb),
including
the
cable,
and
at
only
8cm
long,
it
easily
fits
in
most
pockets.

However,
this
is
an
active
market.
Crucial,
Kingston,
and
ADATA
offer
similar
solutions
supporting
USB
3.2
Gen
2×2,
some
of
which
have
a
4TB
capacity
that
the
M20
doesn’t.

Others
come
with
software
management
tools
and
carry
pouches,
which,
again,
aren’t
features
of
the
M20.

These
ommissions
would
be
fine
if
the
Orico
M20
were
significantly
cheaper.
The
2
TB
model
sells
for
just
$160
from

Amazon
(with
a
$20
discount).
That
compares
strongly
with
the

Crucial
X10
Pro,
roughly
the
same
price
as
the

Kingston
XS2000
and
the
ADATA
SE880
for
2TB.

The
M20
is
a
basic
USB
SSD
that
can
perform
well
if
you
have
suitable
USB
ports,
but
it
doesn’t
offer
anything
special
and
doesn’t
undercut
the
opposition
on
price.

Orico
M20
Portable
SSD:
Pricing
and
availability

• 
  How
  much
  does
  it
  cost? From
  $60
  for
  512GB
  model
• 
  When
  is
  it
  out? Available
  now
• 
  Where
  can
  you
  get
  it? Sold
  through
  online
  retailers,
  including
  
  Amazon

Depending
on
where
you
source
this
from,
it’s
either
called
the
Orico
M20
or
the
ORICO
Taichi
Portable
SSD,
but
these
are
the
same
product.

Available
from

Amazon,
the
M20
comes
in
three
capacities:
512GB,
1TB
and
2TB.
At
the
time
of
writing,
these
cost
$60, 
$130,
and
$180,
but
the
two
biggest
ones
currently
have
a
$20
coupon
offer.

For
whatever
reason,
in
the
UK,
only
the
2TB
model
is
listed
on
Amazon,
and
it
costs
£150,
but
they
have
no
stock
in
the
Orico
store.
In
Europe,
the
2TB
drive
is
listed
at
€199,99,
but
with
a
twenty
Euro
coupon,
the
same
as
the
USA
offer.

These
prices
are
almost
identical
to
those
offered
by
the
Kingston
XS2000
and
the
ADATA
SE880,
being
similar
designs.
It’s
cheaper
than
the
market
leader,
the
Crucial
X10
Pro,
but
that
drive
is
waterproof
and
comes
with
software
tools
that
the
M20
can’t
match.

Overall,
if
this
drive
was
$150
or
came
with
supporting
tools,
it
would
be
a
more
compelling
purchase.

It’s
worth
noting
that
Orico
also
has
an
identical-looking
M10
that
only
supports
1000MB/s
transfers
with
USB
3.2
Gen
2.
It’s
cheaper,
so
don’t
confuse
these
thinking
you
have
snagged
a
bargain.

• 
  Value: 3
  /
  5

Orico
M20
Portable
SSD:
Specs

Orico
M20
Portable
SSD:
Design

• 
  Metal
  and
  ABS
  construction
• 
  5-year
  warranty
• 
  Dual
  mode
  cable

The
M20’s
construction
is
simple
but
effective.
The
USB-C
port
end
has
a
metallic
cap,
probably
aluminium,
and
the
rest
of
the
exterior
is
black
ABS
plastic.

One
curiosity
is
that
the
box
comes
with
a
short
wrist-sized
lanyard,
but
there
is
no
through-hole
on
the
M20
for
this
to
be
attached.
Instead,
a
clear
TPU
bumper,
like
a
tiny
phone
one,
is
included
that
the
lanyard
can
thread.

With
the
bumper
in
place
and
reasonably
solid
construction,
the
M20
seems
robust.
However,
Orico
makes
no
claims
about
its
resilience
other
than
to
infer
some
with
a
five-year
warranty.
As
for
IP68K/IP69,
these
aren’t
anything
Orico
embraces
with
the
M20.

Quoting
from
the
product
literature
included
in
the
box,
it
specifically
says
“Please
do
not
hit,
throw,
or
puncture
the
product,
and
avoid
dropping,
squeezing
or
bending”.

That
doesn’t
sound
massively
tough,
so
if
you
are
inherently
clumsy,
this
might
not
be
the
drive
for
you.

