Transcend StoreJet 25M3G Portable Hard Drive Review

Transcend has been in the digital storage business for quite awhile now and over the years has become one of the leading brands in its category. The company has designed and manufactured a large variety of digital storage products including memory cards, USB flash drives, external hard drives, solid-state drives, and more. One of the company’s newest additions to its product line is the StoreJet 25M3G, one of the two latest models in its M3 line of StoreJet external hard drives.

The StoreJet 25M3G, which is available in 1TB and 2TB models, is a slimmer and lighter version of the original 25M3. While the original measured 129.5 mm x 82.4 mm x 18.8 mm, the new model is now 80.8 mm wide and 16.1 mm thin. The new model also only weighs 185 grams as opposed to the original’s weight of up to 230 grams depending on the storage capacity. While the size and weight differences may seem small, they are actually quite noticeable especially for those who plan to bring it around on a regular basis.

In spite of its lighter and slimmer body, the 25M3G still keeps the same three-stage shock protection of the original, which is said to include a silicone rubber case, internal shock-absorbing suspension damper, and reinforced hard casing. The rubber casing of the 25M3G comes in what the company calls Military Green while the outer metal casing and end cap come in black. There’s also a light green plastic accent line between the rubber and metal casing. In use, the 25M3G feels quite durable and the rubber casing helps prevent it from slipping from wherever the drive is placed on.

The StoreJet 25M3G features a singular round button encircled by an LED notification light as well as a USB 3.0 Micro-B port that supports USB 3.1 Gen 1 connectivity. The button on the drive can be used to either activate the One-Touch Auto-Backup function or the Quick Reconnect function. The former activates a preset backup task that the user has set for the hard drive on their computer while the latter allows the user to reconnect the hard drive to their computer without having to unplug the USB cable.

Transcend has packed the StoreJet 25M3G with several features including compatibility with the company’s Transcend Elite software, which allows users to backup data from their computer to the 25M3G encrypt the data stored in the drive, save data to the cloud, and sync files between the drive and computer. The drive also comes with RecoverRx, which may help restore lost or accidentally deleted files. Using the Transcend Elite software is quite easy and straightforward with an simple UI that’s easy to understand and navigate.

We tested the performance of the StoreJet 25M3G using both CrystalDiskMark and ATTO Disk Benchmark. We also did a simple drag-and-drop file transfer test to get a glimpse of the real-world performance of the drive.

Looking at our benchmark and test results, the StoreJet 25M3G performed quite as expected, with read and write speeds going over 120MB/s in both our synthetic benchmarks and real-world tests.

Conclusion

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The Transcend StoreJet 25M3G is definitely an attractive external hard drive for those who need a fast, rugged, and portable storage device that comes with features, that will help them feel more secure about the important data they store on it, such as its three-stage enclosure as well as the included backup and encryption features. While the available storage capacities of the StoreJet 25M3G may feel lacking for some, especially those who need to store a large number of videos, and its price may be feel relatively expensive, they may prove suitable for other users who need to store and transport smaller pieces of important data with some assurance that their files will be kept safe and secure.