ADATA HD710 Pro Review

The ADATA HD710 Pro is a tough go-anywhere hard drive designed for those users who need a storage solution that can withstand more than most.

The HD710 Pro is available in several different versions in various colours; Yellow, Blue, Red and Black, and with capacities; of 1, 2, 4 and 5TB.
While the 1, 2 and 4TB versions are available in all colour variants, the 5TB is only available in black.

Looking through the features, it’s instantly apparent that ADATA has put a huge effort into ensuring that this drive is as robust as possible with IP68, IEC IPX8, US Army MIL-STD-810G 516.6 testing and standards.

The ADATA HD710 Pro is a bus-powered portable hard drive designed to withstand the knocks and abuse that would usually kill other storage devices. This robustness makes it a seemingly ideal solution for photographers and videographers working in the field.

For all the high protection, shock proofing, error checking water resistance and proofing, I’m not sold on the actual quality of the ADATA exterior. It may be one of the few drives that boasts complete water resistance when submerged into a water-filled sink, but I’m unsure how many times I would trust it to hold out.

The quality of the exterior is OK, but the rubber feels a bit thin and cheap, not like the rubber buffer design of the Lacie tough drives. You can easily roll the rubber back and see the small daps of glue that hold it all in place.

The carbon effect of the main drive looks nice, but I’m not sure if it’s just for effect or is structural and I’m sure it’s not real carbon. Then there’s the flap that protects the USB port; this is a simple push-fit affair attached by a thin piece of rubber.

While the flap did the job when I submerged the drive into a sink of water, I had to really make sure the flap was securely in place, as it is relatively easy to misfit.

Then there’s the USB 3.1 Gen 1 connection. I really don’t like this connector, as almost every portable drive I have had with this connection type has failed.

However, the drive is tough and durable, and although I have misgivings about the build quality and design, it does seem to stand up to everything I have put it through. Far more than I would usually subject a hard drive too.

To test the ADATA HD710, I did several things to the drive that I would usually avoid at all costs. These things included purposely knocking the drive off the table onto a carpeted floor, then wooden, then the street just for kicks. I then sprayed it with water and then submerged it in water for exactly one very nervous hour, and the thing survived, I think… Or at least it still works at the moment.

It survived all of this and still looks in good condition, a far better condition than another non-tough drive that I’ve been carrying around in my bag for the last couple of months.

While the drive has survived and still puts in a good performance, I’m still wary of the build quality; I don’t like to see dabs of glue sticking the rubber to the plastic. It just feels a bit like a prototype rather than a finished product.

Despite my misgivings, it survives and still puts in an excellent performance. I’ve tested the 1TB version.

Read: 137MB/s
Write: 134MB/s

The durable drive, while fast, isn’t as fast as many SSD drives that are only a touch more expensive. You are paying a premium for the durability, and I’ve tested that to some extreme during the test.

The ADATA HD710 Pro is a hard drive that challenges me. There’s something about the drive that I don’t trust; maybe it’s just the way that it looks, its slightly half-finished design with the stuck down rubber suit or the old USB 3.1 Gen 1 connector, or the fact that it’s fast but not hugely fast, there’s just something.

This drive is labelled as durable, and after the test, I can testify that it is waterproof, shockproof and kit bag proof, so it gets a big tick on that front. While I have my reservations about the drive enclosure build quality and the older style USB connector, the ADATA HD710 Pro has performed exceptionally well in every other respect.

Considering the performance, durability and the fact that this drive was released a few years ago, which is reflected in the price, I have to say that the ADATA HD710 Pro is a well balanced and economical choice as a portable storage solution. However, I would still spend a bit more on the SSD version.