In the Age of Information we’re living in, data is everything. A considerable amount of effort goes into making sure that our data is in the hands of reliable devices that we can count on with our eyes closed. There are a couple of names that pop up instantly when you think of highly trustworthy memory storage devices and Western Digital is one of them. We’ve reviewed the company’s brand, SanDisk’s data storage product, the Ultra Dual Drive USB Type C, earlier this year, and found it ideal for backing up files to make space for your games. This time, they sent me their My Passport Go and, while I have mixed thoughts on the device, overall, it didn’t disappoint. It had its shortcomings but if you’re looking for a not-so-expensive solution to squeeze as many games on your phone as possible, My Passport Go is a fairly good option.
Decent-looking and Portable
The first thought that ran through my head as I unboxed the drive was how WD managed to make it so light and yet it doesn’t look flimsy. By the looks of it, My Passport Go, admittedly, may not look high-end but it doesn’t look cheap either. It comes off as a mid-range drive. It’s made entirely out of plastic and a rubber border, which I’ll touch upon later, and still looks pretty decent.
Just a little bigger than a credit card, My Passport Go has an incredible form factor and will easily fit in your pocket without forming an ugly bulge. Its credit card size makes it easily stowed away anywhere making it ideal for travel. Moreover, it comes with an integrated USB 3.0 cable. This means there’s no possibility of it getting lost or of you forgetting it somewhere.
Wouldn’t Trust Its Build with All My Heart
Portability wise, My Passport Go is the perfect travel companion. However, I’d hesitate to make the same claim considering its build. While it’s advertised as a device that’s ideal for travel, apart from a fairly thin shock absorbent rubber border on all four sides, it doesn’t have a lot of protection. It’s also marketed as a drop-resistant device that can withstand falling from up to two meters. I believe I would’ve been a bit more comfortable trusting the drive if it at least had a USB cap on it. With not even a small plastic cap to cover it, I wouldn’t risk carrying the device everywhere I go. I find My Passport Go perfect for home or office use, but Western Digital has, undoubtedly, overstated its endurance.
Additionally, the drive doesn’t come with an IP rating for water resistance. This increases my reluctance of blindly trusting it in any and every type of terrain. Even though it has a three-year warranty and Western Digital will surely be kind enough to recover any losses, I can’t even imagine the personal loss that’ll be incurred by losing important data due to a splash of water.
Average Performance
My Passport Go, being a SSD, is already performance-wise better than a HDD. In short, it doesn’t have moving parts and is considerably faster. But that’s just an edge SSDs, in general, have over HDDs. My Passport Go showed no such edge over other SSD drives in terms of speed. It advertised speeds of up to 400Mbps. However, it recorded a reading speed of around 310Mbps and a writing speed of around 110Mbps. While its speed didn’t impress much, its storage space and compatibility didn’t garner any complaints. It comes in 500GB, 1TB and 2TB, thus providing a variety of options to choose from. Fully compatible, you don’t have to worry about which OS you’re transferring content to, when clearing up your phone.
Verdict
At the end of the day, a drive is primarily about performance and reliability. Personally, it’s a little more about reliability for me. I can sit through a content transferring session that’s longer by a few minutes. But I can’t even picture losing all my content to an unfortunate accident. In both of the aforementioned categories, My Passport Go was just average.
Is it Hardcore?
Not really.
If you need a drive that’s made for travel, you might want to look elsewhere. However, if you need an economical, decent looking, light and portable SSD for home or work, My Passport Go is a decent option.