Introduction
Although SSD and Internal hard drives are mainstream storage units that fulfilling consumer’s demand, one cannot rule out the need of portable hard drives. Seagate and Western digital have occupied a huge market share in hard drives from many years, however, their drives don’t have any extra perks and features. Adata, on the other hand, is offering high quality components by focusing more on quality-oriented builds. Mainly specialized in SSD, portable dash drives, memory, and accessories. Lately, I’ve received a portable hard drive for the review purpose. Courtesy of Adata.
Today, I am going to take a look at the Military-Grade portable drive, Adata HD710 1TB Blue (AHD710-1TU3-CBL) . It’s a 2.5” external hard drive and featuring SuperSpeed USB 3.0 support (backward compatible with 2.0) maxing out to 5Gb/s, AES 256 Encryption and software backup. Adata advertising this drive with some stand out qualities such as Military-Grade Shockproof, IPX8 Waterproof, and IP6X Dustproof. Which has become the biggest points, Adata is relying on. Due to which HD710 has been appreciated heavily on many forums. This drive has a unique design but more importantly, it meets the Military-specification that claims, a true Waterproof and shock-resistant portable drive. That’s said, only test will tell if these qualities are real.
HD710 series comes in 500GB, 1TB, and 2TB models. In addition to this, different color schemes for those who wants to match it with their Gaming rig’s theme. For the purpose, now consumer can choose from Blue, Yellow and Black colors schemes.
Let’s find out what this drives got to deliver.
The Package
A usual but good looking cardboard box in throughout white color scheme. Adata surely choose the color of the box carefully. Because inside the box there is a blue drive (our sample) pleasantly showcasing. The front has a transparent plastic frame, offers the first glimpse of HD710 on spot.
The backside is pretty much dry, I mean, the usual specification and some features enlisted in multilingual and barcoded sticker at bottom contains model detail and manufacturing place.
Around the side, there are number of colorful icons designed and generally, refers to the qualities and the features this drive has got. Anyhow, it’s a brief look to the box, actual features and benefits can only be determined, once you will experience it.
Unleashed the drive, HD710 Portable in Blue. Alongside, couple of accessories includes 3.0 cable (Wrap-around the drive) and a manual. ADATA is well-known for being unkind in offering extras with a product and yet I don’t see any with HD710 as well.
A Close Look
The dashdrive HD710 is built with a plastic and rubber that has given this drive whole new look and durability. While it’s a mechanical drive surfaced inside the body, the rubber design would resist the shock taken from dropping off. The texture of middle area is same as you have seen on carbon fiber-like. The design is absolutely fantastic. They made Hd710 a portable drive, not partially, but entirely. If you are planning to go out with the dash drive, you won’t need to handle the cable separately; the wrap-around cable design is tension-free.
About the aesthetics, HD710 is a piece of beautiful art. Bold color blocks appeared all of it, not on front but on back side as well, looks incredibly beautiful.
The USB 3.0 connection port on the drive is advanced with a safety rubber block on it, this would keeps this drive from being getting dusty. Well, this is, undoubtedly, a smart creation of Designers.
The showcase of Adata with couple of more samples, however, in rest colors i.e Yellow and Black. Hold your horses guys, I don’t mean to have additional drives. Actually, Adata is definitely not generous enough to send extra units as gifts, surely, no other would. So, if I rephrase the above, these are just the dummy samples works great for display or showcasing purpose, as I did.
Physical Testing
This section will cover the most anticipated Military-Grade features and for that, I have conducted couple of video test. This includes Waterproof and shock-resistant test.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tnkj9Im_KEg&feature=youtu.be
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJRaOqpuT0w&feature=youtu.be
Software Testing and The Results
For synthetic testing, I will adopt the usual method as done on any other storage units, before. I will take HD Tune Pro, Crystal DiskMark and Anvil storage utility to put through this drive on a brief observation. These software or utilities have been very effective in determining the overall performance of any hard disk. Finally, I would be using USB 3.0 connection port throughout all tests.
Program Version:
- HD Tune Pro 4.60v
- Crystal DiskMark 3.0.3v
- Anvil Storage Utility 1.1v
The above benchmarks shows that, Adata HD710 is no less than any other external hard drive in the market. Maximum read speed of 111 MB/s is still good, if not the best.
For Real world testing, I am using Copying-File method. Which comprises copying large files from internal hard drive into HD710. This will enable users to know the real performance of this drive, especially when copying stuff into the portable drive. Below is the result.
In this test, I found this drive performs excellent. The 12GB file size transferred at the rate of 108 mb/s and most importantly, the speed remain constant throughout this copying process, very impressive.
Final Thoughts
Adata has done great job on the build, and for that, it’s easily one of the best drives in the market. Overall, the plastic build is usual but the rugged and sporty package showed a serious craftsmanship. The exterior protection ensures the drive’s being solid and the data inside the drive is safe and sound. In case, if this drive’s accidently fallen from the table, don’t worry, the rubber protection on exterior will keep your drive from being damaged, it’s shock resistant. Also, it can survive in water if it ever get watered. So, these two features are major differentiating factor from the common external hard drives. Honestly, the practical tests conducted on this drive has served an excellent experience and that, it reflects the company’s intention; being best in durable products.
The storage unit has capacity of 1 terabyte which allows users to easily store high volume of data and that gives you a lot of space to have your...
Click here to view the article.
Last edited:
