Rising cloud storage subscription costs? PC running out of disk space? Easily accessing locally saved data? Lot of storage, for a one-time monetary outlay? There is a lot that’s in the favour of any arguments for physical, external solid state drives (SSDs; or even an older tech, that is a hard drive) as a must-have for saving files, keeping backups and in general, a storage point for a rapidly swelling collection of photos and videos from our smartphones (edited files too, if you’re into that sort of thing).
Chances are you’d find conventional wisdom lands you with SanDisk’s brilliantly quick Extreme Portable SSD (market prices start around ₹9,299), a Seagate OneTouch (around ₹8,500 onwards), or a Samsung T7 Shield ( ₹9,999 onwards). There is another capable option you could add to this very pinpointed shortlist — the MiPhi Storm 1100X. The 1TB drive is now available (the sticker price is ₹12,999; but like much of its competition, market prices are in the same ballpark), and a 2TB option is expected soon.
In case you’re wondering about the brand, MiPhi Semiconductors is a joint venture between Micromax Informatics, a well-known Indian tech brand over the years, and leading Taiwanese storage solutions company Phison Electronics.
There could be an argument that MiPhi has left a few cards on the table, at least in terms of design. They’re going for an understated look, which is appreciable, but the competition has collectively arrived at a stage where an SSD sitting on your workstation (connected to a desktop, laptop or a docking system), looks something of a lifestyle statement. The plain grey look (and those really large, white fonts), don’t. This also lacks any ruggedness element (though there is protection against an accidental fall), and of course no IP ratings for water and dust resistance. Nevertheless, this is as compact as a SanDisk Extreme Portable.
No complaints at all, as far as the reason for the MiPhi Storm 1100X’s existence is concerned — it is fast. In fact, the ratings for the MiPhi Storm 1100X are 1100MB (or megabit) per second for data read speeds, and 1000MB/second for write speeds. While those are theoretical top speeds rarely achieved due to a number of factors (file fragmentation, number of files or folders and system load), the real world.
A folder that’s 100GB in size, with a number of folders and files within them, took 254 seconds (a bit more than 4 minutes) with the MiPhi Storm 1100X — that translates to a transfer speed of 393.7MB/s. This is very slightly faster than the SanDisk Extreme, which did the same transfer in 271 seconds. An even more complex Time Machine backup on an Apple Mac Studio, around 20GB in size, took around 3 minutes to complete. Mind you, speed will vary (we’ve tested with a heavier workload), and lesser number of files (even if their sizes are similar) may transfer faster.
The interface that the MiPhi Storm 1100X uses is a USB 3.2 Gen 2 with the type C port. It has backward compatibility with USB 3.2 Gen 1, USB 2.0 and even USB 1.1 standards, quote prominent in older machines. The MiPhi Storm 1100X works with PCs or Macs, and in our experience, any experimentation to get it to work with an iPad or an Android tablet, didn’t bear fruit. The cable that’s bundled with the drive, has a reassuring thickness to hopefully protect against physical damage due to bends.
MiPhi insists that the MiPhi Storm 1100X has LDPC ECC error correction, or Low-density parity check error correction code — this actively monitors for any errors in data transfer, either outgoing or incoming, and ensures that particular piece of data is re-shared accurately. Another reason for variance in data transfer speeds, something you’ll experience as you use the drive over a sustained period of time, is the thermal sensor that will optimise (read, reduce slightly, to keep thermals in control) performance in case the drive is becoming warmer over a period of heavy workloads.
All things considered, the MiPhi Storm 1100X does make a strong case in an external SSD market that already has well-known options easily available. There is certainly room for improvement, such as IP dust and water resistance ratings (that would add value, which rivals already do) alongside a new design. A utility software, one that perhaps gives users a more intuitive option to backup their files, folders or even the system at regular intervals, might come in handy.
