Should you see a 16 terabyte moveable SSD on Amazon for $100 or much less, do not buy it. Such a drive would price 1000’s of {dollars}. These are nothing greater than a rip-off, and do not work nicely in any respect. We purchased one and bought a glorified 64GB onerous drive.
With regards to moveable onerous drives, greater is normally higher. You need plenty of area for photographs, movies, or the rest. So when Amazon gives a 16TB exterior onerous drive for beneath $100, that sounds excellent. It might be if it weren’t a large rip-off. I do know as a result of I purchased one and tore it aside.
The Suspiciously Underpriced Outsized Tiny Onerous Drive
You don’t need to go far to seek out these faux onerous drives. Begin a seek for a 16 terabyte (TB) exterior onerous drive, and also you’ll get dozens and dozen of entries. Most are from fully unheard-of manufacturers like “WIOTA” or “SAJIULAS.” However whereas these unusual manufacturers supply onerous drives beneath $100, choices from well-known manufacturers like Western Digital are within the multi-hundred greenback vary.
It will get extra suspicious. Examine the sub-$100 providing to the others, and also you’ll discover the case seems to be a lot smaller. The well-known manufacturers don’t supply 16TB SSD moveable drives; they’re merely enclosures for conventional spinning drives. However the sub $100 manufacturers declare to be M.2 SSD, one of the crucial costly and quickest codecs out of there. For reference, the biggest moveable SSD Samsung offers is 2 TBs, and it goes for $180.
Additionally worryingly, there’s the truth that whether or not it’s “WIOTA” or “SAJIIULAS” or another unknown model, each image is strictly the identical. All of that doesn’t go the odor take a look at. It’s unlikely generic manufacturers managed to discover a strategy to promote the costliest sort of storage for a 3rd of the value the great manufacturers supply on slower codecs.
But, go searching, and lots of the “WIOTA” onerous drives have 5 star critiques, typically affected by lots of of votes. What provides? I purchased one to seek out out. And it isn’t fairly.
This Undoubtedly Isn’t an M.2 SSD
I did have some problem procuring the 16TB moveable SSD. The itemizing claimed it will come instantly from Amazon, however as a substitute of quick two-day delivery, my package deal went to the unsuitable state completely and bought misplaced for a second. I’m unsure how the courier confused Wisconsin and Ohio. However that will have been an Amazon mistake, as the corporate let me know concerning the delay and that it turned over the package deal to UPS to repair the issue.
As soon as it arrived, I discovered an unassuming field with an equally unassuming hard-drive and USB-C twine inside. The field makes some grandiose claims:
- USB 3.0 Micro B to USB 3.1 Typc_c (Gen 1).
- M.2 Transportable SSD
- 16 Terrabytes
- Appropriate with good TVs, Android, Home windows 7, 10, and | OS.
That final one isn’t a typo; I’m actually unsure what “| OS” is. The USB 3.0 Micro B must be a mistake too; the twine inclosed is USB-A to USB-C. However regardless, with a USB C 3.1 connection to an M.2 SSD, this factor ought to scream.
To maintain issues secure, I’m solely connecting this difficult drive to a freshly manufacturing facility reset Home windows laptop computer that has by no means linked to the web. I’ve a second freshly formatted flash drive with recordsdata and instruments to run checks on the drive. My first take a look at concerned transferring a folder with 1 gigabyte of recordsdata onto the moveable onerous drive. If the claims had been true, that ought to have taken a minute at most. It took 20 minutes.
That means a USB 2.0 connection, not USB 3.1. And I definitely can’t take a look at placing 16 TBs of knowledge on the drive at this charge. From right here, the one factor to do is get away some software program and take a look at. A couple of further checks didn’t reveal malware, however nonetheless higher than sorry.
Undoubtedly Not a 16 TB Drive Both
To start out, I wanted to verify how giant this “SSD” really is. So I used a standard device to write down knowledge to the drive till it stuffed up. With a “USB 3.1” connection, that would nonetheless take some time, and with the two.0-like speeds I anticipated it to take even longer. After an hour, the take a look at stuffed the onerous drive with 64 GBs of knowledge. Not tiny, however undoubtedly not 12 TBs.
One other helpful device, ChipGenius, gave me extra data. Whereas it might’t determine the onerous drive part, it did decide that the machine solely conforms to the USB 2.0 specification, which matches as much as the speeds I’m seeing. That rule out USB 3.1 for sure. The one factor left to do is take aside the onerous drive.
