G -TECHNOLOGY ARMORLOCK | USER REVI EW
“NO ONE CAN ACCESS THE DATA, SHOULD IT FALL INTO THE WRONG HANDS”
ABOVE Software manages the drive and unlocks it using your device’s own biometric security
indeed, my review unit behaved most peculiarly unless plugged directly into the Mac, despite other G-Technology and WD drives working perfectly with the same hub. That’s a limitation if, like me, you have a lot of peripherals attached. Hopefully, a future firmware update will sort this out. The 2TB Armorlock NVMe SSD has a retail price of £559.99. In those instances where the encryption management of the Armorlock products simply isn’t needed, Western Digital – under its own WD brand – offers a new generation of My Passport SSD. These tiny (5.5x0.9x10cm), lightweight drives have had an NVMe speed boost – making them about the same speed as Armorlock. They have the same USB-C connector and also boast hardware encryption (needing a password). This encryption is fine for Macs and Windows machines, however I also use these pocketable drives as external storage for my iPad Pro, which can’t unlock them – another plus for the Bluetooth feature of Armorlock. My Passport’s curved case is more pocket friendly than its angular predecessor – though personally, I prefer the sci-fi look of the older model. UK street prices start at about £110 for the 500GB model and £180 for the 1TB. The 2TB unit is not yet in stock, but WD lists it at about £320.
The ‘manager’ of a drive can grant anybody permission to access it (the recipient will need to request access using the app loaded on their phone or computer). This can be done by QR code, if the recipient is nearby, or by email or text if permission has to be granted remotely. A producer can, therefore, send an Armorlock drive anywhere in the world, safe in the knowledge that no one can access the data, should it fall into the wrong hands. Only the recipient’s specific phone is enabled to unlock the drive – the unlocking itself is carried out over Bluetooth. The apps can manage multiple drives and multiple users, and there’s an option to use the unlocking phone’s location tracking to share the whereabouts of each drive with its respective drive manager. This first Armorlock drive is pretty impressive. It looks great, with a bronzed metal core that aids cooling. It is rated to withstand a 3m drop and is IP67 dust and water resistant. The unit comes with short USB-C and USB-A cables. G-Technology claims data transfer speeds of up to 1000MB/s. Of course, your mileage will vary – I clocked about 850MB/s reads and writes over USB-C, which is still pretty good. The manufacturer doesn’t recommend using a USB hub and,
NOVEMBER 2020 | DEF I N I T ION 49
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