The
documentation
also
warns
us
‘About
fever’,
and
the
author
of
this
seems
to
think
fever
is
the
right
word
to
use
when
describing
the
increase
in
temperature
that
can
occur
when
the
M20
is
worked
hard.

What
is
a
useful
feature
is
that
the
USB
cable
supports
both
the
older
USB
Type-A
ports
and
the
USB-C
variety.
It’s
good
to
see
a
reasonable
length
of
25cm
long,
plainly
a
high-quality
cable,
and
not
something
cheap.

Other
than
these
points,
there
is
relatively
little
to
say
about
the
M20.
It’s
evidently
TLC
flash
in
an
attractive
enclosure
with
a
controller
that
supports
Gen
2×2
mode,
and
it
comes
with
a
cable,
bumper
and
lanyard.

• 
  Design: 3
  /
  5

Orico
M20
Portable
SSD:
Software

• 
  There
  is
  none

Sometimes,
USB
SSD
makers
offer
only
basic
software
tools
that
you
must
download
from
the
company
website.
But
Orico
hasn’t
offered
any
tools,
not
even
firmware
update
software.

Based
on
Orico’s
other
products,
it
might
offer
a
tool
if
it
decides
that
the
M20
needs
an
upgrade,
but
currently,
you
are
on
your
own
regarding
software.

• 
  Software: 1
  /
  5

Orico
M20
Portable
SSD:
Performance

• 
  Needs
  USB
  3/2
  Gen
  2×2
• 
  No
  hardware
  encryption

From
a
performance
perspective,
the
Orico
M20
is
fine,
either
matching
or
beating
the
market
leader
in
the
majority
of
our
tests.
We
also
tested
the
drive
with
large
files,
and
it
doesn’t
choke
if
you
throw
a
64GB
file
at
it
since
this
design
doesn’t
use
DDR
for
caching.

It
converts
the
TLC
into
a
faster
form
to
accept
the
write,
and
then
when
it
isn’t
being
bludgeoned
with
data
writes,
it
quietly
converts
it
back
into
a
more
efficient
form
and
reclaims
the
space.
This
technique
is
used
by
M.2
drives
all
the
time,
and
the
only
point
it
can
be
a
drawback
is
when
the
drive
is
nearly
full
and
the
capacity
doesn’t
exist
for
it
to
work
well.

Where
it
mostly
differs
from
the
Crucial
X10
Pro
is
support
for
hardware
encryption,
which
is
available
on
the
X10
Pro
but
missing
from
the
M20.
You
can
still
use
BitLocker
on
the
M20,
but
this
is
software
encryption
using
AES-128
and
not
the
hardware
encryption
that
Crucial
supports.

• 
  Performance: 4
  /
  5

Orico
M20
Portable
SSD:
Verdict

Several
minor
issues
with
this
drive
slightly
take
the
shine
off
it,
but
there
are
also
some
limitations
that
we
need
to
see
companies
like
Orico
address.

The
M20’s
performance
is
comparable
with
all
the
drives
we’ve
tested
in
its
class,
but
the
SSD
module
inside
is
capable
of
much
higher
speeds
than
the
2,000MB/s
that
USB
3.2
Gen
2×2
can
transfer.

What’s
annoying
is
that
almost
every
new
system
that
we
review
comes
with
USB
4.0
or
Thunderbolt,
but
drives
like
the
M20
don’t
support
any
faster
than
1,000MB/s
on
those
connections.
Instead,
they
support
USB
3.2
Gen
2×2,
a
port
that
made
it
onto
remarkably
few
computers,
and
we
couldn’t
test
if
we
hadn’t
added
a
specific
card
to
our
test
environment
specifically
to
support
it.

Without
this
port,
a
dozen
cheaper
alternatives,
like
the
excellent
Crucial
X9
Pro,
offer
that
speed
in
a
more
robust
package.

The
lack
of
hardware
encryption
is
also
problematic
since
Crucial
and
Kingston
have
this
feature
in
their
drives.

In
short,
the
Orico
M20
looks
like
it
should
be
placed
alongside
the
business
favourites
in
this
category,
and
its
performance
justifies
that,
but
the
rest
of
the
details
regrettably
fall
short.

Should
I
buy
the
Orico
M20
Portable
SSD?

Buy
it
if…

Don’t
buy
it
if…

Also
consider

We’ve
covered
all
the
best
external
SSDs

here
for
you