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If you travel a lot into the wildlife and to the remote locations, you might need a more portable hard drive that is ruggedized to prevent its parts from dust, water and mechanical damages. Including under casual circumstances, the ruggedized hard drive proves useful. Silicon Power is among the popular manufacturers of ruggedized hard drives and the Rugged Armor Series proves that. One of their old rugged drives, the Silicon Power Rugged Armor A30 released a few years ago, proves that their work is quality. This review provides you with the great features of the Silicon Armor A30 rugged hard drive model.
Silicon Power Armor A30 Specs
Silicon Amor A30 comes with 500GB, 1TB and 2TB, but the 500GB models are outdated and more expensive. The drive features the regular USB3.0 interface, but unlike many other drives in the market that use Micro-B 3.0 connector, this USB-A port facilitates better connections on the A30 hard drive itself. Moreover, the manufacturer offers this product with a USB-A to USB-A cable or USB-A to USB-C, suitable for the new MacBooks and other devices that require Type-C connectors. It is a rugged drive and it is therefore somehow lengthier and comes with 3-year warranty.
The product functions well in almost any environment – but some of them are not as consistent as others are. The 110-120MB/s sequential read and write speeds are comparable to those of the competitors and might exceed those of the fastest portable hard drives in the market today. Reviewers who have already looked inside the A30 found Seagate Momentus hard drive – labelled as Samsung Spinpoint M8/M9. That does not mean that drive models are consistent. They vary from unit to unit and the performance can be different depending on the system and the measurement method.
The drive does not offer much, but you can download the SP Widget software manually to benefit from the regular and the cloud based back-up options in addition to the AES 256-bit encryption. You can download the software at any time from the manufacturer’s official website page – at the bottom. Differently put, you will not get the software with device.
The manufacturer has marked this product for dust and water protection (without an official IP rating), A30 boasts several protective measures that will prevent it against mechanical damages like bumps, drops and any other form of physical shock that might cause damages. The product has passed through military grade drop tests and even though these tests are not sophisticated – they involve dropping the drive (in a case) several times from 10ft/3M height – they ascertain that it is resistant enough to survive any accidental drop.
The absence of an IP mark does not mean that the product is not protected from dust and water damages, it just means that it has not gone through the right tests for this mark. You should expect basic waterproofing with the case, but just as you do with other important devices, you should not be careless when handling it in the rain or around water. It comes with a cable-carry feature that allows strapping its bulkier cable to the case.
Its design
The Rugged Armor A30 comes in grey-white or black-orange colour schemes and its design is somehow unique due to the orange protective silicon protrusions. While the visuals are a personal preference, the protrusions also function as the cable holders. The small blue light situated on the drive’s flat surface will tell you whether a connection is successful.
User experience
Most of the people who have reviewed this product are positive, but some have reported that there are chances of the hard drive failing after three months. That happens to other hard drives too and it cannot be alarming. A30 is in par with the cleanest portable hard drives in the market today. Most other reviewers find the drive to be rugged enough for daily use.
What to expect when opening the box
The package contains the Silicon Power Rugged Armor A30 hard drive, – you will have to select your desired capacity when purchasing – a USB-A to USB-A cable, and a USB-A to USB-C cable. The manufacturer might also include the manual and the warranty documentation.
Price Disclaimer
Pros
- The manufacturer protects it properly against the daily drops and bumps
- Costs slightly above the regular hard drives
- The manufacturer also offers it with a unique USB-C cable
Cons
- It is less rugged than most new models, which might outperform and retail at similar price
- Some users believe that the design is unattractive
What to expect in the box
In the product package, expect to find the Silicon Power Rugged Armor A30 hard drive – of your desired capacity. The manufacturer also offers a USB-A to USB-A or a USB-A to USB-C cable, which also depends on the need of a user. The last thing to expect is the warranty documentation plus the manual.
Who should use the product?
If you are among the individuals who travel a lot, you might need to purchase the ruggedized hard drive. Whether you will be traveling into the wildlife or any other remote location with the device, you will not expect any damages from dust or rain to the delicate parts of your hard drive. Including in the most casual situations, the ruggedized hard drive will prove useful.
In most benchmarks, the hard drive performs well, but it is less consistent than several competitors are. The 110-120MB/S read/write speeds far-flung over many benchmarks of the hard drive, but it is near the speed of some of the fast portable hard drives in the market. Some people who have already reviewed the product effective.
The customer reviews
Most of the available customer reviews are positive. The negative reviews mostly report failure of the hard drive within 3 months.
Conclusion
The Rugged Armor A30 hard drive delivers great performance and adequate ruggedness for daily tasks at a more reasonable price. The manufacturer, Silicon Power, focused more on making sure that the device is more rugged than the others are. However, other Rugged Armor models, such as the A60, are within the same price range with the A30 but offer more protection in added waterproofing form. They are also come with scratchproof surfaces and many other vital features. The product might be seemingly less appealing to most people compared with the available alternatives but it is more reliable.
