Review: Team Group PD20M portable SSD 1TB
After we reviewed Team Group's interesting T-Create P31 External SSD in January, the company asked us if we'd also like to take its magnetic PD20M 1TB drive for a spin.
We were curious to test this little drive as it offers a unique solution for smartphone users who need to expand their onboard storage and, with a tiny form factor, combined with its magnetic functionality, it looks to solve the problem of limited storage in a neat and clever way.
The Team Group PD20M retails for around $179 AUD (1TB) and $299 (2TB), and is available from retailers including jw.com.au and Amazon, among others.
So, a few weeks later, what's it like? Let's take a look.
Build quality
Firstly, it's worth explaining that Team Group has really targeted this SSD at iPhone 15 users, and in particular those who shoot high-quality video modes like Apple ProRes 4K that require dedicated external storage to record since native recording onto internal storage isn't possible.
Unfortunately I'm not an iPhone user, and the drive wouldn't stick to my relatively ancient and magsafe-less Google Pixel 8, but Team Group did mention that the drive will work with a magsafe case if you don't have the required magnetism on your device.
That meant I sadly wasn't able to test out the PD20M's party trick - its cool ability to mount onto the back of an iPhone with its grunty internal magnet holding it in position.
However, I could still test its transfer and connectivity features, which are made via the included and pre-shaped USB Type-C cable.
Like the T-Create P31, the PD20M is made from a single piece of aluminum alloy, albeit with a plastic backing. At just 8.2mm thick, the drive is also thinner than just about any smartphone I'm aware of, barely adding any bulk to your phone, and is also super lightweight at just 40g.
On the rear, the drive has a soft pad section that means it won't scratch your precious device either.
Finally, it's worth noting that the PD20M does not have any ingress protection (IP) rating, which could be an important omission depending on how you plan to use it. I wouldn't recommend dipping this drive into water like I did with the P-31!
In use
In use, I found holding my phone with the PD20M attached (via a piece of velcro) was quite comfortable, and didn't make the device feel bulky or unbalanced.
It really is so light and thin that you barely notice it's there, and you could easily just let it hang from your device's USB-C port with little worry that it would tear out due to weight.
Once connected, the drive integrated seamlessly with the onboard camera on my Pixel, appearing immediately in the Files app or by selecting Browse in supported apps, and opening up a ton more storage possibilities.
The PD20M uses a USB Type-C interface, and meets the USB 3.2 Gen2 x1 specifications of Apple’s iPhone 15 Pro. This means it's capable of achieving that port type's maximum transmission speed of 10 Gbps.
When it comes to transfer speeds, the drive is future-proofed in a sense as it offers read and write speeds of up to 2000MB/s, enabled by NVMe technology.
However to achieve these kind of speeds your connected device is going to need to have a USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 port, something many PCs now have, but many Macs still lack.
Unfortunately, my 2020 Macbook Pro is one of those and only has lowly USB-C Generation 2 ports, but I was still able to achieve read and write speeds of around 930 mb/s read and 894 mb/s write via AmorphousdiskMark, notably faster than the more expensive Team Group P31 drive I tested earlier in the year.
Over at Blackmagic Design's Disk Speed Test, the results were slightly lower for write for the PD20M when compared to the P-31, but still meant that even on my relatively basic setup, 8K DCI 60 transfers would be possible in both H.265 and Blackmagic RAW, and 8K DCI 24 transfers in both these formats along with ProRes 422HQ, so the drive is definitely ready to perform with larger files sizes as common in video workflows.
Through both tests, the drive remained relatively cool as well, and it's worth mentioning that with faster ports the potential speeds of the drive are much greater than what I achieved here.
All this too of course is much, much faster than the normal speeds you would get if transferring data from your phone to a laptop or PC - a drive like this can literally save hours of transfer time.
The wrap-up
The tiny size, feather-like weight and slick compatibility with Magsafe makes the PD20M easily the most seamless external SSD of this kind I've used.
It's a fast drive too, and although there are are the usual issues around the USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 port when it comes to the limited number of devices offering this port type, even the 'standard' speeds are pretty impressive.
Combine this with a really reasonable pricetag for a compact 1TB drive, and the Team Group PD20M comes with our highest recommendation.
This is a great drive for creatives on the go and those who want a small, fast and versatile SSD.
The results
Pros
+ Compact size, weight
+ Seamless integration with most smartphones
+ Affordable
Cons
- No IP rating
- Does need magsafe to make the most of its design