PNY RP60 USB3.2 Gen2x2 20Gbps External SSD Review

Introduction

Last March, PNY announced the RP60 external SSD. A USB3.2 Gen2x2 20Gbps external drive with a ruggedized silicone housing, its highlight features are water- and dust-resistance as well as drop endurance up to 3 meters. PNY didn’t do much marketing for this product and they missed the chance to market to drone shooters in arid conditions using external SSDs with the BlackMagic Pocket Cinemas but regardless, even the product page for the RP60 is a bit bare suggesting this isn’t top of mind for this product.

Regardless, we have the 1TB for review and we’ll see how this drive performs and share with you how I think this drive is best used and who its main users are. Read on to find out more!

Features & Specification

• HIGH-SPEED TRANSFERS: Move large files at lightning-fast speeds – sequential read/write speeds of up to 2,000 MB/s and 1,800 MB/s⁴
• RUGGED DESIGN: Engineered and tested to protect your data against water, dust (IP65^{1, 2}) and accidental drops (up to 3m/9.8ft³)
• COMPACT AND PORTABLE: With a compact and lightweight design featuring an on-the-go loop, the RP60 seamlessly slides into or securely clips onto your pocket, backpack, or camera bag. Its portability ensures you can carry your data with you wherever your adventures take you, without compromising on storage capacity.
• USB Type-C™ COMPATIBILITY: The RP60 Portable SSD is compatible with a wide range of devices, including Apple iPhone 15 & iPhone 15 Pro, iPad and iPad Pro, Android phones, tablets, laptops, desktops, and gaming consoles. Effortlessly connect and transfer data across your tech ecosystem.
• DATA PROTECTION: Included with the RP60 is the Acronis True Image Data Protection software to help backup and recover all your important data.

Official product page – PNY RP60

Closer Look

PNY ships the RP60 external SSD in a full colored box. The front features a hero shot of the RP60 showing dirt and water to reflect the resistances of the drive. Along the badge of the drive are the drive ratings showing a 2000MB/s reads and 1800MB/s writes ratings when used on a compatible 20Gbps port.

Inside the package is a barebones offering which includes the RP60 and a USB-C flat cable.

The PNY RP60 looks relatively traditional versus most external SSDs. Featuring its card-style body, it features an all-black silicone layer the protects an internal case. A small loop is design into the case for carrying it as an accessory with a keyring or a carabiner.

To access the USB port, a flat on the bottom can be lifted to reveal the port. The cover doesn’t give a perfect seal but as a reminder, PNY advertises this as water- and dust-resistant, not waterproof so dropping it in water is different from geting splashed with some rain.

Performance Testing

Test System

Processor: Intel Core i9-14900K
Memory: Kingston FURY Renegade DDR5-7600 C38 32GB
Storage: Kingston FURY Renegade 2TB SSD
PSU: FSP Hydro G Pro 1000W
Cooling: ROG Ryuo II 360 AIO Cooler
Monitor: ROG PG27UQ 4K 144hz HDR1000

For a full-hardware workout, visit https://benchmarks.ul.com for our system warm-up and stress test of choice. PCMark 10 and 3DMark both include a storage test that we include in some of our storage tests (mostly internal) but you can use it on any drive if you understand the usage scenario.

Write Speed for Video Usage

With modern video recording, write speed has become an integral part for the camera’s storage. Many cameras will have multiple varieties of bitrate e.g. Sony’s XAVC in 4K 60FPS will have a bitrate of around 960Mbps. To translate to the memory card you need, a quick lookup should give a you a rounded number of 120MB/s of sustained write speed to utilize this codec.

More advanced cameras will utilize SSDs for codecs like Apple ProRes or DNx. ProRes RAW 4K60 would usually require storage that can do 300MB/s. While these speeds are attainable with smaller storage media like SD cards and CFExpress, the capacity requirements will usually be a limiting a factor as in this setting, these cameras will record nearly 20GB per minute of footage. This is where external SSD support shines for cameras as those that don’t have proprietary storage slots and don’t have SATA support will either just use memory cards or hopefully, have external USB support.

While devices like the BlackMagic Cinema Pocket support USB-C SSDs, their internal speeds won’t reach 20Gbps. Still, if you’re production is fine with this, it allows great workflow transition as host devices that can utilize editing directly on drive would have a quicker turnaround on these drives.

For non-professional users, please refer to your camera guide for the best codec. For professional users or content creators, familiarizing with the best codec for your workflow is best to see which is the most appropriate storage for your budget.

Take note of limitations implemented by camera manufacturers with storage e.g. Sony disabling 4K H&Q when using slower storage media.

Gaming Storage

While all current PlayStation like the PS5 and Xbox Series X and S support external SSDs for game stroage, not all of them have 20Gbps support and will only run at 10Gbps with some games strictly demanding to run off internal.

Large Data Write Endurance

We see the PNY RP60 do nearly 1GB/s up to 60GB where it drops to 750MB/s unti around 290GB written where it finally sees another drop by a small amount to around 680MB/s. If you plan to write the full size of the drive, I highly suggest take note of the speed drops that you may encounter, particularly for large files. For random file sizes, see the test below.

Crystal DiskMark

PNY is spot on with their rating as the RP60 hits 2000MB/s consistently on our host system along with sequential write performance. Small file writes is predictably within expected ranges as this test won’t benefit much from the expanded port speed.

User Experience & Conclusion

As with most USB3.2 Gen2x2 drives, I need to remind those interested in this product that you need to check if your motherboard or laptop can even support this. While you may be able to use this drive and run on your native USB speed like 5gbps or 10Gbps, it would be a complete waste if you didn’t maximize the drive to its full potential.

There’s not much USB3.2 Gen2x2 ruggedized drives out there and the PNY Rp60 sits in a very unique position. While many competing drives may not advertise themselves as outdoors-oriented, Samsung, ADATA, LaCie and a few other do have ruggedized external SSDs but even average SSD like the Kingston XS1000 can pass off as rugged due to their sheer size.

Other than that, the other appeal of the PNY RP60 is its performance and much like the ADATA SE880, if your workflow can benefit from a 20gbps portable storage, then these kinds of drives is for you. A big plus is that if you’re a field professional that shoot from locations like jungles, seaside or deserts, then the PNY RP60 has an advantage there.

Speaking of deserts, the PNY RP60 can sustain performance even with extended usage on warmer climates. You can make out the logo on the top of the case and the label on the bottom which shows the heat output of the drive. This is taken midway during the long-write test in a 33*C ambient room. We see the drive hitting around 50*C, highest I clocked it in was just 52*C on the bottom of the drive. Give an take a few 10s of on the Celsius scale and we can see the drive still holding on that safe SSD limit.

The PNY RP60 is a nice travel accessory if you work primarily on a laptop especially one that supports USB3.2 Gen2x2. Capacity is only available in 1TB or 2TB options which is kinda of limiting as a 4TB option would’ve been excellent especially for longer times out in the field.  Other than that minor nitpick, at $99 for 1TB and $179 for 2TB, price is reasonably fair for the promised speed and warranty but albeit nothing really spectacular.

The PNY RP60 is a fast external SSD and its rugged housing can give you some peace of mind if you’re the outdoors kinda person.

PNY backs the RP60 External SSD with a 3-year warranty.