Transcend StoreJet 25M3 1TB External HDD Review

Transcend is one of the household names in the storage industry known for its durability and pricing. Some of you may remember to Transcend with its armored external HDDs that survived impact even at extreme heights. The company since then has improved on its durability as its main feature set next to performance. The StoreJet 25M3 external HDD is the latest iteration of Transcend’s durability.  Is it strong enough for today’s standards? Let’s find out

UNBOXING AND FIRST IMPRESSIONS

The Transcend StoreJet 25M3 comes in simple packaging. There are 2 color variants of the external HDD: military green and Iron Gray. The transparent front makes it easier to distinguish between the two variants.

Contents of the packaging are typical. You have the external HDD itself with the MicroUSB cable as well as a warranty card and quick installation guide.

Transcends armored external HDDs used to come in a very bulky enclosure that guaranteed the hard drive’s ruggedness. This time around, the Transcend Storejet 25M3 is as thin as standard external HDDs. The hard drive is wrapped with rubber except for the top part where the I/O is located.

The Transcend StoreJet 25M3 connects via a MicroUSB Type-B interface.

The only button found on the Transcend StoreJet 25M3 works wonders. It reconnects the hard drive if the external HDD is disconnected but still physically attached to your PC or laptop. The button also acts as a one-touch backup solution when the Transcend Elite software is installed.

SOFTWARE

Transcend includes their popular Elite software in most of their devices, StoreJet 25M3 included. Users can Backup, Restore, Encrypt or Decrypt the Data of the external hard drive. The syncing feature of the StoreJet 25M3’s button is enabled once the Elite software is installed. Cloud Management via 3rd party applications such as Dropbox or GoogleDrive is available.

BENCHMARKS

CrystalDiskMark is used to measure the HDD’s sequential read and write speeds. That means how fast files can be read from and written to the drive, usually measured in MB/s.

ATTO Disk Benchmark is an industry-leading benchmark tool for SSD’s and HDD’s that measure performance using file transfers of different sizes.

The Transcend StoreJet 25M3 1TB HDD performs like a traditional 2.5-inch external hard drive. CrystalDiskMark and ATTO Disk Benchmark show the hard drive’s performance in different aspects: Seq. Read & Writes, Random 4K Reads & Writes

We copied the install folder of Call of Duty Modern Warfare at 120 GB to the Transcend StoreJet 25M3. The drive’s performance is consistent across the board at 105MB/s from the start to finish as seen in the screenshot.

CONCLUSION

The Transcend StoreJet 25M3 HDD, at its core, is just a normal external hard drive that performs each typical task to our expectations. What makes it special is the careful implementation of the OneTouch Backup and Reconnect button which excels in making the consumer’s life easier and more convenient. The hassle of removing and connecting the cable just to re-initialize the hard drive is removed and replaced by a single button which lessens the disruption of your productivity momentum. Moreover, the Transcend Elite and RecoveRx software make a great pair for a more automated backup & restore process and presents some features power users and enthusiasts would enjoy.

All in all, the Transcend StoreJet 25M3 stresses user convenience, security and reliability making it easily one of the go-to recommendations for an external hard drive.

Grant Soriano

Website

Grant is a Financial Management graduate from UST. His passion for gadgets and tech crossed him over in the industry where he could apply his knowledge as an enthusiast and in-depth analytic skills as a Finance Major. His passion allows him to earn at the same time help Gadget Pilipinas' readers in making smart, value-based decisions and purchases with his reviews and guides.