Have you ever wanted a portable hard drive that not only works with your Mac but also your iPhone?
If so, then the Orico K20 SSD is a nifty pocket-sized external SSD hard drive which not only works with both devices, it also magnetically attaches itself to them.
Although it can’t compare in terms of speed and quality with the best Thunderbolt external drives, it’s still a very cost effective and fast portable storage solution.
We tested one out to see how it performs.
Quick Navigation
Design and Build Quality
Orico aren’t a big name in the external hard drive market so it was hard to know what to expect.
The company has recently announced a flurry of Mac oriented products including the Mini Mate which is a budget external hard drive aimed at Mac Mini users.
The Orico K20 is aimed more at MacBook and iPhone users that need a portable storage solution.
When you open the box, the K20 looks and feels like a quality, sturdy product with an aluminum alloy body and compact size.
In the box, there’s simply the K20 SSD, a very short USB-C cable and an adhesive magnetic strip to help you connect it to non-magnetic devices too.
The power is derived from the USB-C cable connected to your Mac so there’s no external power supply to worry about.
At just 2.6 x 1.6 x 0.4 inches, it’s highly portable (definitely the smallest external SSD drive I’ve tried) which easily slips into your pocket.
The overall look and feel is very “Apple-esque” with a minimalist aluminum casing that suits the Space Grey finishes on the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, or iPad Pro.
Magnetic Attachment
The most unique feature is that the K20 is magnetic so it attaches securely to the back of your MacBook display or iPhone.
This is a nice touch although it’s probably more useful for iPhone users on the move than Mac users who are mainly sat at a desk.
I also found that the cable is so short that it’s a bit of a stretch too if you attach it to the back of your MacBook lid and connect to your Mac’s Thunderbolt port.
The magnet is very strong though and there was no risk of it suddenly falling off my Mac or iPhone.
If you want to connect it to a device that is not magnetic or doesn’t have a strong enough magnetic pull, there’s also an adhesive magnetic strip included that you can attach to anything you want.
However, we wouldn’t recommend attaching this adhesive ring to an Apple device because once its attached, you can’t get it off very easily should you ever wish to remove it.
If it’s a device with a plastic coating that you don’t mind leaving the ring-on even when not using the K20, then it’s fine.
Performance
The Orico K20 has a USB 3.2 Gen 2 which theoretically can deliver read and write speeds of up to 1,050 MB/s.
I say theoretically because due to technical limitations, Macs can’t fully utilize the maximum speed of USB 3.2 Gen 2 drives even though they still connect seamlessly to Thunderbolt 3, 4 and 5 ports on Macs.
The fastest SSD drives for Mac are Thunderbolt drives although these are usually more expensive as they are designed specifically for the Thunderbolt ports on Macs.
For more on this rather confusing issue, check out our guide to Thunderbolt vs USB-C Gen 2 for a more detailed explanation.
In real-world use on my M3 MacBook Pro the performance still held-up impressively.
In Blackmagic tests, I got Read Speeds of around 901 MB/s and Write Speeds of 919 MB/s which is still very fast.
For video editors, photographers, and developers, these speeds are sufficient for tasks like 4K video editing, working with large RAW files, or backing up your Mac using Time Machine.
However, for video editors that want to edit video directly from the device, we’d recommend getting a Thunderbolt external drive.
Connectivity
You can connect the Orico K20 to the Thunderbolt port on any Mac with a Thunderbolt 3, 4 and 5 ports.
The Orico K20 SSD comes pre-formatted in ExFAT format which works with both macOS and Windows.
However, if you’re just going to use it with your Mac or iPhone, we recommend reformatting it using Disk Utility in macOS to APFS.
For iPhones, the Orico K20 connects directly with the iPhone 15 and later via the USB-C port. For older iPhones however, a Lightning-to-USB-C adapter is necessary.
The Orico K20 is particularly useful if you record a lot of ProRes footage on your iPhone as HDR video gobbles up space on your phone very quickly.
The drive also works with iPadOS and also no Apple devices such as Windows PCs, Linux, and gaming consoles like the PS5.
After extensive use, I didn’t notice any particular heating of the drive although there is a comical warning in the instructions that the drive may get a “fever” but this is completely normal.
Pricing
The Orico K20 SSD has a retail price of $189.99 for the 2TB version which is very good value for an SSD drive with that much capacity.
The 1TB version is $129.99 and the 512GB version is $69.99.
Alternatives To The Orico K20
The Orico K20 is the only magnetic external hard drive we’ve tried but there are faster, portable and Thunderbolt enabled alternatives to consider.
Some notable alternatives to the Orico K20 are the SanDisk Pro G40 which can achieve speeds almost three times as fast and is extremely portable.
The Samsung T9 Portable SSD is also another portable option to consider which also supports paritioning.
For something much tougher than the Orico K20, the Lacie Rugged Pro is extremely durable and supports speeds of up to 1,050 MB/s.
For more, check out our guide to the best external SSD drives for a mix of USB-C and Thunderbolt drives and the best Thunderbolt external drives for purely Thunderbolt enabled drives.
Discover more from MacHow2
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
