Home Hi-Tech Hardware and Peripherals ,,,,, Inateck is a company that has offices in the United States and Germany and that for some years has made itself known for the production of some interesting accessories and low-cost devices. We have reviewed the products of this house several times and the latest accessories we have had the opportunity to try are: Inateck FE2004 (15.99 euros at the time of writing on Amazon) and FEU3NS-1E (21.99 euros at the time of writing on Amazon) two USB 3.0 boxes each with its own peculiarities.
The first, Inateck FE2004 is a very light (51 grams) USB 3.0 case with rounded corners; the dimensions are 127x80x13mm, it is built in “ABS” plastic and is very simple, elegant and functional (it does not require an external power supply). The lower part releases and shows the SATA connector to which a 2.5 ″ HDD or SSD can be connected. Its size makes it suitable for 2.5 ″ 9.5mm or smaller (height) SATA drives. For our tests we used an SSD (Sandisk SSD Plus). Just slipped the drive into the case and closed the lid. The outdoor unit is immediately ready for use (no need to screw in screws or anything else). A USB Type A / Micro B cable is required to connect the case (0.5m USB 3.0 cable is included in the package).
Tests with the 'Disk Speed test utility by BlackMagicdesign with a MacBook Air 11 ″ mid 2013, showed (by inserting a Sandisk SSD inside the case) values of 199.1 MB / s write and 249.9 MB / s write , in line with other similar products, even more expensive. Copying a 10GB folder from the Finder to the disk with the pouch took less than a minute. Obviously, the speed and reference values change when using a traditional hard drive. Tests with an old Toshiba 2.5 ″ / 5400RPM HDD (MK25555GSXF) showed values of 57.2 MB / s in writing and 62.8MB / s in reading.
The case is obviously compatible with any computer with a USB 2.0 port or earlier but the maximum speed is obtained when connected to computers with USB 3.0 ports. A blue LED on the top of the case lets you know when the unit is on (steady LED) or is performing operations (LED flashing).
The second product, the box FEU3NS-1E, is slightly larger (136 x 84 x 20 mm), weighs 70 grams. This also accepts 2.5 “9.5mm or smaller SATA HDDs, is USB 3.0 , and has rounded corners but integrates a power on / off button. Peculiarity of this model is the support of UASP (USB Attached SCSI Protocol), a protocol that should guarantee greater speed in reading and writing, especially with SSDs. The dedicated controller actually does its job and the increased speed is evident especially in writing where tests with the DiskSpeedTest utility have shown speeds of 427MB / s. Even using a traditional HDD (the 2.5 ″ / 5400 RPM Toshiba we talked about earlier) the higher speed is highlighted: 71.4MB / s in reading and 73.9MB / s in writing compared to the other case of the same manufacturer .
DiskSpeedTest of Inateck FE2004 case with Sandisk SSD Plus drive 
DiskSpeedTest of Inateck FEU3NS-1E case with traditional 2.5 “HDD 5400RPM 
Case Inateck FEU3NS-1E 
Case Inateck FE2004
The UASP protocol allows you to move data faster , using technically up to four independent parallel channels. The only problem with this protocol is that it is not supported by older computers; Macs (and PCs) with USB 3.0 are compatible; on those using USB 2.0 (or earlier) you will not see any benefit in terms of performance.
The connection cable included in the package of this case is a 70cm USB 3.0 Type A / AM / M cable. There is an activity indicator LED, and this product also requires no additional drivers or software. A small adhesive strip (sponge) is present on the inside of both products and allows the thinnest 7mm drives to be slightly raised and positioned correctly towards the connector.
At the time of writing, the Inateck FE2004 and Inateck FEU3NS-1E cases are on sale respectively for 11, 99 Euros and 14.99 Euros on Amazon.
Recommended Reading: The Cyber Layman Guide to SSDs on Mac and the Guide to the Best SSDs on the Market.
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