A few months ago, OWC introduced the Envoy Pro FX, a portable SSD storage drive described as “the fastest, most compatible drive ever.” I take a closer look at the Envoy Pro FX and its capabilities in my review below.
Key benefits
- Wide compatibility: The drive can be connected to a wide range of devices with Thunderbolt 3/4 or USB-C ports, such as recent Mac, iPad Pro, and iPad Air models, as well as PCs and Microsoft Surface devices. There is also a USB-A adapter connected to the Thunderbolt cable included in the box
- Very fast speed: Thunderbolt 3/4 compatibility allows for very fast read/write speeds of up to an advertised 2,800 MB/s. I check the speed below.
- Bus driven: The drive is powered by the device it is connected to, not the power supply.
- Solid design: The drive’s aluminum housing has IP67-rated water and dust resistance and military-grade drop protection.
- Storage Capacity: 240GB, 480GB, 1TB, and 2TB
performance
The Envoy Pro FX enclosure is equipped with OWC’s Aura P12 Pro, a high-performance SSD with M.2 NVMe 1.3 technology. With PCI-Express 3.1 connectivity via Thunderbolt 3, the OWC promises impressive read/write speeds of up to 2,800 MB/s.
My test setup consisted of a base model 16-inch MacBook Pro with a 2.6GHz six-core 9th-generation Intel Core i7 processor running macOS Big Sur 11.2, a 1TB Envoy Pro FX connected directly to the MacBook Pro with a single Thunderbolt 3. The cable drive was formatted with a single Apple File System (APFS) volume for macOS.
Using Katsura Shareware’s popular AmorphousDiskMark 3.1 storage benchmark app, the Envoy Pro FX achieved sequential read and write speeds of up to 3,002 MB/s and 2,324 MB/s, respectively, on my Mac. That’s slightly higher than OWC advertises, but in actual use of my drive, data transfer speeds were around the 2,700-2,800 MB/s mark. For example, I was able to transfer a 25GB file in about nine seconds.
In comparison, SanDisk’s 1TB Extreme Pro SSD also uses M.2 NVMe 1.3 technology, but without Thunderbolt 3, sequential read performance is limited to 2,000 MB/s. And at the low end, external HDDs often top out at read speeds of around 100 MB/s to 150 MB/s. Of course, both of these options are much cheaper than the Envoy Pro FX, some comparisons are included in my pricing section below.
Design
With a sleek aluminum housing, the Envoy Pro FX resembles an Apple product, but the white OWC logo and Envoy Pro FX branding take away from the aesthetic. The drive’s “charcoal gray” color is a bit darker than the MacBook Pro’s space gray finish, but they still look nice side by side. The left and right sides of the drive have what OWC calls “deeply grooved fins” to help dissipate heat and ensure durable performance. The fanless drive didn’t feel overly hot to the touch during some large file transfers in my tests.
The bottom of the drive has two non-skid rubber feet to keep it from sliding around on a desk or other surface. There’s a thin LED status light on the front of the drive that looks blue when the drive is powered on and flashes slowly during file transfers, but the LED isn’t very bright, so I found it pretty useless during daylight hours. (I’m not a pro photographer, so the photo above makes the LED look brighter than it is.)
On the back of the drive is a single USB-C port with support for Thunderbolt 3 and USB 3.2 Gen 2.
Without a fan, the Envoy Pro FX has silent operation. As expected, the drive didn’t make any noise during my testing, which is certainly pleasing. Unfortunately, the fans on my Intel-based MacBook Pro quickly revived when I completed a Time Machine backup on the drive, but I’ll still take the blame here for not upgrading to an M1 Mac.
As an external drive that fits in the palm of my hand, the Envoy Pro FX can be easily brought along, making it a convenient, portable solution for storing files while traveling. With a single Thunderbolt 3 cable connecting to a Mac for data and power, IP67-rated water and dust resistance, and military-grade drop protection, the Envoy Pro FX provides a worry-free plug-and-play experience.
compatibility
Envoy Pro FX can be connected to a wide range of devices with Thunderbolt 3/4 or USB-C ports, such as the latest Mac, iPad Pro, and iPad Air models, as well as PCs and Microsoft Surface devices. There’s also a USB-A adapter attached to the Thunderbolt cable included in the box that allows the drive to connect to USB-A devices.
To take advantage of the maximum speed that Envoy Pro FX offers, a 2016 or newer Mac with a Thunderbolt 3/4 port running macOS High Sierra or later is required. OWC lists complete system requirements on its website.
The drive is preloaded with OWC’s Drive Guide formatting utility for configuring the drive, with options to create a single Apple File System (APFS) volume that fills the entire drive for macOS High Sierra, and later, a single HFS+ volume that fills the entire drive. fills the drive. Older macOS versions, or a single exFAT volume that fills the entire drive for use with both macOS and Windows. The drive can also be configured manually.
pricing
Given that the Envoy Pro FX is a top-of-the-line portable SSD, it’s no surprise that the drive isn’t cheap. Pricing starts at $199 for 240GB of storage, followed by 480GB for $229, 1TB for $319 and 2TB for $499.
A few comparisons with other 1TB drives compatible with Mac:
- G-Technology G-Drive Portable HDD (up to 140 MB/s): $79.95
- Samsung T7 Portable SSD (up to 1,050 MB/s): $169.99 (on sale for $159)
- SanDisk Extreme Pro Portable SSD (up to 1,050 MB/s): $279.99 (on sale for $179.99)
- SanDisk Extreme Pro Portable SSD V2 (up to 2,000 MB/s): $299.99 (on sale for $229.99)
A black 0.7-meter Thunderbolt 3 cable is included in the box with the Envoy Pro FX.
Final verdict
Envoy Pro FX is nice, but expensive. If you want blazing fast read/write speeds, this drive definitely earns my stamp of approval; However, if you’re looking for a drive to store your Time Machine backups, it’s more economical to consider a basic 1TB hard drive or a non-Thunderbolt SSD for about a quarter of the price of the Envoy Pro FX. A good middle ground in terms of price and speed.
Envoy Pro FX can be ordered on OWC’s website.
Note: MacRumors is an authorized partner with OWC and Amazon. When you click on a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps keep our site running. OWC provided MacRumors with an Envoy Pro FX for this review. No other compensation was received.
