Unlock Lightning-Fast Performance with Corsair EX400U Portable SSD Review

Corsair EX400U: 30-second Review

There’s a moment just before a tsunami strikes when the sea starts to withdraw before the wave arrives, and that’s where we are with USB4 storage. While Thunderbolt SSDs have been around for a while for those with deep pockets, the promise of USB4 is ultra-high-speed external drives that are much more affordable.

Today, I’ve been sent the Crucial EX400U, a mainstream entrant that builds on this brand’s previous EX100U, a USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 drive, with something much more spectacular. This small, 64mm square drive contains either 1TB, 2TB, or 4TB capacity and promises read speeds of 4,000MB/s and write performance of 3,500MB/s. That, in theory, makes it as fast or faster than a typical Gen 3 internal NVMe drive, but this one connects using a USB4 port.

It will work with lower-specification USB-C ports, like those that use USB 3.2, but to get the full experience, it requires USB4 or Thunderbolt 4 ports. Those systems with one of those ports, and fast enough internal storage to support these transfer speeds, will get performance that’s double that of the best USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 drives and four times that of a standard USB 3.2 Gen 2 SSD.

There are some other less important selling points, and this drive doesn’t support hardware encryption, but for raw performance, it ticks all the boxes.

Pricing and Availability

How much does it cost? Starts from £140/$130
When is it out? Available now
Where can you get it? Sold through online retailers and also directly from Corsair.

When you offer, as Corsair does, a drive that can transfer files at twice the speed of a Gen 2×2 drive and four times the speed of a typical Gen 2 SSD, a price premium is to be expected. The starting price direct from Corsair makes it an attractive option, but we’ll see how the competition reacts.

Should I buy the Corsair EX400U?

Cheaper than other options, but not cheap – 4/5
Design – Small, light, not waterproof but has MagSafe underside – 4/5
Performance – Faster than any USB 3.2 SSD, and most Thunderbolt drives – 4.5/5
Overall – Corsair beats SanDisk and Crucial to the prize – 4.5/5

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