Kingston IronKey Vault Privacy 80ES 480GB External SSD Review

Rating: 8.0.

One of the latest additions to Kingston's range of encrypted devices is the Kingston IronKey Vault Privacy 80ES, Kingston’s first OS-independent hardware-encrypted external SSD with a touch-screen. It's quite a unique product, but is it worth the £290 asking price? We find out today.

Aimed at small to medium business users and content creators, the Kingston IronKey Vault Privacy 80ES has FIPS 197 certified XTS-AES 256-bit encryption, is TAA compliant and uses a Common Criteria EAL5+ (CC EAL5+) certified secure microprocessor.

The Vault Privacy 80ES range comprises just three capacities (at the time of writing), the entry-level 480GB drive (the one we are reviewing here), 960GB and a flagship 1.92TB model.

Using a USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C interface, Kingston rate the drive as up to 250MB/s for both reads and writes.

Kingston backs the drive with a 3-year warranty.

Physical Specifications:

• Usable Capacities: 480GB.
• Interface: USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C.
• Form Factor: External.
• Dimensions: 122.5 x 84.2 x 18.5mm
• Drive Weight: 468g.

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