Most ultraportable SSDs are rugged by design, but Adata’s SE800 Potable SSD takes the cake with a real, honest-to-goodness IP68 rating. That means you can drop it in the pool or bury it in the garden without fear of damage. Why you’d want to do those things is another question. We’d recommend you simply keep it in your pocket, given that it’s cheaper and just as fast as the top-tier competition.
This review is part of our ongoing roundup of the best external drives. Go there for information on competing products and how we tested them.
Design and features
When we classify the SE800 as an ultraportable, it’s because it’s a mere 2.8 x 1.7 x 0.4 inches thick, and weighs a only 1.4 ounces. It’s the most compact we’ve seen, though none of the competition (Samsung’s T5 and T7, SanDisk’s Extreme Pro Portable, Crucial’s X8, etc.) is significantly larger. All will lay lightly in the palm of your hand or ride easily in a shirt pocket.Â