Final Words & Conclusion
Final Words & Conclusion
As you have been able to notice, the performance of the Plextor EX1 is all over the place. Hence the end-result is a product with mixed-bag performance. Make no mistake, it is fast, very fast even as it does reach the advertised read and write performance with numbers above the 500 MB/s ranges. The culprit or achilles heel of the EX1 however is the obvious usage of TLC written NAND, I say that with confidence as the the behaviour during writes is 100% in line with TLC. While linear and sequential write performance are very impressive, the product is hurt the most at sustained write performance (say copying multiple gigabytes of data at once). Here the EX1 starts in the 350~400 MB/sec range on writes, but after roughly a Gigabyte the performance dropped towards 135 MB/sec. Hey that's still very fast for a USB stick however not something you'd expect from a premium class product.
On the other side of the spectrum, the EX1 is fast with random files and small files, which is characteristic for some sort of DRAM cache. We do think that the 128 GB version we received also is hindered in performance over the 256 GB and 512 GB models in relation to available memory channels versus NAND. So a 256GB model might offer faster sustained writes. Overall the peak performance is crazy though, this EX1 shines brightly with its read performance where we top 565 MB/sec in certain scenarios, that really is hard to grasp coming from a 30 grams weighing USB Flash drive alright.
So in the grand overview of things, we are talking about something tied to a USB 3.0/3.1 port with average sustained writes, proper small file writes and intense read performance. The overall performance is as expected for the type of NAND used and as advertised, however the write performance on massive multi-gigabyte files simply is below par compared to the competition. Also key to this release are three things; the aesthetics, an added security level you can use and of course overall performance. And on all three key factors the EX1 manages to do a sufficient job. I do have to say that 10 Gbps USB 3.1 (Gen 2) these days does kick the proverbial toosh, allowing for extremely fast portable devices. The EX1 unit is simply ultra thin, light-weight and very easy to carry around. Armed with its charming looks it offers the right aesthetics while easy to carry around. The weight as well, I mean 30 grams. And the best thing yet, you don't need to power is externally. Simply plug it into a USB connector with preferably Windows 8.1 / 10 and it will feed of the host controller as incredible speeds.
For those that need a layer of protection, you can secure the unit with a 128-bit encryption. Where you need fast read performance, the unit will do its job just fine. Copying many smaller MP3 files resulted at 200~250MB/sec, that remains a notch low for a USB 3.1 device like this but it is for the same reasons I mentioned in the first paragraph. When we fire off synthetic tests at the storage unit we see it max out at roughly anywhere from to 400 to 550 MB/sec if you give it the right conditions. That is just really nice. Each and every test we performed confirms these findings.
Concluding
The success of the EX1 will solely depend on its price-level. Performance given the right conditions and workloads this portable storage unit kicks ass, however our 128 GB model caved in performance wise with massive files that need to be written. You are looking at terrfic linear and sequential reads/writes, sustained however is limited in writes. I mean it is still faster then a gigabit network, but compared to Sandisk and Samsung, Plextor cannot match perf in such workloads. The read performance however is close to amazing. Pricing wise you are looking at 128 GB at 69.99 USD, 256GB for 109.99 USD and 512GB for 189.99 USD. Prices should be fairly similar in Euros. Keep in mind if you can’t find a USB 3.0 or 3.1 port, it will work just fine at USB 2.0 port with speeds 10x slower, but still in the 30 MB/sec range. The EX1 series will be fast device for what it is intended to be, an easy to carry around storage unit and hey, you get a very nice 5 year warranty. The 128GB model as tested today will sell for roughly 70 EUR, we think that is a fair amount of money. We do however recommend a higher volume version like the 256GB model as we think the write performance will be better. Other then that remark, we had no problems whatsoever with it. It is a very handy and easy to carry around portable storage unit with its amazing 30 grams weight.
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