They are small, very light and slightly larger than the iconic lighter: available in four colors they look good both on the desk and in the bag but (above all) in the pocket, jeans or a jacket, with their look a little serious a little bit frivolous.
We tried them for a few weeks and put them under pressure, here is the result.
WD My Passport SSD 2020, the review
Four colors
Radically different from the previous version, Western Digital's new solid state drives offer a radically different look, solidifying the brand's focus on over-the-desk accessory design.
Availability is given in four different colors (Blue, Gold, Gray and Red) which open to four different denominations (500 GB, 1 or 2 TB) which however share the same equipment inside the box.
The SSD drive, protected by a soft plastic smock, a USB-C / USB-C cable, and a USB-C / USB-A adapter for older computers (although some of the speed is lost in this case), plus a redundant instruction booklet.
Our test was done with a 1 TB WD My Passport SSD 2020 Gray drive, which we formatted in APFS to connect it to the Mac, not before having carried out some tests with other Filesystems.
The new advancing
The surface is in satin plastic, very pleasant to the touch and with rounded corners to fit more easily in the pocket: the only “relief” detail is the WD logo on the upper surface.
The dimensions of the WD My Passport SSD 2020 are minute, 100 x 55.12 x 8.89 mm, slightly higher and wider than the previous version, but noticeably thinner.
The speed test with the disk formatted in FAT32: not bad, but this way the disk is limited
The only port, located in the rear, is a USB-C 3.2 connector which represents a great improvement over the past, with nominal performances up to 1000 MB / s, although in our tests with a MacBook Pro they stood at 700 MB / s. s in reading, something less in writing.
Obviously the best performance was obtained using APFS on macOS Catalina, even if readings in HFS + or ExFAT have reported lower results, but not as distant as we expected, while in FAT32 (now useful only for devices other than computers) the step towards the bass is heard.
Performance increases using APFS format on macOS Catalina
In everyday life we have used WD My Passport SSD 2020 to host documents, of course, but it is not in this operation that we see the benefits of a disk like this.
The most interesting part was working with Parallels Desktop 16 disk images, taking advantage of the speed to not slow down the virtualized copy of Windows 10, an operation that went just fine and also to host some Creative Cloud apps such as Photoshop or Illustrator, given that the MacBook Pro's 128GB internal drive was nearly full.
Reliable and silent, the disc at times appeared a bit warm to the touch, but only during use, as soon as it is removed from the connector it cools quickly.
Considerations
Compared to the previous model, to which it refers, this new WD My Passport SSD 2020 is a step forward in everything: faster, with a more attractive design and more comfortable to keep in your bag.
The USB-C connector has now become universal, both for Mac, where it is present on every new and moderately new model, and also in the Windows world.
Canceled the previous 256 GB cut, currently practically useless for an external drive, availability starts from 500 GB for 159.99, an adequate price for a device with these characteristics.
Considering the look and the size, we see it suitable for a consumer and business user: in reality the real competitor of this unit is at home, in fact we think of the SanDisk Extreme Pro (also owned by Western Digital), which offers much higher speeds at a slightly higher price, although the WD My Passport SSD 2020 looks much more sober and suitable for a desk.
Pro:
• Elegant and fast • The design is comfortable for the pockets
Cons:
• Sometimes it warms up a bit
Price:
• 159.99 Euro (500 GB) • 259.99 Euro (1 TB) • 429.99 Euro (2 TB)
My Passport SSD is available at large retail chains, the Western Digital website, but you can also find it on Amazon.it, where the previous model is also available.