Not an SSD at All
It’s clear that the producer, whoever which may be, didn’t need individuals to take this difficult drive aside. There are not any seams, no screws, no apparent factors of entry. I discovered a pinhole close to the USB-C port resembling a SIM card entry level. However no quantity of prodding did something. So I broke out my trusty iFixit tools and pried the factor aside.
“What would I discover inside?” I questioned as I fastidiously shoved one finish contained in the case. Hopefully, I didn’t break no matter was inside. Possibly it actually could be a magical 16TB M.2 SSD drive. Maybe they only put in it incorrectly, and thus it wasn’t performing accurately. Or perhaps, if I had been to recommend extra doubtless outcomes, I’d open the casing and discover world peace. Or the answer to limitless vitality. Or not less than the reply to why scorching canine are available ten packs whereas scorching canine buns are available 8 packs.
Alas, as soon as I managed to take the drive aside, I discovered precisely what I suspected from my checks: a micro SD card slotted right into a circuit board appearing as a USB-C adapter. The micro SD card doesn’t have any markings on the entrance aspect, and a few serial numbers on the again that appear to verify the 64 GB dimension my testing revealed.
Why does Home windows present a 16TB drive, then? That’s doubtless part of the board’s firmware, falsely reporting a dimension that doesn’t exist. This factor is a complete lie, from high to backside.
The Actual Downside Is Amazon Listings
Should you’re a tech individual, you most likely know {that a} 16TB exterior SSD for $100 or much less is simply too good to be true. However what about everybody else? Most individuals simply assume “bigger is best” and search for the biggest drive they’ll discover. From there, it’s a matter of critiques.
And therein lies half the issue. I recognized dozens and dozens of listings for this product, together with an “8TB” model. Many of those had lots of of five-star critiques, and if that’s all you decide a product by it feels like an excellent deal. However upon wanting nearer, I found the critiques typically didn’t match as much as the product. The critiques had been for steering wheel covers, ornaments, pillow covers, and 64GB flash drives.
On Amazon, product sellers can replace listings for accuracy and, within the course of, “take them over.” Which means including new photos, titles, descriptions, the works. By the point this scammer completed, what was once a list for a steering wheel cowl now sells a faux moveable onerous drive. However regardless of all of the adjustments, the critiques keep in place. Not less than till Amazon notices. This little rip-off is usually referred to as review merging.
I’ve contacted Amazon and requested for touch upon each the faux onerous drives and this strategy of itemizing takeovers. I haven’t obtained an announcement but, however I’ll replace this text when I’ve one. Probably to its credit score, after I offered Amazon hyperlinks to those faux onerous drives, a number of of the listings grew to become “unavailable.” However the majority of the hyperlinks I offered are nonetheless up and taking purchases.
Nonetheless, the itemizing I personally bought disappeared by itself earlier than I contacted Amazon. And a brand new one took its place. I believe that when sufficient individuals purchase these onerous drives and the critiques drop, the scammer pulls the itemizing and lists it once more in a brand new spot. It’s like Whack-a-Mole. It might not have been Amazon that eliminated the hyperlinks I offered in spite of everything.
Simply as worryingly, all of those onerous drives are “shipped by Amazon.” Not bought by Amazon, to be clear. However they’re normally provided with Prime and are available from Amazon’s warehouse. Should you assume sticking to merchandise “shipped by Amazon” gives some safety, assume once more.
If It’s Too Good to Be True, Don’t Purchase It and Examine the Critiques
The outdated maxim stays true: if it’s too good to be true, it most likely isn’t. If some firm appears to have magically discovered a strategy to promote a product for a tenth of the value with seemingly higher {hardware} than each different firm on the planet, it’s most likely a rip-off.
That received’t at all times be the case: Wyze got here out of nowhere and undercut costs on plenty of merchandise. However it’s nonetheless a secure guess. Should you’re uncertain, examine the critiques carefully. Do they match as much as the product? If not, run. And on the finish of the day, don’t spend cash you’ll be able to’t afford to lose. Regardless of how cautious you might be, you’ll be able to nonetheless get scammed.
Hopefully, Amazon takes steps to take away these rip-off merchandise. However I’m actually hoping the corporate does one thing about product itemizing takeovers. That’d assist immensely. Now I simply have to determine what to do with an overpriced micro SD card and a USB 2.0 USB-C board. Body them for posterity, I assume.
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