Lexar has announced the new Lexar Professional Go Portable SSD and Hub. Oddly, though, this well-established company has launched the new devices on Kickstarter. Designed primarily for use with smartphones, this tiny SSD comes in capacities up to 2TB.
With many people shooting content on their smartphones these days, storage has become an issue. Lexar wants to help solve that with the Professional Go Portable SSD. And now that Apple’s adopted USB-C, it’s no longer just for Android users.
Portable storage for your iPhone or Android device
The adoption of USB-C by Apple, whether they liked it or not, has allowed gear manufacturers to start creating more devices that are compatible with iPhones. After all, as a USB-C device, it’s expected to conform to certain standards. This means standardised communication, just like Android devices.
But the big benefit for many who use their iPhones for content creation means you can now access external storage. This has been a benefit of Android for a long time, but now that Apple’s made the switch, we’re seeing more storage devices tailored to smartphones.
The new Lexar Professional Go Portable SSD and Hub is the latest in that lineup. It’s a very tiny device that even comes with brackets allowing you to easily attach it to your iPhone or Android device’s USB-C port. An accompanying hub also allows you to charge your phone while it’s in use with your storage. It can even power other devices, like LED fill lights.
1/2TB up to 1,050MB/sec transfer speeds
The new SSD comes in either 1TB or 2TB capacities. It boasts read speeds of up to 1,050MB/sec and write speeds of up to 1,000MB/sec. It utilises a USB 3.2 Gen 2 interface, which means it’s fast enough for recording even high-bitrate ProRes footage.
As well as being tiny, it’s IP65 rated for dust and waterproofing. This rating should allow it to handle just about anything the weather can throw at it – at least, conditions comfortable enough you’d want to bring your phone out and shoot in.
It’s nice to see more storage options coming for smartphones. It would’ve been even better if Android smartphone companies hadn’t taken away the microSD card slots. But I suppose this is the best alternative we can hope for, for now.
Price and Availability
The Lexar Professional Go Portable SSD and Hub is currently available on Kickstarter. Pledges currently start at $129 for the 1TB version and $209 for the 2TB version. When they go retail, the 1TB and 2TB versions will cost $239 and $299, respectively.