The G-Drive Mobile Pro SSD from G-Technology is a Thunderbolt 3 drive, featuring an impressive maximum read speed rating of 2800 MB/s. This puts it in direct competition with the Samsung X5 SSD, providing external storage that’s more comparable to your Mac’s internal storage from a speed perspective. Is G-Technology’s external SSD worth considering if you’re in need of high-speed external storage? Watch our video walkthrough for the details.

Specifications

• 1 TB SSD
• Thunderbolt 3 connectivity
• Bus-powered
• Up to 2800 MB/s read
• 40Gbps Thunderbolt 3 Interface
• Cool aluminum core for sustained performance
• Durable build quality
• Includes Thunderbolt 3 cable
• 5-year limited warranty
• Dimensions: 3.15-inches x 4.41-inches x 0.67-inches
• Mac and Windows compatible
• Price: $599.95 (1TB)

Unboxing

After unboxing the G-Drive Mobile Pro SSD, the first thing that you’ll notice is its build quality. It features an industrial design that’s primarily covered by a soft-touch rubber-like material. The drive features an internal aluminum core to help keep the flash storage inside cool, but the core also adds a nice bit of heft and style to the unit.

Video Walkthrough

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Gracing the front of the Mobile Pro SSD is the G-Technology logo, along with a Thunderbolt 3 logo. Slits found on both the front and back of the drive expose the metallic blue core where the flash storage chips are housed. Silver caps on each end of the drive house the Thunderbolt 3 port and activity indicator light.

Compared to other external Thunderbolt 3 drives that I’ve reviewed, like the Sonnet Fusion, OWC Envoy Pro, or even the Samsung X5, the build and design is a notch below those drives. However, the G-Drive Mobile Pro SSD features better build quality than all of the USB-C SSDs that we highlighted in one of our recent videos.

Performance

After running benchmark tests using Blackmagic Disk Speed Test, AJA System Test Lite, and QuickBench, I came away very impressed by the performance of the G-Drive Mobile Pro SSD. It’s a seriously fast external drive, and is able to maintain sustained performance that’s significantly faster than the SSD inside my 2018 MacBook Air test machine.

The G-Drive Mobile Pro SSD performs similarly to the 1TB Samsung X5 SSD, which is the fastest external drive that I’ve tested up to this point. This makes the 1TB G-Drive Mobile Pro SSD a great MacBook Air or MacBook Pro companion, especially for those who opted for base internal storage configurations.

But the MacBook Air is only one of many Macs that can benefit from fast external storage. All of the following Macs feature Thunderbolt 3 connectivity, and hence, all will benefit from fast external storage offered by drives like the G-Drive Mobile Pro SSD.

Thunderbolt 3-enabled Macs

• 2016 MacBook Pro
• 2017 MacBook Pro
• 2017 5K iMac
• 2017 4K iMac
• 2018 MacBook Pro
• 2018 Mac Mini
• 2018 MacBook Air

Like most external SSDs, the G-Drive Mobile Pro can easily handle high-bitrate 4K workflows, but the speed of this drive allows users to work with even higher resolution footage: think 5K, 6K, and even 8K footage. Granted, such resolutions may put a hurting on your CPU, and with only 1TB, you may quickly run out of storage space, so it’s probably best to stick with more robust solutions like the Promise Pegasus lineup of Thunderbolt 3-connected storage when working with such video.

9to5Mac’s Take

At around $600 for the 1TB model, the G-Drive Mobile Pro SSD isn’t cheap, but next to the Samsung X5, it’s one of the fastest options available on the market today. The fact that you can get such speed in a portable, bus-powered form-factor, makes editing high quality video on the go easier than ever. If you’re not a fan of the Samsung X5’s design, then the G-Drive makes for a viable alternative.

Would you consider pairing your MacBook Pro or MacBook Air with a Thunderbolt 3-enabled SSD? Why or why not? Sound off in the comments down below with your thoughts.