Adata Nobility N002 128GB SSD with USB3 Review

Results Analysis

General performance was slightly behind the Corsair Nova and G.Skill Falcon 2, which use the same Indilinx Eco controller and Intel NAND flash, but the Nobility was still faster than the older Indilinx and Samsung drives for the most part.

The 4k read and write results should have been slightly better, with the Nobility coming last or second-last of all the drives we've tested. Performance was better in the 64KB and 1,024KB tests, but still didn't match the speed of the similarly equipped G.Skill Falcon 2 or Corsair Nova in most of the tests.

The random write performance of the Nobility was fine rather than impressive, with some tests slightly faster on it than alternative Barefoot Eco drives and some slightly slower.

The Nobility put in a good show over USB 3 too: despite the fact that the data has two additional conversion processes to go through (USB 3 to SATA in the SSD, and PCi-E to USB 3 on the motherboard), we saw fast speeds and times. The latency of the two data conversion processes can be seen in Iometer's random read tests though.

What's nice to see is that whether we used USB 3 (with the appropriate driver) or SATA, Windows booted in the same 33 seconds. The theoretical loss in performance doesn't show much sign of impact on real-world situations. Adata's TRIM firmware worked very well overall, with very little difference between the clean and post-TRIM 'dirty' levels of performance.

Conclusion

As far as 2.5in black boxes go, the Adata Nobility N002 is a great looking little product in its black, subtly brushed aluminium shell. The addition of USB 3 means that the Nobility can be used for internal or external use, just in case you want a super-fast external drive that's drop-proof.

As far as the whole package goes, Adata has thought it through very well; with its elegant little access LED and protective rubber feet and connection covers. However, we found the USB 3 micro-B connector is extremely fragile: after just a dozen uses the plastic inside the connector failed.


This in turn brings us to the warranty. Adata covers its SSDs with a three year warranty, and you're covered whether you register online or not. However, you're able to receive extra services and the 'full warranty' (access to downloads, the latest information and so on) if you do register. Adata will even service the drive if the 'Warranty Void' sticker rubs off during daily use, but won't cover the drive if the sticker has been torn off on purpose (like we did) - Adata claims it can tell the difference.

With so many good Indilinx Eco drives out there, and with most being cheaper and a tiny bit faster, the only reason to buy the Nobility is for its USB 3 port. We saw great performance over this connection, and the £30 or so added to the price for all the USB 3 hardware and design is reasonable. However, a USB 3 external SSD is hardly a device for everyone, and the fragility of the USB 3 port means that we'd certainly err on the side of caution when using this connection.

We had a lot of discussion in the office about whether USB 3 is a superfluous addition or a genuinely useful addition to an SSD, but we fall slightly toward the latter position. The port is almost as fast as the SATA connection and opens up some interesting options. For a start, the USB 3 connection is a neat, one-cable affair unlike eSATA, and there's the possibility that you can still use the drive in a couple of year's time once it's been superseded in your case by a 1TB light-based super-SSD of the future. And then again, you can use the Nobility as a super-fast external storage device now if you've got the money and need. If you think you'll find the USB 3 port useful, and can remember to treat it well, then the Nobility is worth considering.

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• 7/10

Score Guide

Addendum: At Computex 2010, ADATA informed us that its Nobility N004 SSD is internally identical to this N002 - the only difference was the case.