HDD by stefan @ 2022-01-09
The Armor A66 5TB portable drive is not only rugged enough to withstand rough environments but can also offer quite a bit of performance thanks to the included WD Blue 2.5’’. The drive comes with 128MB of cache and 5 platters of 1TB each, increasing the drive chassis height to 15mm. The Armor A55 does also come with IPX4 water resistance and to help with this feature, the USB port does come with a rubber cover as well.
We would like to thank at first Silicon Power for supplying their Armor A66 5TB Portable HDD for testing and reviewing.
"Founded in 2003 by a group of enthusiastic data storage industry experts, Silicon Power is committed to delivering outstanding product and service quality. Headquartered and with our own state-of-the-art production site in Taipei, we have become a leading manufacturer of flash memory cards, USB flash drives, portable hard drives, solid state drives, DRAM modules and industrial-grade products. As an international player with four branch offices around the globe, we continuously strive to offer the perfect data storage solution for all requirements of modern digitalized life. With a strong focus on combining innovative technology and award-winning design, we live up to our brand promise to reliably preserve and protect your most valuable data.
Because memory is personal."
Super-speed data transfer with USB 3.2 Gen 1 interface (up to 5Gbps)
Massive storage capacities available in two different sizes to cater to various needs (1TB/2TB and 4TB/5TB)
Military-grade shockproof drive (meets the MIL-STD 810G Method 516.6 Procedure IV drop test)
Product meets the test standards under normal use. Do not deliberately drop or damage the product.
Advanced internal anti-collision suspension system structure effectively reduces impact force and strengthens overall shock-absorption
IPX4 water-resistance protects the drive against splashing water from any direction
All-around rubber bumper provides 360? protection for the drive to take it anywhere, worry-free
Smart wrap-around cable design prevents cable misplacement
LED light indicates data transfer activity and power status
Convenient plug-and-play eliminates the need for external power
Free SP Widget software available for download, which provides 7 major back-up and security functions
Capacity: 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, 5TB
Dimensions: 139.2mm x 96.0mm x 16.2mm (1TB/2TB), 139.2mm x 96.0mm x 24.0mm (4TB/5TB)
Weight: 209g (1TB/2TB), 328g (4TB/5TB)
Material: Rubber + Plastic
Color: Black/Black, Black/Blue, Black/Yellow
Interface: USB 3.2 Gen 1 (USB 3.0, USB 2.0 backwards compatible)
Supported OS: Windows 10/8.1/8/7/Vista/XP 64-Bit, Mac OS 10.5.x, Linux 2.6.x
Operating Temperature: 5°C - 55°C
Storage Temperature: -40°C - 70°C
Operation Voltage: DC 5V
Certification: CE, FCC, BSMI, Green dot, WEEE, RoHS, KC, RCM
Warranty: 3 years
The Armor A66 is another rugged storage device from Silicon Power, sporting a large protective rubber bumper, IPX4-level water resistance and an overall shockproof design. For ease of use it does come with an integrated cable-carry system, while the storage options are plenty: 1TB, 2TB, 4TB and a whopping 5TB!
The product is shipped inside a medium-sized cardboard enclosure, which shows a photo of the product in front, along with the protection capabilities. The supported USB bus is also listed here, along with the total drive capacity:
Depending on the capacity of the model, we have a height of 16.2mm for the 1TB and 2TB drives, while the 4TB and 5TB models have a height of 24mm:
As we have seen with other boxes involving storage products from Silicon Power, they do list an approximation of files we can use depending on the drive capacity:
A short product description can be checked out on the back, in multiple languages, together with the list of specifications, some Internet resources, the product code name and its serial number:
The drive is held securely inside a transparent plastic mold, along with the USB data transmission cable:
The USB 3.2 Gen 1 cable supplied with the product is Type-A on both sides, for additional durability:
The product does feature a middle plastic layer, and under it we will find an anti-collision suspension system, which continues with the rubber material the outside frame is made of (bumper):
A subtle SP logo can be spotted as well:
The bottom drive area does come with a similar design:
Here we will note the inscription with the drive capacity and supported standards as well:
On the sides, we have the dedicated cable channel:
The USB port is protected with a rubber cover as well:
The cable can be easily mounted to the chassis when not in use:
The testbench was composed from the following hardware:
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5600X
CPU Cooler: Deepcool Captain 240 EX RGB AIO
Motherboard: BIOSTAR RACING B550GTA RAM: Patriot Memory Viper RGB Series DDR4 Video: PowerColor Radeon 5700 8GB Power Supply: Cooler Master 850W SSD: Patriot P200 512GB Case: Cooler Master ATCS 840
When powered on for the first time, we will see that the Armor A66 5TB has been formatted NTFS from the factory:
With the help of AIDA64, we will be able to extract some more information about the drive, which is a Western Digital WD50NPZZ-00A9JT0, with a platter rotation speed of 5400RPM:
On the drive we will find the manual in electronic PDF format:
The Armor A66 5TB portable drive is not only rugged enough to withstand rough environments but can also offer quite a bit of performance thanks to the included WD Blue 2.5’’. The drive comes with 128MB of cache and 5 platters of 1TB each, increasing the drive chassis height to 15mm. The Armor A55 does also come with IPX4 water resistance and to help with this feature, the USB port does come with a rubber cover as well.
An USB-A to USB-A cable is used for additional durability, while the internal controller supports the USB 3.2 Gen1 interface. Newer 2.5’’ WD drives we have tested do come with a more intelligent caching system, resulting in very high-speed test results. However, if we do write continuously to the drive, we will get to see more down-to-earth HDD-specific values:
The 5TB version of the Armor A66 can be found online for just about 136 Euros, which we do find as a great value. The product can be had in multiple colors: black, blue or yellow to fit everyone’s style.
We would like to thank again to Silicon Power for making this review possible!