Lexar’s mini SSD is my mobile movie making must-have – and it’s on sale for Black Friday
Impressively slender SSD adds up to 2TB of extra storage
If you’re shooting 4K video, even the highest capacity smartphones will fill their onboard storage quicker than you can say “Steven Spielberg sells stellar screenplays” – and if you’re rocking a gimbal or camera cage, it’s impractical to bolt on a traditional external hard disk. Lexar’s Professional Go Portable SSD is small enough to slot seamlessly into your setup, yet doesn’t cut back on capacity – and even better, is discounted during the Black Friday shopping season.
It was originally announced at this year’s IFA show in Berlin, but I got my first chance to see one in person recently at Lexar’s new presence at the DJI flagship London retail store. The slender SSD is as tiny as the pictures suggest, being barely larger than a pack of gum. It can plug straight into your phone, or sit flush to the rear using the included male to female adapter.
Slot one into your USB-C iPhone and it’ll happily swallow either 1TB or 2TB of 4K60 ProRes footage. iPads, Android devices, Windows PCs and Macs are all compatible, too, which should make moving content between gadgets a lot smoother. It helps that the USB 3.2 Gen 2 connection supports rapid read and write speeds of 1000MB/s and 1050MB/s respectively, so you won’t be waiting around for files to copy. An IP65 resistance rating means it can stay plugged into your phone if it starts to rain, too.
The optional square USB hub is only a little bigger, but adds an extra three USB-C connections for adding key lights, wireless microphones and power banks to your shooting kit. 30W power delivery support means you don’t need to disconnect to charge your gear, either.
The Professional Go Portable SSD launched first on Kickstarter – an unusual move for an established brand like Lexar. Company CEO Ryan Li told me it was picked to get closer to the content creator target market, and to refine the feature set based on what they’d find most useful.
Now Lexar has shipped products to its almost 5000 Kickstarter backers, you can pick one up from all the usual online retailers. Expect to pay $240/£170 for the 1TB version with hub – though during the Black Friday sales period UK shoppers can get it for £144 – making it cheaper than the SSD on its lonesome.
Lexar also showed off the SL500 portable SSD, which has a MagSafe-friendly case for slapping on the back of an iPhone and massively increasing its storage. 1, 2 and 4TB models with 2000MB/s read and 1800MB/s write speeds. It’s a fair bit bigger than the Professional Go, but a whole lot faster. The 1TB version starts at $90/£90.
There’s also the Armor 700 portable SSD, which might not clip onto your phone in any fancy ways, but is basically no bigger than a credit card and slim enough to slip inside even the smallest of camera bags. It’ll still read and write data at a rapid 2000MB/s, and comes in 1, 2, and 4TB capacities. An IP66 rating and 3m drop protection means your data is in safe hands, even if yours aren’t. Prices usually start from $170/£160, but the 2TB version has been discounted for UK Black Friday shoppers: Amazon has it for £187, down from £220 – a £33 saving.
Tom Morgan-Freelander
Deputy Editor 
