Apricorn Aegis NVX: 30-second assessment
Specs
Connection: USB 10Gbps with 1000 MB/s learn/write speeds
Appropriate OS: Home windows, Mac, Linux, Android, Symbian, and any powered USB OS with a storage file system
Dimensions: 67mm x 120mm x 15mm
Weight: 200g
Certification: IP68, FCC, CE, and VCCI requirements
Guarantee: 3-year restricted
The Aegis NVX 1TB is a comparatively simple-to-use transportable laborious drive, however in contrast to the vast majority of transportable laborious drives, this machine is all about safety. As is frequent with this fashion of drive, there’s a 12-key keypad on the entrance of the machine that lets you enter a PIN to achieve entry.
There’s additionally an built-in USB Sort-C cable that tucks neatly into the facet of the aluminium physique, giving it an ultra-tough feel and look.
Whereas there are numerous safe drives obtainable, the Aegis NVX 1TB takes issues to a different stage with {hardware} knowledge encryption constructed into the machine. Which means all knowledge is encrypted as quickly because it enters the drive area. Even when somebody have been to bypass safety and entry the drive, with out the {hardware}, they’d not be capable to learn or decode any of the information.
This drive primarily separates the software program in your pc from the storage drive. Entry is barely unlocked as soon as the proper PIN code has been entered, after which it capabilities like every other exterior transportable laborious drive. What’s fascinating right here is that Apricorn has included an ultra-fast inside SSD, enabling switch charges of as much as 1000 MB/s. Not like another safe laborious drives, this makes it greater than able to getting used as a working drive in addition to a safe storage answer in your digital knowledge.
Utilizing the drive is simple, with a sequence of button pushes on the keypad permitting you to code in an admin PIN, person PIN, read-only activation, and several other different security measures. Since all these options are managed purely by the 12 buttons and affirmation by the three lights on the highest of the machine, it may possibly take a while to determine all the important thing combos when organising or altering settings. Having the handbook at hand is important throughout setup or configuration.
As soon as every thing is about up, nonetheless, it’s very simple to make use of. Plug it in, enter the code, and also you achieve entry. For companies, the drive will be configured with an admin password and with particular person person passwords. Permissions can be adjusted; for instance, you’ll be able to set it so customers solely have read-only entry. These settings can all be configured by the keypad utilizing the suitable key combos.
As a safe answer in your digital knowledge, the Aegis NVX is among the smallest and most strong gadgets we’ve seen. As soon as it’s arrange, it makes a super answer. Nonetheless, as ever, there’s a vital worth premium for this stage of safe knowledge storage.
Apricorn Aegis NVX: Worth & availability
The Apricorn Aegis NVX 1TB is extensively obtainable and ranges in worth from $339 to $739 (£265 to £579), with the 1TB model we’re reviewing priced at $539 (£422). On the time of this assessment, the drive is accessible instantly from the apricorn.com web site in addition to by most bigger on-line retailers akin to Amazon.
Apricorn Aegis NVX: Design & construct
The Apricorn Aegis NVX 1TB is designed as a safe transportable laborious drive that can assist shield your knowledge even from brute drive and software program assaults. Whereas the {hardware} encryption ensures that every thing on the drive stays secure, the design and construct of the drive are equally strong.
The outer shell is produced from stable, aircraft-grade 6061 aluminium, which is milled from a stable steel after which sealed. Inside this ultra-tough enclosure is the SSD. Your complete drive is simply smaller than a median smartphone, measuring 67 x 120 x 15 mm and weighing in at 200 g. Whereas not overly heavy, it’s greater than you may anticipate for such a small machine.
The principle function of the drive is the 12-key keypad on the entrance, with numbers 0 to 9 permitting for loads of distinctive quantity combos to achieve entry to the drive. As soon as set, there are lock and unlock buttons, in addition to three extra lights throughout the highest to point the drive’s standing and ensure keypress combos.
Including to the drive’s robustness and guaranteeing longevity, the keys are polymer-coated and wear-resistant. This prevents revealing generally used buttons by indicators of damage, guaranteeing continued safety over a few years of use.
The connection from the drive to a pc or different machine is by way of a brief USB Sort-C cable built-in into the drive’s design. This cable wraps neatly across the facet of the drive and tucks in securely when not in use.
