Lexar SL500 Portable SSD Magnetic Set: 30-second review
Specs
Capacities: 512GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB
Interface: USB 3.2 Gen2x2
Max Speed: Up to 2000MB/s read, 1800MB/s write
Dimensions: 85mm x 54mm x 7.8mm (down to 4.8mm)
Weight: 43g
Cross-platform compatibility
5-year limited warranty
The Lexar SL500 Portable SSD with Magnetic Set is essentially the exact same Lexar portable SSD, now bundled with a rubberised magnetic case. As with the standard version, the SSD — with up to 4TB capacity — is as fast as ever but once again requires a USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 connection to maximise its full transfer speed potential. This time, the inclusion of the MagSafe rubberised case not only adds a extra durability to what is already a very robust drive but also enables you to neatly attach it to the back of your iPhone. Using the MagSafe sticker included in the box, you can also attach it to the back of your Laptop or Android phone and use the drive and magnetic case in exactly the same way.
The case itself is of reasonably decent quality. It’s made of relatively soft rubber and allows you to slip the SL500 in easily, although I did find that when using a phone case, the magnetic connection wasn’t very strong. By removing the phone case, a Mous MagSafe, and attaching the drive directly to the phone, you get a far more secure attachment.
One of the other features I liked in this version is that Lexar has bundled it with a short ribbon-style USB Type-C 20Gbps cable. This enables a very neat connection between the drive and the iPhone. Once connected — which is simply plug-and-play — you have direct access to a record in high-quality ProRes format.
The drive itself is excellent, as covered in my previous Lexar SL500 review, with superb raw speed. However, I found that due to the size of the drive and the added rubber magnetic case, the magnetic strength wasn’t quite as strong as I’d like. You do need to be a bit more careful with how it’s fixed compared to some smaller drives specifically designed to work alongside a mobile phone.
If I were using this daily with my iPhone 15 Pro, I’d likely reinforce that connection with some type of 3D printed clip. That said, you’re still getting a superb 4TB SSD. While the USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 connector is very fast, it’s not widely supported, though still broadly compatible.
In use on the phone, it really came into its own and kept up with everything I needed when recording in Apple’s ProRes format. The resulting high-quality footage was easily graded in Final Cut Pro X using LUTs to achieve a cinematic look. In the field, I did find the magnetic connection between the case and phone a little too weak — I kept checking it was properly attached and often ended up gripping the drive to the back of the phone manually. However, the magnetic ring designed for use with Laptops and Android phones provided a far stronger attachment, so with that attached to the phone case, the hold was significantly improved, giving a far more secure connection.
The Magnetic set edition of the SL500 makes it a superb form of expansion storage when shooting ProRes on your iPhone, and as a portable SSD, it’s perfectly suited as a an ultra-fast drive for then editing that footage. This all makes it a great option if you regularly create social media content and video using a mobile device.
Lexar SL500 Portable SSD Magnetic Set: Price & availability
The Lexar SL500 Portable SSD Magnetic Set is widely available, including directly from the Lexar.com website or through most major online retailers, including Amazon.
Lexar SL500 Portable SSD Magnetic Set: Design & build
The Lexar SL500 Portable SSD with Magnetic Set (4TB) is essentially the exact same drive I looked at a while ago, although it now comes in two parts: the drive itself — the same SSD that impressed me in the past — and a rubberised magnetic case that holds it to the back of your iPhone, or to the back of your Android phone using the included MagSafe ring.
Once again, running through the build of the SL500, it’s essentially an ultra-slim aluminium unibody, just 4.8mm at its thinnest point. It offers a single USB port — USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 — which is important because it enables ultra-fast transfer rates, but only if you have that exact port. I’ll cover that more in the performance section, but that port is fully backward and forward-compatible, working with older USB Type-C ports as well as Thunderbolt 3, 4, and 5 ports.
A really nice touch with this particular version is the included USB Type-C cable, which isn’t the typical ribbon cable type — meaning you can keep it flat against the phone when using the MagSafe case.
The drive itself is slim and ultra-portable, and the new case is designed to enable easy attachment to your iPhone so you can make use of the high-quality Apple ProRes format.
The case is essentially a rubber shell with a MagSafe magnet on the inside, allowing it to connect to the back of your iPhone. The SL500 simply slips inside the case with the port sticking out of the bottom. You can then insert the ribbon cable linking the SL500 to your iPhone, and the MagSafe connection will hold the drive in place on the back of your phone.
If you’re using an Android phone or laptop and want to make the most of this drive, Lexar includes a Magnetic ring in the box that can be stuck onto the back of your Android device. Then, in exactly the same way as with an iPhone, you can attach the SL500 to the back of your Android phone or laptop.
Other than that, when it comes to build and handling, this drive is extremely simple. The design makes it easy to attach to your phone or use as a standard portable SSD — exactly as with the original SL500 — offering fast transfer speeds and a USB Type-C connection that ensures wide compatibility with both Mac and Windows machines.
Lexar SL500 Portable SSD Magnetic Set: Performance
Benchmarks
Crystal Disk Mark Read: 1966.45MB/s
Crystal Disk Mark Write: 1868.33MB/s
ATTO Disk Benchmark Read: 1850MB/s
ATTO Disk Benchmark Write: 1750MB/s
AS SSD Benchmark Read: 1876.32MB/s
AS SSD Benchmark Write: 1693.33MB/s
AJA System Test Lite Read: 1851MB/s
AJA System Test Lite Write: 1513MB/s
Getting started with the SL500 Portable SSD with Magnetic Set is easy and once again very pocketable and lightweight. It comes with Lexar’s DataShield security software and offers 1000MB per second read speed and 1800MB per second write speed — all thanks to the USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 interface.
