ioSafe Solo Hawk rugged SSD: One of the world's toughest external storage drives

Do you want an external storage drive that doesn't mind getting wet, crushed, driven over, and generally mistreated, and yet will keep your data safe and secure? Want a storage drive that comes with a warranty and data recovery service protection? You need to take a look at the ioSafe Solo Hawk.

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In an era where external storage drives are sleek and look more like sports cars than peripherals, the ioSafe Solo Hawk stands out by looking, well, like a brick.

A black brick.

An anodized aluminium brick.

ioSafe Solo Hawk rugged SSD

Externally, the Solo Hawk is very basic indeed. It features a single USB-C port compatible with USB 3.2 Gen 2 (and comes with cables to connect to Type-C or Type-A ports), a single blue LED indicator and a slot for a Kensington Lock.

What sets the Solo Hawk apart from the competition is its rugged durability. How durable is it? Very durable.

The Solo Hawk SSD is tested to military specifications, and can survive the following:

• A 10-foot drop
• 3 days, complete immersion in 10 feet of saltwater or freshwater (no cap required on the USB-C port)
• Total immersion in 12-feet of diesel fuel, oils, hydraulic fluids, aircraft fuels, for an hour
• Crushing pressures of 2500 pounds
• Rain, freezing rain, blowing dust and sand, salt fog, UV, and ice
• High-altitude operations up to 30,000 feet

In case things go wrong, the drive comes with a two-year hardware warranty complete with data recovery service protection.

About the only thing the Solo Hawk can't handle is fire. If you need fire protection you need to look at other products in the ioSafe line, such as the SoloPRO, which can survive 1550°F for 1/2 hour.

I've had the opportunity to test a Solo Hawk now for over a week and I'm impressed by its durability. I've thrown it. Jumped on it. Driven over it. Left it outdoors for a few nights in the rain and cold. Tossed it around the beach. Almost lost it to King Neptune in the sea.

And it still works. More than that, it still looks pretty much like new, barring a few cosmetic battle scars.

On the performance front, the Solo Hawk OK, but not blazing fast by any accounts, with tested read and write speeds of 508 and 470 MB/s respectively. More than adequate for most needs unless you're in the business of handling 4K video.

The Solo Hawk is compatible with Windows 8.1 or greater, and macOS 10.12 or greater, and comes in 500GB and 1TB capacities, priced at $319 and $399 respectively, available for purchase from Amazon.com.

A great storage drive, 

For more information, visit ioSafe.

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