The drive can be IP68 licensed, which primarily means it may possibly face up to being submerged in 1 meter of water for as much as half-hour. Nonetheless, whereas it’s IP68-rated, the USB cable finish stays uncovered, so it’s advisable to let it dry out totally earlier than plugging it into any gadgets.
Apricorn Aegis NVX: Options
Trying on the options, the drive contains AegisWare, the corporate’s patented protected firmware. Because of this {hardware} method and software-free knowledge encryption, the drive permits 256-bit AES-XTS encrypted NVMe storage.
As talked about within the design part, the enclosure is milled from aircraft-grade 6061 aluminium and is sealed with tamper-resistant safety fasteners. The drive itself is cemented in place with hardened epoxy resin, that means that even when somebody tries a brute drive assault to interrupt into the drive, it’s extremely doubtless that the SSD can be destroyed within the course of.
One other large function of this safe drive, as with many different top-rated safe drives, is the polymer-coated, wear-resistant, onboard membrane hybrid keypad. This method to safety is very efficient because it stops all fundamental {hardware} and software program keylogging strategies to seize passwords, primarily as a result of it excludes the host system (your pc) from the authentication course of.
All safety for the drive is configured utilizing the keypad. Whereas this course of can really feel slightly fiddly and requires the handbook to indicate you the step-by-step set-up directions, it does allow you to have a very good vary of choices. Most notably, you’ll be able to arrange separate admin and person PINs. That is supreme for enterprise use, because the admin PIN ensures you keep full entry and management, stopping customers from locking you out of the drive.
The admin PIN additionally permits the power to create knowledge restoration PINs, which can be utilized within the case of somebody forgetting their person PIN. Moreover, the drive provides two read-only modes, enabling customers to entry the information with out having the ability to alter it.
One other helpful function is the power for the admin to set programmable PIN lengths, starting from 7 to 16 characters; this prevents the usage of overly easy PINs akin to 1. There’s additionally a brute drive defence mechanism, which ensures that if a pin is entered incorrectly a pre-set variety of instances (minimal 4, most 20), the drive will set off a crypto-erase, securely wiping all knowledge on the drive.
Alongside these superior options, the drive contains commonplace safe drive choices, akin to lock override, drive reset options, and self-destruct PINS. These are notably helpful in enterprise settings, permitting admins to fully reset the drive and reconfigure it for various customers relying on the use.
Apricorn Aegis NVX: Efficiency
Like nearly all high-end safe transportable laborious drives, the preliminary setup is comparatively simple however does require that you’ve got the handbook open and comply with the directions fastidiously. To get began with the Aegis NVX, you merely plug the drive in by way of the USB Sort-C port into your pc. As soon as executed, completely nothing will occur apart from the locked padlock icon illuminating crimson. This means that energy goes to the drive, however the drive itself isn’t but being accessed. Once you verify your pc’s system settings and search for drives, you will notice that it hasn’t mounted or been recognised. At this level, the USB Sort-C cable is only delivering energy with no knowledge switch in any way.
To start out utilizing the drive, you could arrange an preliminary pin. To do that, maintain down the quantity 9 and the inexperienced lock button, then enter your required PIN code. Affirm it by urgent the inexperienced button once more, re-enter the PIN, and press the inexperienced button as soon as extra. Every time you carry out these steps, the three lights throughout the highest will flash crimson, inexperienced, or blue—or present a mixture of blinks and stable lights—to point whether or not the instructions have been recognised. As soon as the preliminary pin has been entered, you’ll be able to unplug the drive, join it to a different machine, and will probably be prepared to make use of. When plugged into a brand new machine, the drive is not going to be recognised till you enter the PIN and press the inexperienced lock button, after which the drive will unlock and mount, prepared to be used.
This preliminary PIN that you simply arrange acts because the admin PIN. By way of this admin account, you’ll be able to arrange extra PINs for different customers. This enables others to entry the drive, however solely with permissions that you simply outline, and people customers will be unable to alter settings or lock out the admin. That is notably helpful for companies the place safe drives have to be distributed to crew members to be used on-site.
Moreover, the drive lets you arrange a read-only mode utilizing the keypad. Setting the read-only mode and accessing the drive as a person lets you view the contents of the drive however not modify or add information, which is beneficial for conditions akin to on-site shows the place the content material should stay unchanged.