While this interface has been around for a while, there aren’t a huge number of machines that actually feature this type of connection. And while it is fully compatible with older USB ports, you’ll only see average transfer rates of 1000MB per second. Likewise, it’s also broadly compatible with Thunderbolt 3, 4, and 5 ports, but again, due to differences in technology, it’s downgraded to 1000MB per second.
If you do have a machine with a USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 port, then you’ll see these ultra-fast transfer rates — and to be honest, this drive is extremely impressive when working at full speed. Through testing, I edited several minutes of ProRes footage using Final Cut Pro X, equiped with Thunderbolt 4 so downgraded to 1000MB/s, and repeated the same process on Premiere Pro on PC, this one features USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 and the results were far closer to the top end 2000MB/s. In both cases, using the SSD as the main working drive, it handled the data without issue, providing the transfer rates required for fast editing.
Attached to the iPhone 15 Pro, it was instantly recognised. A couple of seconds after the connection was made, I could tap the ProRes option at the top of the video screen and access high-quality video recording with the flat, undersaturated tone associated with this style of footage — essentially enabling you to grade the video as you wish, achieving a cinematic look with a far higher dynamic range than you get from standard colour profiles on either iPhones or Android phones.
One of the challenges with this format is the file size which is significantly larger than standard video formats — which is why you need external SSD storage to capture them. The performance of the SL500 is more than capable of handling ProRes capture.
The increase in footage capacity is also significant. With this 4TB version, you can capture up to 2366 minutes of high-resolution ProRes footage, which should be more than enough for most productions.
The drive itself is once again exceptional — and that expanded 4TB of storage gives you extra headroom, not just when recording ProRes, but also when storing files from devices like the Canon EOS R5 C or Sony A7 IV, with room for both raw and production files.
However, the main focus here isn’t just the drive — it’s the addition of the magnetic set. This enables you to attach the drive to the back of your phone. The case itself offers excellent protection and lets you easily mount the drive to your mobile, but the strength of the magnetic connection isn’t especially strong. It’s just about enough to hold it in place, but you do need to be careful.
Lexar also includes a high-strength magnetic pad in the box which is really intended to stick to the back of a laptop or android phone to enable the same level of ease that MagSafe affords Mac users, it also replaces my usual option of velcro. This dramatically improves the power of the attachment from the magnetic case. Once the magnetic ring is attached to the back of your phone or case, the SL500’s MagSafe case attaches firmly, really much improving the relatively weak standard hold into a far more solid connection.
It is a shame that the case itself doesn’t feature a stronger built-in magnet — especially since not everyone wants to stick an additional ring onto what may be a very expensive phone case. Combined with the flat ribbon cable that links the phone and drive, you end up with a very well-integrated setup.
What I really like is that, with 4TB of storage, you’ve got enough capacity to record hours of footage. Then, you can simply unplug the SSD from your phone, connect it directly to your computer, and get editing. It’s a nicely integrated system, and the fact that the SL500 offers such strong performance — even when limited by the port technology — means you avoid unnecessary transfers between drives or memory cards, helping to speed up your entire workflow.
Should you buy the Lexar SL500 Portable SSD Magnetic Set ?
Once again, Lexar has produced a really great product. The SL500 is a solid portable SSD capable of being used for mass storage or as a viable working drive in the field. Its design is robust, especially with the addition of the rubber case, and it can be used for archiving files from a day’s shoot or as a natural working drive. The build of the drive also enable decent heat dissipation, so you don’t get noticeable thermal throttling — even when editing 4K video footage.
The highlight of this version is, of course, the magnetic set. This enables you to MagSafe the drive onto the back of your mobile phone. While the standard connection is OK, you do have to be a little delicate with how you handle the phone to ensure the drive doesn’t disconnect.
However, Lexar has included an additional stick-on magnetic ring, which greatly increases the strength and reliability of the MagSafe connection. It would be nice if this stronger hold came without the need for additions, but it does make it easy to attach the drive to Android phones or laptops just as easily as to iPhones.
Once attached, there’s absolutely no doubt about the drive’s performance. It really does enable you to capture hours of high-quality footage. If you’re regularly creating social media content using something like the DJI Osmo with a Mic 2 wireless microphone system, then this is a great complement to that setup. It also allows you to quickly unplug the drive from your phone, plug it into a computer, and start editing.
Once again, the USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 interface — while capable of excellent speed — is still relatively rare. Although it’s fully backward and forward compatible, you’ll only get the full ultra-fast transfer rates when using that exact interface. Otherwise, it’s downgraded to about 1000MB per second — still not bad.
As a portable SSD, the SL500 is a superb option, and it’s one of my go-to drives for field use. It’s small, lightweight, and, over the past year, has proven to be extremely robust. The magnetic set is a nice addition — I only wish the magnet was a little stronger without the need for the extra Magnetic ring.
| Row 0 – Cell 0 | Row 0 – Cell 1 | Row 0 – Cell 2 |
|
Value |
A premium price point for the storage and quality |
3.5 |
|
Design |
Great design for the drive but the cases magnetic contact is underwhelming |
3 |
|
Performance |
Superb speed and huge capacity |
4 |
|
Total |
Great choice and idea, it’s just the magnetic contact is just too weak. |
4 |
Buy it if…
Don’t buy it if…
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