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Corsair's latest external SSD, the EX400U, is a compact drive measuring 64.3 x 64 x 12mm and despite this small size, it packs a real punch as it uses a USB 4.0 (40 Gbps) connection.
Available in three capacities; 1TB, 2TB and a flagship 4TB model, Corsair's EX400U has official sequential performance ratings of 4,000MB/s for reads and up to 3,600MB/s for writes. All three drives in the range offer the same rated performance.
At the heart of the EX400U is a controller that is new to us – the PS2251-21 (U21) from Phison, and it could be a real game changer. The four-channel PS2251-21 is the world's first native USB4 controller. The DRAM-less design is built on a 12nm process supporting up to 32TB of 3D TLC and QLC NAND with a transfer rate of up to 1600MT/s. As it's a native USB4.0 chip, there is no need to waste space on a PCB for a bridging IC which should mean smaller, faster drives are on the horizon.
Corsair's official Sequential performance ratings for the EX400U are up to 4,000MB/s for reads and up to 3,600MB/s for writes. Using the ATTO benchmark we couldn't hit the official maximums, the best we saw was 2,920MB/s for reads and 2,810MB/s for writes. Switching over to CrystalDiskMark 8 benchmark, the best read figure we saw was 3,129MB/s (default compressible data test and Peak Performance profile tests). The best write figure 3,024MB/s came from the default test (using compressible data). Even though we couldn't confirm the official maximums, the results we did see are the fastest for a USB external SSD we've seen to date.
We found the 2TB Corsair EX400U on Scan for £199.99 (inc VAT) HERE.
Pros
- Compact size.
- Sequential performance.
Cons
- Couldn't hit the maximum official speeds with our testing setup.
- Pricey.
KitGuru says: Compact, fast and available up to 4TB in capacity, Corsair's EX400U is the fastest USB external drive we've tested to date.
