Lexar TouchLock Moveable SSD
ZDNET’s key takeaways
- An excellent-thin and super-light moveable SSD
- Revolutionary NFC unlocking eliminates passcodes and biometrics
- Not the quickest SSD, however quick sufficient to deal with 4K ProRes 60 fps video
Comply with ZDNET: Add us as a most popular supply on Google.
I feel the times of carrying information round in an unencrypted state have just about come to an finish. It is simply too dangerous, particularly if that information is in any means vital or topic to regulatory oversight.
However encrypting and decrypting drives may also be a ache, and have to be as fast and easy as attainable. I do not assume that course of can get any simpler than tapping an SSD together with your smartphone — and that is precisely how the Lexar TouchLock Moveable SSD works.
Additionally: I examined a solid-state moveable battery for per week – now lithium-ion feels outdated
Out of the field, the TouchLock Moveable SSD feels small and lightweight. Manufactured from light-weight aluminum, measuring a petite 3.37 x 2.09 x 0.28 inches, and weighing in at only one.4 ounces, this drive feels space-age. There’s an NFC touchpad on the again, a MagSafe magnet ring on the entrance for attaching to a smartphone, and a single USB-C port on the underside.
That MagSafe ring offers you a giant clue as to the everyday use case for this storage drive — a drive that attaches to your iPhone.
The outer shell has been designed to outlive a 6.5-foot drop, which is nice for the rough-and-tumble of day-to-day life.
Additionally: This versatile cellphone accent successfully makes rugged instances pointless for me
On the within is a 128-bit AES hardware-encrypted SSD that protects every part written to it, so your information is rarely left in an unencrypted state. The drive has been constructed with reliability in thoughts reasonably than velocity, and to attain this, Lexar developed a customized low-power controller that generated much less warmth however improved reliability.
Unlocking the drive utilizing NFC is fast and simple.
Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNET
Regardless of not being constructed for velocity, this drive can nonetheless attain write speeds of as much as 450Mbps and skim speeds of 420Mbps. This velocity is quick sufficient for the machine to deal with 4K ProRes 60 frames-per-second video recorded straight by an iPhone (if you would like a quicker drive for the iPhone, however with out the encryption, you are taking a look at one thing just like the Lexar ES3, however that does not have built-in encryption).
Additionally: 10 quirky cables and connectors everybody ought to be utilizing (and so they’re principally low cost)
That is the primary drive in a very long time that I needed to learn the guide to determine use it. I first plugged the drive into my iPhone. Nothing occurred. Then my Mac — and, as soon as once more, nothing occurred. Then I learn the guide and discovered that I wanted to obtain the suitable Lexar app (iOS and Android), and use the NFC function on my smartphone to unlock and arrange the smartphone because the handset that unlocks the drive.
The drive is tremendous skinny and lightweight, and is dwarfed by the iPhone.
Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNET
As soon as that was achieved, the drive was straightforward to make use of. You join it to a tool — smartphone, pill, laptop computer, or pc — faucet the smartphone onto the NFC pad, and it is unlocked in a number of seconds. From that time onwards, the drive acts like another.
Additionally: The very best energy banks of 2026: Knowledgeable examined and reviewed
Together with the drive, you get a brief USB-C-to-USB-C cable, a USB-C-to-USB-A adapter, and a self-adhesive magnetic ring to connect the drive to issues aside from iPhones.
ZDNET’s shopping for recommendation
The Lexar TouchLock Moveable SSD is available in a 500GB and 1TB mannequin, for $94 and $143, respectively. I just like the unlock mechanism as a result of it is fast and simple, however there’s an preliminary passcode that it’s a must to bear in mind simply in case you lose your cellphone or wipe the app or one thing like that. I additionally like how small and lightweight the drive is — it is barely noticeable when hooked up to an iPhone.
Efficiency was additionally greater than acceptable, and Lexar has achieved an exquisite job of preserving warmth to a minimal. I’ve examined a variety of SSDs that connect to your iPhone and get tremendous sizzling, including to the already ample quantity of warmth generated by the handset itself.
