Reviews |LEXAR NQ100 Review

LEXAR NQ100 Review

Lexar NQ100 Review
Review

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Thursday February 18, 2021

By Ali Jennings

Price when reviewed

£30

$30
Check current price

Our Verdict

It’s always nice to see a company put a bit of aesthetic flair into their products, even if that product is a hard drive that’s going to be hidden away.

The Lexar SSD is a lightweight, fast option that comes in at a reasonable price and delivers exceptional speed.

The lower capacity model is ideal as a drive to be partnered with the ATOMOS Ninja V, while the larger capacity drives are excellent options as working drives.

For

  • Fast
  • Inexpensive
  • Nice design

Against

What is the LEXAR NQ100?

The LEXAR NQ100 is a standard 2.5-inch SSD designed for use as an upgrade storage option in desktop computers, laptops, external hard drives, and many other video and photography devices.

What instantly strikes you about the LEXAR NQ100 is the design. While it is the standard form factor for a 2.5-inch SSD, LEXAR has gone some way to ensure that it looks good.

The large logo stands out against the matt grey case and blue detailing. It’s all very nice, and it seems a shame to hide it away.

This SSD is available in a few capacity options; 240GB, which is the one I’m looking at, 480G and 960GB.

Specification

  • Dimensions: 2.75 x 3.94 x 0.28 cm
  • Weight: 24g
  • Interface: 2.5-inch SATA III (6Gb/s)
  • Max transfer speed: 550MB/s
  • Shock and vibration resistant: Yes
  • Operating temperature range: 0 – 70º
  • Storage temperature range: -40 to 85º

Performance

The size of the 2.5-inch SATA drive is set, so whether fitting into an external hard drive enclosure or ATOMOS caddy, the drive should fit perfectly.

Sure enough, quickly testing this out in an ICY BOX external enclosure and it fitted snugly as expected. Likewise, popping it into the ATOMOS Caddy and it was a perfect fit. It also reminded me that I must order some more..

Lexar NQ100 Review

Size-wise the LEXAR NQ100 is a match for the standard form factor with no issues, all as expected.

Considering the price of the LEXAR NQ100, the stated transfer speeds of 550MB/s are impressive. However, this could just be ultra-fast read and exceptionally slow write. The only way to check this out is with the Blackmagic Disk Speed Test.

This test returned the following results after being tested for one hour.

Read: 516 MB/s
Write: 481MB/s

Those are impressive results that show that the LEXAR NQ100 is perfectly suited to use with you ATOMOS Ninja V or as a working drive for video and photo editing.

Final thoughts

SSDs are one of the few computer components that have plummeted in price over the last couple of years.

This LEXAR NQ100 is both fast and reliable having tested under load for over 24 hours without issue.

When it comes to choice, there are many SSD out there, and sequential write performance can be an issue. However, here, the LEXAR NQ100 provides consistent performance.

Our 256GB is a little on the small capacity side to be used as working storage, but it is ideal for use as an ATOMOS drive.

Lexar NQ100 Review

At this price, there’s very little to fault, so if you require storage media for your ATOMOS, then go for it.

If you’re looking for a working storage solution, opt for the 480GB or 960GB version.