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Barracuda Fast SSD review

For when you need fast access times to your data

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We store much of our personal lives on electronic devices and for many, an external hard drive is necessary when you run out of storage on a smartphone or a laptop.

With the Seagate Barracuda Fast SSD, you get the quickness of a SATA SSD in a portable form factor.

At the beginning of 2020, Seagate expanded its range of external mass storage devices with two new models at CES 2020: the FireCuda Gaming SSD and the Barracuda Fast SSD. With both drives, the storage specialist primarily appeals to gamers, at least that is the intention behind the LED lighting that adorns both cases.

The models are differentiated by the technology below. While the FireCuda with NVMe-SSD and USB 3.2 Gen2x2 promises the highest transfer rates, today’s test candidate is aimed more at price-conscious buyers. A SATA SSD was therefore installed, which, however, makes fewer demands on the existing system even with USB 3.1 Gen2.

Features sported by this drive include fully reversible USB-C connectivity, special file-syncing software, and fast file transfer speeds. With the special file-syncing software this drive makes it easy to keep files updated. The software syncs important folders and projects with the included backup and folder mirroring software, which automatically checks target folders for file additions, deletions, or changes. Also, with the reversible USB-C cable it means there is no right or wrong way to the plugin. The days of plugging your USB in incorrectly are gone and the first try will always be the right way. Out of the box, this drive works with both Windows and Mac which is a convenient feature.

With this drive, you will be able to boot games faster, transfer files effortlessly, and stream stored videos without lag. And with up to 2TB of capacity, this drive can store the equivalent of 50+ titles for users in a portable way.

In general, the Barracuda Fast SSD makes a very high-quality impression. However, this is caused by the comparatively high weight, among other things. At 140 g (about half the weight of a large grapefruit), for example, the SSD is more than three times that of the PNY Pro Elite, which is made of higher quality thanks to its aluminium housing.

When using an external SSD, there are a few things to consider that we were able to decide again in our review. The Seagate Barracuda Fast SSD offers high transfer rates, but besides the confusion of the USB designation, other factors can also be limiting. We had to find out that the test system throttled the SSD to USB 2.0 through an obviously incompatible USB cable. If we initially suspected a software problem, we could only push the SSD to its maximum after replacing the cable. Before that, it simply stopped at around 45 MB / s.