USB 3 to sata 3 enclosures

mvanorder · March 12, 2020

I'm looking around trying to find a good USB 3.1 gen 2 or 3.2 enclosure with USB-C(so I don't have to keep putting friends drives into my laptop to recover their data). I don't want to get a simple adapter because a) I can at times be clumsy and drop things more than Linus, and b) I'd like to use it as a jump drive when it's not being otherwise used. So far, while Amazon and Newegg are littered with these enclosures, every time I think I've decided on one that's in a price range I could justify paying for something that'll probably never hold over 4TB(considering 8TB external 3.5" drives are $140), I read reviews like "high speed transfers drop", "USB 3 doesn't work on type c to type c, drops to USB 2", "Cable randomly disconnects", or the worst one(IMO) "USB 3 transfers at <some stupid low number>Mb/s but while plugged into a USB to SATA iii adapter transfers are <some far bigger number>Mb/s".

Does anyone know of any particular devices that are known to be good for a good price? The must haves I'm looking for are:

USB actually capable of at least 5Gb/s and 10Gb/s would be preferred
A proper SATA iii interface capable of the 6Gb/s so I can get the most out of an SSD as a jump drive.
A solid connector(the cable it comes with is irrelevant, I have a few quality cables or various types), with the preference being type c

mvanorder · March 13, 2020

For anyone looking at this later, here's what I've found:

I didn't know UASP was a thing(If you search "uasp" in YouTube the first result is really good, first video I've watched on that channel), so after I learned what it was focused my searches on UASP enclosures which lead me to the Inateck FE2005C I almost went with, until I read the review that said it turned off after 10 minutes of inactivity and it had to be unplugged and re-plugged (also didn't know enclosures powering themselves down was a thing). That review had a comment with a link to another Inateck that didn't have a sleep mode.

After searching YouTube for some part numbers in hopes of video reviews and tests, I came across this:

There's a link to an updated list, and even a new video for 2019. I'm not going with anything off that list right now, as the compact 2.5" housings don't support UASP, but I will be getting the Mediasonic ProRaid later as a portable RAID 1.

Ultimately I've decided to go with the Inateck FE2010 as it has the features I'm looking for and the sleep mode is after 30 minutes and per Inateck's website "a single access to the drive restores the operational mode".

mvanorder · March 13, 2020

Additionally the last ones to be eliminated from my list were:

Ineo C2561 - 50% price increase for 10 Gb/s USB instead of UASP (1Gb/s gain if using an SSD capable of the full 6Gb/s of SATA iii)
UGREEN External HDD Enclosure - Comperable specs and price to the FE2010, but has sleep with no indication of being able to wake back up, and while most reviews were 5 star, the ones that weren't were generally due to transfer speed issues.
Inateck FE2011 - No documentation on max capacity, but others that share the ASM153E chip have a max capacity of 2TB(the FE2010 has the JMS578 which others that have the same are documented for a tested 4TB and theoretical 6TB).