The drive additionally features a sequence of extra superior safety options; for instance, within the occasion of a brute drive assault, you’ll be able to configure the drive to set off a crypto-erase after a set variety of failed makes an attempt (minimal 4, most 20). This course of securely wipes all knowledge from the drive. Whereas these options are simple to arrange, the handbook is important for understanding the required keypress combos.
By way of safety, the Aegis NVX is effectively above most opponents. The milled aluminium casing provides it probably the most strong builds of any transportable laborious drive we’ve examined. Moreover, the {hardware} encryption ensures that host gadgets can’t try unauthorised entry. Until the proper PIN is bodily entered on the keypad, each brute drive and software program makes an attempt to entry the drive are practically inconceivable. In our testing, the drive exceeded sturdiness expectations and saved the information inaccessible regardless of each bodily and software program entry makes an attempt.
Retaining your knowledge secure from brute drive and software program assaults is essential, nevertheless it’s equally necessary that the drive is bodily sturdy to be used within the discipline. The Aegis NVX is IP68-certified, that means it may possibly face up to being submerged in 1 meter of water for as much as half-hour, and placing it on par with lots of the best rugged hard drives we have reviewed. In our testing, the drive was dropped into puddles, thrown, and subjected to way more abuse than we’d often topic a transportable laborious drive to. Whereas the aluminium casing confirmed some scratches and put on, the drive continued to work completely as soon as dried and reconnected to a pc.
One ultimate level concerning the drive’s efficiency is its flexibility. Whether or not your organization works on Mac, PC, or Linux methods, you’ll be able to reformat the interior SSD to the file system you want. Because the drive’s encryption is dealt with completely by {hardware} and never tied to the SSD or host machine, the admin account can reformat the drive to be used identical to every other SSD. By default, the drive is formatted in NTFS, however it may possibly simply be reformatted to APFS, exFAT, or one other format as required. In our testing, we used the macOS APFS file system and NTFS with Home windows 11 Professional.
Benchmarks
CrystalDiskMark: learn: 1054.60MB/s Write: 998.79MB/s
AJA: learn: 936MB/s Write: 894MB/s
ATTO: learn: 1006.36MB/s Write: 873.13MB/s
AS SSD: learn: 898.53MB/s Write: 873.13MB/s
Do you have to purchase the Aegis NVX?
Basically, that is an ultra-rugged, quick, safe transportable laborious drive that’s supreme for anybody who must hold their knowledge secure. Whether or not for private accounts and paperwork at residence or for companies of any dimension, it provides an excellent choice. One standout function of this safe drive is its small dimension and strong construct, with that IP68 certification that takes it past most different safe drives.
Along with its {hardware} encryption, the truth that you’ll be able to simply arrange each admin and person entry is a good function for companies. This enables customers to both learn and write or simply learn the contents of the drive, which will be exceptionally helpful. The brute drive crypto-erase function additional enhances the drive’s usability and safety and simply helps to offer you reassurance that your knowledge will keep secure if the drive is misplaced or stolen.
As a standalone safe drive, the Aegis NVX is a good selection for firms, companies, in addition to people. Whereas it has a big function set, there are some capabilities present in different safe drives that the Aegis NVX lacks, akin to on-line connectivity, distant monitoring, and login limits. These options allow drives to be deleted or tracked by the proprietor, even when stolen or accessed by an unauthorised person. Nonetheless, as an remoted, standalone, safe drive, the Aegis NVX is nearly as good because it will get, with nearly no means for anybody to interrupt into its powerful exterior or its extremely superior hardware-based 256-bit AES-XTS encryption.
| Row 0 – Cell 0 | Row 0 – Cell 1 | Row 0 – Cell 2 |
| Worth | Nice worth for probably the most compact and safe transportable laborious drives obtainable. | 5 |
| Design | General wonderful design however would have appreciated a cap for the top of the USB Sort-C cable. | 4 |
| Efficiency | Primary setup is simple, and the pace of the drive makes it one of many quickest and most safe available on the market. | 4.5 |
| Complete | An outstanding, pocket-sized safe laborious drive that you would be able to take anyplace, figuring out the contents will stay secure. | 4.5 |
Purchase it if…
Do not buy it if…
For extra on-the-go storage, we reviewed the best portable SSDs.
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